


Solace

by loveless_melodies



Category: Free!
Genre: Bakery and Coffee Shop, College, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Explicit Sexual Content, Healing, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn, SouMako - Freeform, rinharu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-04
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-02-24 02:27:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 465,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2564927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveless_melodies/pseuds/loveless_melodies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight months after graduating from Iwatobi, Makoto goes to university and works as a barista at a coffee shop near his campus.</p><p>One evening Rin calls and asks him about Sousuke, but Makoto hasn’t seen him.  Rin is worried about his best friend, and asks Makoto to watch over him since Sousuke is also in Tokyo.</p><p>Sousuke meets Makoto and realizes that he has changed since they had last seen each other. This is a story about how Makoto finds his inner strength and volition through his path of self-discovery and how Sousuke learns to open up and let people in.</p><p>(Primary pairings: SouMako and RinHaru)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Makoto cuts the hot water from his showerhead by turning the knobs in front of him. He takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with hot steamy air. He lifts his head up, closes his eyes, and takes a moment to relish in the cozy warmth. As he exhales through his mouth, Makoto raises his hands to his wet, soppy, brown locks of hair. He gently runs his fingers through the short strands of hair while slightly squeezing the excess water.

Makoto opens his vivid green eyes and shakes his head back and forth causing droplets of water to fly in every direction. Makoto chuckles to himself as it reminded himself of all the times Haru would do the same without a care in the world. Makoto steps out of the shower and quickly dries himself, and places the white plush towel over his waist. Makoto grabs a second towel to ruffle his hair. He leaves the towel on his head as he opens the bathroom door and enters the little hallway of his apartment.

With his right hand, Makoto rubs his hair with the towel, and sighs, “ugh…I made a mess in the kitchen. I’ll have to clean it up…eventually.” Makoto glances over to his small living room and notices his emerald green hoodie draped over the couch. “Ah…better grab my phone.” Makoto glides over to the living room, grabs his hoodie and fishes his phone out of his pocket. He pushes the home button on his phone and notices that it’s already 9:03pm. Makoto’s eyes widen, “Oh no!” Makoto races over to his bedroom, and trips over his pants on the floor before getting to his desk. He wakes up his laptop and notices that someone is calling him on Skype. He quickly answers the call.

“Rin…so sorry. I lost track of time. Please tell me that you didn’t have to wait long for me to pick up,” Makoto says as he sits down on his desk chair.

Rin looks at Makoto and gives him a grin and whistles, “Well…What a sight to see. Looks like I just caught you while you were in the shower.”

Makoto smiles, embarrassed, he blushes lightly, “Keep that up Rin, and I might tell Haru you’re hitting on me.”

Rin gives Makoto a horrified look, “You wouldn’t!”

Makoto bursts out in laughter, “Awwww, Rin! I’m just kidding. I know what you guys do on Skype,” and winks at Rin.

Rin blinks, looks away, and blushes furiously, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Makoto raises an eyebrow and smiles devilishly, “Ooohhh? I recall some interesting…ummm…probably 2 months ago or so…yeah September. I got off work and decided to visit Haru. Just so you know, I have a key to his apartment. Anyway, when I walked in I was about to call for Haru when I heard,” Makoto tries his best to sound like Haru, “Yeah...Rin…I’ve been waiting for you…take a look and see how hard I…”

Rin gets up close to the computer screen and bangs his hand down on the desk, “Makoto! Stop, Oh my god! You…you…heard all that?” Rin places his left hand over his eyes and rubs his temple.

Makoto blushes lightly out of embarrassment, “Sorry, sorry. Hope that didn’t excite you or anything. But, yeah I did hear that. As soon as I heard well, um…you know…stuff…I left in a hurry as quietly as possible. I didn’t want to interrupt your…private time with Haru. And…I-I…no longer just pop into his apartment after that…well…yeah. So don’t worry. I won’t be walking in on anything like that, um…again,” Makoto looks away with flushed cheeks and scratches the back of his neck.

Rin takes a peek between his fingers and sees how embarrassed Makoto is and sighs, “You know…you do quite a good impression of Haru…I…almost...”

Makoto’s eyes widen, “Don’t finish that.” He blushes profusely, “I take it that both you and Haru are working the long distance relationship quite well. But…I can tell…Haru misses…well…you know…your physical presence. Are you planning to visit during the holidays? Like Christmas or New Years?”

Rin still has a small blush on his cheeks and rubs the back of his neck as he looks away, “I’m working on the dates, but yes…I am making plans to visit during the holidays.”

“Oh, good. Haru would be thrilled to hear that. When you figure it out, tell him. I should tell you that I’m not going back to Iwatobi during the winter break. My family is going to be visiting my uncle in Nagoya, so I will be visiting them there.”

Rin frowns, “So…there is a possibility we won’t see each other…”

Makoto nods and looks down. He realizes that he’s still in a towel, “Um…Rin…while we talk…you think I can change into some clothes? I mean…I’ll just put a towel over the camera while I change. That ok?”

Rin smirks, “Ohh? Need privacy? Makoto…I’ve seen plenty of your ass already…haha. Remember back at Samezuka…right after graduation you…hey!”

Makoto puts the towel that was on his head over the camera, “You don’t have to remind me Rin. Besides, I want to change and you are just gonna have to live without seeing my ass again. And…I thought I was by myself in the locker room at the time…I didn’t know you would walk in right at that moment!”

Rin laughs with a shark-like grin, “Hehehe. Yeah…you should have seen your face! Once you saw me, you screamed like a girl…hahahaha! That was priceless!”

Makoto pouts as he puts on some black boxer briefs, “You’re horrible. You scared me! And you really shouldn’t sneak up on people like that Rin. I was mortified that I exposed myself to you like that.”

Rin smirks, but Makoto can’t see it, “Ha! Oh come on Makoto…I’ve seen many asses in my life. You shouldn’t feel so embarrassed or mortified. I’m sure you had sneak peeks of others in the shower room before, ne?”

Makoto already put on some sweatpants and is in the process of putting on a t-shirt, “I’m not a pervert like you. I don’t like attracting attention to myself and I don’t pry into other’s privacy…you should know that.” Makoto pauses and furrows his eyebrows, “You know…speaking of that…incident…you mentioned …I still have Yamazaki-kun’s clothes from that time. You know? The ones I borrowed because you just had to push me into the Samezuka pool while I was wearing my clothes.” Makoto walks over to his laptop and pulls down the towel.

Rin crosses his arms and ponders, “Hmmm. That does sound familiar.” Rin takes some time to think about the situation, “Yeah. I remember offering my clothes to you, but Sousuke said that you could borrow his because his clothes would fit better. Why do you ask about that?”

Makoto rubs his neck and smiles sheepishly, “Uhhh, well…I still have Yamazaki-kun’s clothes. And, I actually brought them with me here. I…I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving them at home. I really wanted to return them, but when we all met again, Yamazaki-kun was gone.”

Rin sighs and looks worried. He crosses his arms and looks down, “I have been worried about him.”

Makoto tilts his head concern gracing his features, “Rin? Did something happen to Yamazaki-kun?”

Rin scratches the back of his head, “Yeah…well sorta. Look, I’m not one to divulge private information about others, but Sousuke hasn’t been keeping contact with me as much as I’d like. And maybe I’m being a worrywart like you, it’s just that…I don’t know.”

They both become silent. Makoto fidgets, moving his legs under his desk, and rubs his thighs, “You don’t have to say anything Rin. If it’s too personal, we don’t have to talk about it.”

Rin stares at Makoto, “Well, it is. I just don’t like how silent he has become. I haven’t heard from him in the last month. It’s like he’s avoiding me or something.”

Makoto frowns and feels empathetic towards Rin, “I doubt he’s avoiding you Rin. May..maybe he’s just going through something that could be hard to talk about. I mean, I don’t know Yamazaki-kun all that well but…I always felt that there was a shadow that lingered around him…or something like that.” Makoto runs his right hand through his hair a couple times, “I, I don’t know…I’m just guessing.”

Rin scratches his chin for a moment, “Well, you aren’t that far off Makoto. Sousuke has a lot to deal with. But I was wondering…if you see Sousuke, you think you can…I don’t know…like watch over him or like make sure he’s ok? He is in Tokyo going to university. And…ugh…shit…maybe I said too much already.”

Makoto takes in what Rin said. He clearly can see the worry in Rin’s body language. Ever since Yamazaki-kun had initially left Sano Elementary in Iwatobi years ago, Makoto had wondered where he went and what he was doing. When Yamazaki-kun came back, he was happy to see him, but he had so much intensity. Makoto could see just how distant Yamazaki-kun had become and it made him sad. When Makoto was younger, he tried his best to be friendly towards Yamazaki-kun, but it never worked out. During his senior year of high school, Makoto wanted to somehow approach Yamazaki-kun to try and make friends with him, but Makoto found himself just watching him from afar. Yamazaki-kun just seemed so unapproachable and cold.

Rin notices Makoto’s silence and sighs, “Hey, you think it would be okay if I gave Sousuke your number or something? I mean…you are the only one I trust in Tokyo to take care of my best friend. I know that Haru doesn’t exactly see eye to eye with him after all. I would hate to see Sousuke hurt or in any trouble, you know…”

Makoto looks up and stares at Rin for a few moments. He thinks about Rin’s proposal, “Rin…of course you can give Yamazaki-kun my number. I really doubt he would contact me, but if it will give you some relief, yes…without a doubt. You can even tell him where I work if he just wants to talk or hang out…or bitch and moan about what a lousy best friend he has,” Makoto smiles lightly.

Rin scoffs, “Very funny Makoto. I don’t think I’m the lousy one…he’s being an ass if you ask me. If I weren’t in Australia, I would kick his ass in rock-paper-scissors and make him talk to me.”

Makoto gives Rin his trademark smile, “Ah, Rin! It’s so cute when you are trying so hard to be a good friend. Hopefully you are being a good boyfriend to Haru too.”

Rin blinks, “Eh? Of course I’m being a good boyfriend too. What do you take me for? You would hunt me down if I made Haru cry.”

Makoto gives him a knowing look, “I think I would do more than just hunt you down.”

Rin laughs nervously, “No shit. No need to remind me. And for the record, I’m trying my best to keep in contact with him.”

Makoto smiles warmly, “Good!” Makoto chuckles to himself, “Remember how we met at the boardwalk one evening…after graduation. You and Yamazaki-kun were planning to go back to Samezuka after visiting Gou-san for dinner, but you guys ended up spotting me. It was the time I was all worried about you and Haru…and I said something quite bold at the time…what was it? Oh yeah! I asked you if you slept with Haru during that trip to Australia. You never answered the question, but your face said it all…and I told you to talk to Haru about your feelings otherwise I would follow you to Australia and haunt you for eternity.”

Rin huffs, “And you hit me with your head too…when I tried to shut you up, you ended up tripping and taking me down with you. When I was trying to get up, you head-butt me…you little punk. And then you threatened me. Ugh…can’t believe you figured it out…and your face was actually scary. I thought you were going to kick my ass for sleeping with Haru.”

Makoto blinks, “R-really? No way! I couldn’t have been that scary looking. I mean…Yamazaki-kun definitely is more intense and scary looking than I ever could manage.”

Rin laughs as he grabs a bottle of water, “I don’t know…I was worried for awhile there. But things worked out.” Rin opens his water bottle and takes a swig.

Makoto is about to say something when his phone vibrates on his desk, “Oh, let me check this Rin.”

Rin nods and lets Makoto check his text message and write a message back. Rin takes another sip of his water, “You know, Haru has been telling me that you haven’t been spending as much time with him like you used to…he won’t really say why, but I suspect that you either have a boyfriend or you’re spending time with a special someone who could possibly be your boyfriend. You have changed a bit, Makoto. I mean…you crack jokes with me and don’t cringe every time I swear.”

Makoto looks up with wide eyes and almost drops his phone, “Huh? Wh-wha-what? Bo-bo-boy-boyfriend? Wha-what would ever give you th-that idea…I mean…I-I-I don’t have one of those.” Makoto looks away blushing from ear to ear.

Rin raises an eyebrow, “That wasn’t very convincing, in fact, that just makes me believe that you really do have a boyfriend. How long have you been with this mystery man?”

Makoto flops on his desk, accidently moving his laptop with his arm and muffles as he talks, “N-n-no…of course not. I-I-I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.” Makoto lifts his head a deep red blush on his face, “But…y-you know,” Makoto notices that his laptop has moved and readjusts his laptop back to the position it was in on his desk. He looks up and sees Rin leaning forward frowning at him.

Rin moves back and sits comfortably on his chair, crossing his legs, “Don’t change the subject, Makoto. Shit…it’s written all over you face. Regardless of how you dodge the question or whatnot, you have a boyfriend…wait…or is it a girlfriend?”

Makoto slumps in his chair and rubs his cheeks to will the blush away, “Ugh…I don’t want to talk about it Rin…not…not yet anyway.”

Rin raises an eyebrow, “Does Haru know? Did you tell him that you have a boyfriend?”

Makoto stays silent, not wanting to answer the question. Makoto hangs his head down, looking at the floor. He knows that Haru is aware that he has a boyfriend, but he hasn’t told him yet. Haru has met his boyfriend plenty of times, but Makoto has a feeling that Haru doesn’t really like him. He thinks back to how they first met, Takeshi and him. It was the first trimester of university, and right after his Physiology class he needed to use the bathroom and rushed out of class. When he was done using the facilities, Makoto was about to pull the door, only to find that Takeshi was coming into the bathroom. He didn’t know his name then, but the smile that he gave Makoto made him blush. Makoto moved to the side to let him through the doorway and then paused outside the bathroom to look at his schedule and a map of the campus. Takeshi came out of the bathroom and walked over to Makoto. They talked for a while and Takeshi was so kind to walk Makoto to his next class. They exchanged numbers and they just continued seeing each other after that.

Throughout the silence between Rin and Makoto, Rin shifts in his seat a few times, and once he reached his limit, he throws his head back and groans, “Makoto…you and Haru are best friends. Don’t do anything stupid to ruin that, okay? I don’t know what’s going on between you and your…lover…and then you and Haru, but work it out. It’s gonna eat you alive if you continue ignoring problems.”

Makoto nods, “Y-yeah…I-I know.

Rin smiles sympathetically, “Alright, alright…just you know. Just…don’t let it drag on too long. Anyway, I better head to bed, it’s getting quite late. And…I will be sending your personal information off to Sousuke,” Rin grins as he puts his hand on the top of his laptop. “Even if he doesn’t contact you, I just want him to know that he has someone in Tokyo that he can barge in on.”

Makoto looks up and laughs. He gently and playfully punches the computer screen, “I would punch you for that. Go ahead and give Yamazaki-kun my information…just not my address, okay. That seems a little too intrusive.”  

Rin leans over with his hand still placed on the computer screen, “Ohhh…I’m so scared.” Rin laughs and he hears Makoto join in on the laughter with him. Rin says, “Hey, just to be fair…I’ll pass Sousuke’s number to you too…when I get around to passing info to you guys.”

Makoto tilts his head and averts his eyes, “You don’t have to do that. And…yeah…it’s late there right?” Makoto checks his phone for the time. It’s 9:56pm. “It’s late for you…almost midnight.”

Rin yawns at the mention of the time, “Yup! Almost 12. So, yeah…I better hit the sack. Talk to you later Makoto…and thanks. Just knowing that Sousuke won’t be alone gives me some peace of mind.”

Makoto rolls his shoulders back and stretches in his seat. He raises his arms up and stretches his shoulders, “Yeah no problem. I’ll text you tomorrow. And get some good sleep.” Makoto smiles as he lets the tension in his shoulders go.

Rin gets up and leans over his computer with a wink, “Yeah, you too. Bye!”

Makoto chuckles, “Bye Rin.” Makoto watches as Rin suddenly disappears from view. He looks down and opens the text window. He has another message from Kisumi.

[To: Mako-Sensei

From: Kisumi

Oh? You and Rin chatting on Skype again. (ノ＞▽＜)ノ That’s so adorable! <3 I’m gonna send you a pic, but it’s not from me, it’s from Hayato. He misses you Mako-Sensei! ^_~ ]

Makoto clicks on the picture and sees Hayato smiling with a win stick in his hands. Makoto beams when he sees the picture and saves it to his phone. He decides to send a picture of his smiling face to Kisumi to show to Hayato. The brunette lifts the phone and beams like he just did before and takes a picture of himself. He texts back to Kisumi.

[To: Kisumi

From: Mako-Sensei

I’m sending you a picture too. I’m so happy for Hayato! ^_^ He finally got that elusive win stick, so exciting! Also, you still calling me “Mako-Sensei?” You know, you don’t have to call me sensei. ]

[To: Mako-Sensei

From: Kisumi

Awww! <3 You are just adorable, Mako! I will show Hayato the pic tomorrow. He was so excited! He ended up getting strawberry, his favorite. ]

Makoto raises an eyebrow, “Whoa…now just Mako…Kisumi you silly!”

[To: Kisumi

From: Mako-Sensei

(*/////∇/////*) Mako? Really, Kisumi!? ]

[To: Mako-Sensei

From: Kisumi

I’m just teasing! I’ll just go back to Mako-Sensei. Night-night! Don’t want to disturb your studies. ^_~ ]

[To Kisumi

From: Mako-Sensei

Hehe, I know! ^_~ Take care of yourself, Kisumi. Night-night! ]

Makoto looks at the time, it’s 10:17pm. He gets up and goes into the kitchen to clean the mess. After he finishes washing the dishes, he hears someone knocking at the door. He tilts his head as he wipes his hands with a dishtowel. He checks his phone to see if anyone contacted him, but no texts, no missed calls. Makoto puts his phone back down on the kitchen counter and walks over to the front door. Before he gets his hand on the doorknob, the person impatiently knocks again. Makoto opens the door.

“Hey! Glad to see you’re still awake,” a tall man with a defined jaw and dirty blond hair leans over the doorframe smiling down at Makoto.

Makoto stares at his gleaming coffee colored eyes, “Ta-Takeshi…I wasn’t expecting you tonight. You said you had a meeting. You should have told me you were coming over.” Makoto moves out of the way to let Takeshi in, leaning on the kitchen counter. Takeshi walks in, closes the door, and takes off his white and green nike kd 7 shoes carefully. Takeshi puts down his dark grey backpack, turns around and moves his designer shoes in an orderly fashion, with the tips of his shoes facing the door.

Makoto watches Takeshi put down his backpack and fix his shoes. Takeshi is wearing white, sandstone loose fit jeans, and a white ribbed undershirt. He has a striped button down shirt with various shades of green and cream draped around his neck. Over the white ribbed undershirt, Takeshi is wearing a black hoodie, the zipper was pulled down half way.

Makoto looks away and blushes lightly, since he was appreciating the view of Takeshi bending down to fix his shoes.

Takeshi gets up and looks at Makoto with a smirk on his face, “Oh…checking me out, eh? Always so blushy…it’s a turn on.”

Makoto moves his eyes towards Takeshi without moving his head, “Well…maybe.”

Takeshi walks over to Makoto and pins him against the kitchen counter. Takeshi places his hands on either side of Makoto, he leans in and whispers in his ear, “Oh? Like what you see? I was actually hoping to…get some tonight. Think we can squeeze that in?”

Makoto flushes furiously as he experiences Takeshi’s warm breath tickling his earlobe. Makoto shutters in pleasure, “Ah…stop…didn’t…yo-you…have enough the day before yesterday?”

Takeshi chuckles lightly, sending more shivers down Makoto’s body. He leans over and licks the shell of Makoto’s ear slowly until he moves down to his earlobe gently nipping with his teeth, “I want more of you, Makoto.”

Makoto was just about to say something when he hears his phone vibrate. Someone is calling him, “Ahh..Ta-Take-shi…I-I-I…let me…uhhh…check.” Before he can finish what he’s saying, Takeshi pulls Makoto towards himself harshly. “Dammit,” he growls as he hisses and nurses his arm.

Makoto looks at his phone and then back at Takeshi, gently pushing him off, “Wh-what’s wrong?” Makoto takes a look at Takeshi’s face and notices that he’s wincing and gently touching his left upper arm. Makoto places his hand on Takeshi’s face and gently rubs his thumb back and forth across his cheek, “Takeshi?”

Takeshi forces a smile, “Ugh…should’ve remembered to be careful. I just got inked.”

Makoto raises his eyebrows, “You got another tattoo? Can I see?”

Takeshi moves back and leans on the counter behind him, taking a deep breath and exhaling through his nose, “Hmm…what do I get if I show you?”

Makoto smiles deviously, walks over to him, and unzips Takeshi’s beloved black LA Lakers hoodie, but then hears his phone vibrate. “Oh…let me check who called me, Takeshi. It might be something important,” Makoto turns away from Takeshi and picks up his phone. He looks down and sees that he has a missed call and a voicemail from Haru.

Takeshi frowns as he watches Makoto’s back, checking his phone. Takeshi growls, “Who the hell is it, huh?” Takeshi turns away and walks over to the refrigerator to grab a water bottle. “Who the hell calls you this late?”

Makoto was about to check his voicemail before calling Haru back. He turns around slowly and furrows his eyebrows, concern gracing his features. Makoto softly says, “Takeshi, please settle down. It’s just...” Makoto closes his eyes and rubs his temple with this left hand and sighs deeply.

Takeshi stands up straight and slams the refrigerator, glaring at Makoto, “Fucking Haru, huh? Can’t you just leave him alone?! I don’t understand anything you guys…I…just…ugh…I just don’t get it!” Takeshi opens the water bottle forcefully and takes a long swig from it.

Makoto feels the tension in the room rise at an incredible speed. He tries his best to calm down by taking a deep breath. Makoto hates confrontation, but ever since they have been dating, he has been seeing more and more issues that lead to confrontation and has gotten more used to it than he would care to admit.

Makoto swallows and hopes his voice doesn’t crack or falter, “Takeshi…he’s my best friend. He’s important to me. I…I can’t leave him alone. He’s like fami..”

Takeshi throws the water bottle on the floor and walks over to him, grabbing a fistful of Makoto’s shirt, forcing Makoto into his face. Takeshi scowls deeply and yells, “Can’t or won’t, Makoto!? You CAN leave him alone! He’s just a stupid friend! I’m your boyfriend! I should take precedence over him!”

Makoto feels his heart rate rise, and winces as Takeshi yells at him. He can’t look at Takeshi when his eyes have such intensity and fury behind them. Makoto grabs Takeshi’s hand and forcefully pulls Takeshi’s hand off of him. Makoto quickly moves away, and Takeshi tries to pull him back. Makoto quickly moves his arm out of reach from Takeshi as he feels his fingers try and grasp him. Makoto turns around when he feels like there is enough space between them, about 4 arms lengths away.

Makoto turns around and says firmly, “Stop. I don’t want to argue right now. It’s late, I’m tired. Let’s just go to bed, okay? We can sort this out tomorrow after I go to the gym in the morning.”

Takeshi scoffs and slams a fist down on the kitchen counter, “What? With Haru? Like you do every fucking weekend?! Fucking shit! You can go to the gym with me!”

Makoto jumps a little when Takeshi hits the kitchen counter, and looks away rubbing his arm trying to self-soothe during the argument. He says with a bit of hesitance, “Yes. I’m going with Haru. Haru and I don’t see each other as much, you know. I only see him twice a week, and I miss him. We used to spend time with each other every day. I’m still trying to get used to all these new things…”

Takeshi bites, “You going with him tomorrow? No matter what I fucking say?” Takeshi takes a step forward, and Makoto takes a step back and looks at Takeshi warning him to stay where he is.

“Yes. I-I-I’m seeing him tomorrow..n-n-no matter what you say,” Makoto says with a shaky voice.

Takeshi glares at Makoto, “Fine! Do whatever the fuck you want! Fucking weirdo!” Takeshi harshly grabs his backpack, hisses in pain and goes over to put his shoes on.

Makoto heart stops as he sees Takeshi in the process of leaving. He raises his hand as a gesture for Takeshi to stop, even though he can’t see him as his back is towards Makoto. He takes one step forward, “W-w-wait! Please don’t go Takeshi. You jus…”

Takeshi doesn’t even look at Makoto. He keeps his back to him as he continues to put his shoes on. He says, “Fucking hell! No! I’m not staying! I don’t get your relationship with that weirdo! You guys act like fucking boyfriends! I hate it! You want to spend time with that freak, go right ahead! I’m not sticking around to see you prance out for your so-called friend! Bye Mako!”

Takeshi grabs the doorknob and slams the door on the way out. Makoto jolts as the door slams in front of him. He walks over to the door slowly, and bangs his head on the door, “Shit…what the…” Makoto closes his eyes as sadness overtakes him. He stands there for what he thinks are moments, but are actually several minutes. His eyes start to water and tears slowly start streaming down his cheeks. Makoto lifts his head and opens the door. He looks to the left…and then to the right…no one is there. Makoto leans his back on the doorframe and sighs deeply. He was hoping that he didn’t actually leave and now he feels empty. Makoto looks back into his apartment and decides to go back inside.

As the door closes, Makoto hears his phone vibrate again. He quickly reaches his phone and sees that Haru is calling him. Makoto takes a deep breath, wipes the tears on his cheek and eyes with the back of his hands, and hits the green button on the screen, “Haru, Hi. What’s up? It’s a bit late to be calling, yeah?”

There is silence on the phone that worries Makoto. The silence continues as Makoto goes to the couch in the living room and flops down.

“Makoto…did something happen? Did someone hurt you?” Haru says laced with concern.

Makoto sighs and takes a deep breath, “No. I’m not hurt or anything. I…I just had a rough day at the café. You know…how sometimes those drunk idiots from the bar two blocks away come in to harass some of the customers and staff? Well…I had to deal with that…and I guess it just got the best of me. Don’t worry Haru…I’ll get over it.”

There’s silence again. Makoto waits patiently for Haru to speak up. Makoto crosses his ankles as he waits for a response.

“Hmmm…but you didn’t have the closing shift tonight,” Haru says bluntly.

Makoto blinks and thinks, ‘ _Crap!’_ He laughs nervously, “Uh…yeah. I didn’t have the closing shift tonight…I don’t know…it’s Friday…weird things happen since it’s nearing the weekend. Don’t worry about it Haru. I was just shaken tonight…nothing too out of the ordinary. Ummm…anyway…I’ll meet you at your place around 10 am to go to the gym. Unless, our plans have changed? Is that why you called earlier?”

Haru listens and has already caught Makoto in a lie, but doesn’t push it. Instead, Haru lets the issue go since Makoto doesn’t want to talk about it. Haru is silent momentarily before speaking up, “No. I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to watch me swim in the afternoon. We are going to have a practice competition. It was just set up today during our training by Honda-sensei.”

Makoto laughs, “Of course Haru! I would love to watch you swim! I haven’t seen you swim in months now. I bet you are just amazing! Oh now I can’t wait until tomorrow!”

Haru nods, “Mmm. Good. Well, it’s late. Go to bed Makoto. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Makoto smiles to himself, “Okay, Haru. Sleep well. And make sure you lock your door. You always forget. Night!” Makoto hangs up and looks at his phone. Its 12:23am.

Makoto rubs his temples and sighs. “What a day…how am I gonna work this all out…I feel so…stuck.” Makoto throws his head back and looks to the side, he looks up at the sky from the window of his living room apartment. He sees the dark blue sky, and misses the stars that can be seen in Iwatobi. Makoto’s heart starts to ache for Ran and Ren, Mom and Dad, the salty sea breeze, and the many smiles of all his friends back in Iwatobi. Things have gotten so complicated since he became a university student in April. Now, it’s November, and his second trimester of university. Makoto is a barista at a café near the university, called Momento Café.

Makoto remembers how he had to do a two-week training before he could work as a barista. Kisumi was the one who helped find job openings near his university. He smiles as he remembers how happy Kisumi was when he took him out for lunch after helping him find a job. Finding an apartment was difficult. There were so many places he could live and it got really confusing. But he did finally settle with the apartment he currently resides in. Then when university started, Makoto was really nervous. He thought that he would fall apart the first day since Haru had practice in an Olympic size pool that is detached from the rest of the university, therefore, Makoto would be by himself almost all the time. But ever since he ran into Takeshi Ito during his first day, Makoto felt safe when he was with him.

Takeshi and Makoto started dating at the end of May. During that time the weather was warming up and the sakura blossoms were in full bloom. Makoto reflects back at all the times Takeshi would just blatantly flirt with him when they studied together. After all, they shared two classes during the first trimester, Physiology and World History. Things were so light and fun at the beginning. Makoto misses those pervious moments when they would just laugh, cuddle, and joke with each other. But a couple months ago, sometime in September, Takeshi has been upset and angry every time he spent time with his other friends, especially Haru. Makoto asked Takeshi about it, but every time they talked about it, they argued. For some reason, he just couldn’t bring himself to tell Haru that he’s dating someone. Every time he found the courage to tell Haru about Takeshi, his courage would falter and the words died on his tongue. Makoto frowns, he doesn’t want to think about it anymore. Too tired to get up and go to his bed to sleep, he pulls the throw blanket that is covering the top of the couch, lies down and tries to get comfortable. Makoto stretches his legs as he sets alarms for 8 in the morning.

Makoto tries his best to get a decent night sleep, but he ends up tossing and turning throughout the night.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

(In Australia…)

Rin closes his laptop after talking to Makoto. He grabs his water bottle from his desk and sits on his bed. He picks up his phone that was lying on his pillow, charging. Rin pulls the charger cord that connects to his phone and tosses the cord off to the side. He sits on the bed, scoots all the way over till his back rests on the wall, and crosses his legs, leaning forward as he opens a text window.

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Oi! Answer your phone. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Come on! Stop avoiding me. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

>.> WTF! Don’t be a prick, Sousuke. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

I’m gonna keep texting you until you answer idiot! ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Ugh! Don’t be an ass! ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

I know you aren’t sleeping yet, you night owl! ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

You’re worrying me, you damn idiot! ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

What? Are you a wall now? Answer! ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

It’s been a month since we’ve last talked, you know. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

I told Haru about the time you had to dress up as girl for our stupid maid café back at Samezuka. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

I even told Makoto about it. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Sent a pic of it while I was at it. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Jerk! ]

Rin slides down the side of the wall until he falls onto his pillow, “Stupid, Sousuke!” Rin looks at his phone again and looks at all the messages he sent. He sighs heavily and shifts on his bed so that he’s lying on his back and places his arm over his eyes and puts his phone on his chest.

Rin is worried. Sousuke wasn’t the best at keeping contact with others, and he knows it was partially his fault in the past. But since they separated back in March, they have been texting each other or calling each other at least once a week. Sousuke left right after graduation to go to Tokyo and live with his dad until he got his own apartment. Rin was unhappy that they didn’t get to spend more time together before university started. He thinks back about the conversations they had since they separated. Sousuke had surgery in April and started university during the second trimester, sometime in September. Rin knows that Sousuke is still recovering from surgery and he knows that Sousuke can be quite impatient and complain about having his arm in a sling. However, Sousuke doesn’t have to wear his sling anymore since he’s recovering nicely. Rin wonders what the hell could have happened to make his friend so quiet for so long. He opens his eyes and looks down at his chest when he feels his phone vibrate.

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

OMG! You crybaby! WTH is wrong with you texting me so many times like that.]

Rin quickly sits up and crosses his legs. He frowns at the message, but smiles knowing that he finally got some communication from Sousuke.

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Jackass! Took you long enough! I’m giving Makoto your phone number. ]

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

WHAT? Why would you do that? Makoto and I have nothing to talk about! ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Because you are being a craptastic friend! I’m not gonna wait around for you to talk to me! I know you need someone physical to talk to. Unfortunately for you, I’m not there to keep your sorry ass in line. ]

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

WTF! You saying I can’t take care of myself, bastard! I don’t need to be mommied! ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Well you should have thought about that before you decided it was an awesome idea to ignore me for a whole month! >.> I don’t want Makoto to mommy you! He’s my friend and it’s about time you made some friends of your own! You should be happy that I’m lending you my precious friend! Cuz you don’t deserve it at this point! ]

Sousuke stops texting back to Rin. Rin stares at his phone and sighs, “Maybe I went a little too far on that last one.” Rin phone vibrates again.

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

-_- Fine! Go ahead. Give Makoto my phone number if it will make you feel better. But just to be clear, I’m not gonna talk to him. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

I figured you would say that. So, I took the liberty of asking Makoto if I could give you his number. And guess what, he’s totally cool with it. So here it is! ]

Rin types in Makoto’s phone number and presses send. He frowns and realizes that he forgot about his part-time job.

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Forgot. Makoto is working part-time as a barista. Check it out, it’s called Momento Café. It’s near Makoto’s uni. It’s late, I’m tired. Talk to me again when you talk to Makoto.]

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke was watching a movie when Rin bombarded him with all those crazy text messages. Now that their conversation was over, he wasn’t in the mood to finish ‘ _Why don’t you play in hell?’_ Sousuke gets up from the coffee suede couch and turns off the TV, walks from the living room to the kitchen. He glides over to the refrigerator and pulls out a pitcher of water. Sousuke walks over to the cabinet next to the fridge, pulls out a mug and pours some water in it. He puts the pitcher down onto the granite countertop and takes a few steps back until he feels the counter on his lower back. He leans against the counter and takes a sip of water from his slender black mug.

He thinks about the text conversation with Rin. He didn’t think Rin would take his silence so badly, and really it was a mistake on his part. Sousuke never wanted Rin to worry about him while he was on the path towards the Olympic stage. He sighs and takes another sip of water, places it on the counter, and does a few shoulder rolls with his right shoulder. Sousuke has been down in the dumps since he left Iwatobi in March. When his father and stepmother visited his mother in Iwatobi, all he saw was black. His parents fought over what should happen to him.   Should he get surgery? Should he hold off on surgery? Should he stay? Should he leave? Who would pay? Sousuke frowns as he feels his shoulders tense with memories of all the fighting his mom and dad did throughout his life. For as long as he could remember, his mom and dad always fought about something, and he tried his best to stay out of the line of fire.

His mom would always complain that his dad was gone for too long on business. But his father is a CEO of an electronics company in Tokyo, and would always leave for long periods of time. They fought about moving several times, but Sousuke’s mom couldn’t bear to leave her hometown and family. It was the worst when he was around 11 years old. His parents ended up getting divorced and his dad apparently had a mistress who he ended up marrying the year after, her name is Sakura. His dad and Sakura live in a house they own in Tokyo, and he even has an older stepsister, Yumiko.

Sousuke tilts his head back and stares at the ceiling as he takes deep breaths through his nose, clenching his hands tightly and then unclenching his hands, releasing the tension in his muscles. He remembers his mom being so upset when he had to live with his dad for a couple years during high school. Sousuke really didn’t want to leave Iwatobi, but his mom told him he didn’t have a choice and that he would just have to hold his tongue. Thankfully, Tokitsu High was well known for its swim team, which made the transition only slightly less painful. Sousuke’s frown deepens and he closes his eyes as he raises his hands up and harshly grasps his black locks of hair.

Slowly, he tries to soothe himself, unclenching fistfuls of hair and just running his hands through his hair, massaging his scalp with small circles motions. He remembers how much he hated coming home from school when he was in Tokyo. Watching his dad, Sakura, and Yumiko sitting around the table like nothing was fucking wrong. Sousuke bottled his feelings up tight, not saying anything about how disgusted it make him feel. He knew Yumiko had notions that he was a ticking time bomb. He really didn’t want any attention from his family, so he put all his strength and energy into working out and swimming. It made him feel better, releasing all that tension through workouts and strenuous swimming practice. As long as he kept his grades up, no one suspected anything.

Sousuke clicks his tongue and looks to the side, crossing his arms. But that was his downfall, wasn’t it? He worked out until his muscles hurt, he swam until his arms and legs felt so worn out that he couldn’t move. He overworked himself, and no one knew. He was a master of hiding his true feelings under a thick shell of indifference. When he started noticing something was wrong, when his right shoulder would ache strangely, he had no idea who he could talk to. He didn’t make friends at Tokitsu, he didn’t trust anyone in Tokyo. At the time, Sousuke had no idea that he was hurting himself and everything just spiraled downward. Sousuke would get frustrated, and when he finally broke down and attempted to talk to his dad, he just had to brag to his friends and associates that his son was going to be an Olympic star.

Sousuke rolls his eyes, what a load of crap. He couldn’t talk to his dad, he was always babbling about how important it is to be successful, rich, and powerful. So, Sousuke kept his mouth shut until one day Yumiko walked in on him when he was having trouble putting a shirt on. She made him go to the doctor and to physical therapy.   Yumiko did not disclose any problems to his dad, and made Sakura lie too. She convinced her mother to facilitate with medical bills and appointments, all the while lying to his father.

Sousuke grabs his cup and saunters out of the kitchen and plops himself back onto his plush couch in the living room. He crosses his legs on the glass coffee table in front of the couch, and downs the rest of the water in his mug. Sousuke’s dad was livid when he found out that he had a torn rotator cuff. It was the first time he saw his dad and Sakura argue, and it just had to be right in front of him in the doctor’s office. Yumiko tried to pull Sousuke away, but he refused and watched. Sousuke tightens his grip on the black mug in front of him and glares at it. He wonders if everyone who has to deal with him ends up sad or just leaves him eventually.

Sousuke leans forward and puts the empty mug down on the coffee table. With two hands, he lifts his arms up and rubs the back of his neck and shoulders. He ended up getting surgery in April, just a week and half after graduation from Samezuka. His dad didn’t want him staying in Iwatobi, and came to the conclusion that it would be best if he had the surgery in Tokyo. Sousuke really didn’t want to go back to Tokyo and live with his dad. However, Sakura seemed to know this and convinced his dad to get him an apartment fairly close to university where he can study during the second trimester.

It’s November now, and his recovery from surgery was hellish. He had a physical therapist, a rehabilitation specialist, Yumiko and Sakura looking after him during his recovery. Now, he is pretty much fully recovered, but he hasn’t gotten the ‘ok’ from his doctor that he can swim yet. Sousuke’s shoulder feels so much better than it did when he fucked it up, and then tried to hide it. He feels like he has his arm back in a strange sense. Never will he overwork his muscles again and ignore signs from his body that he has done too much. He learned his lesson, and it was at the cost of a precious dream. The dream he shared with Rin, to stand on the Olympic stage with him. All that hard work training himself to be the best swimmer in the world shattered the day the doctor pierced his heart with news of his injury.

Sousuke rubs his face with his hands, and looks down at his cellphone sitting next to him on the couch. His thoughts go back to the text conversation he had with Rin. Sousuke sighs lightly, tilting his head back on the coffee suede fabric behind him and closes his eyes. Rin was the first person he ever trusted, and is still the only person he trusts. Rin was like a radiant ball of energy that spreads blindingly positive light in every thing he does. Rin had touched him in a way that had given him hope, hope that life was worth living. As long as Rin was around, he would do anything to support him, to guide him towards his dream and Sousuke believes that is what he did for the most part. Somewhere along the way, Sousuke fell hard for Rin without realizing it. He doesn’t remember when his feelings changed to that of love, he just realized it one day in high school.

Sousuke rubs his temples with his left hand, gently putting pressure with his thumb and middle finger, rubbing small circles. He wanted to confess to Rin after they graduated, but he didn’t know how to go about it. But then, they just had to run into Makoto one evening, and Makoto just had to ask about that damn trip to Australia. Sousuke was also curious about the events that took place in Australia, but Rin deflected his questions constantly until he just stopped asking about it. But that night, when Makoto asked if Rin and Nanase slept together, he felt his heart sink. Rin had always been ‘Haru this,’ and ‘Haru that,’ but not once did he think there was something romantic between them, only rivalry.

Makoto always seem to have a knack of knowing what’s going on with Nanase, and Makoto was never the type of guy to confront or argue. But since Makoto knew something was up with Nanase and that it had to do with Rin, it just pissed him off. He was mad at Makoto for bringing that up, he was mad at Rin for slipping through his fingers, and he was mad at Nanase for taking Rin away from him. Ever since that talk, Rin really took what Makoto said to heart. Sousuke drops his hand from his face and opens his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Sousuke remembers Rin telling him that he was dating Nanase officially the evening he was packing to go to Tokyo.

Sousuke remembers the beautiful smile in his eyes, his lips, his body language and he really just wanted to embrace him and keep him all to himself. But when the words finally sunk in, he was shocked, and it must have shown on his face because Rin got so worried and ended up packing his things for him. Sousuke desperately wanted to be happy for him, be a good friend and tell him that it was great and whatever, but he was heartbroken. He couldn’t say anything, he just sat there and watched Rin pack his things.

Sousuke grunts, picks up his phone that is sitting right next to him and looks at Makoto’s cellphone number. He stops as his thumb hovers above the numbers. Sousuke clicks his tongue and opens a text message window and starts writing.

[To: Makoto

Hey! Rin gave me your number so we can like talk or something. ]

Sousuke furrows his eyebrows and stares at the message. He wonders why the hell it’s so important that he even makes any sort of contact with Makoto. He remembers Makoto always being a worrisome, friendly, motherly kind of guy who often played the roles of mediator and peacemaker. Sousuke looks at the message again and deletes it. “Forget it. Maybe I’ll just check out the café tomorrow.” Sousuke gets up and heads to his bedroom to try and sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

November 8th, Saturday, 1:52pm

Inside the Sports Activity Center, Makoto is wearing black form fitted jeans with white trim, a plain white long sleeved shirt layered with a fitted short sleeve black t-shirt with a picture of a humpback whale rather than his usual orca on the front. Makoto also has a hunter green backpack and a loose fitting hoodie that is midnight black with large green dots on it.

Makoto is leaning against the rail of the catwalk holding his phone with both hands horizontally. He is recording Haru’s practice competition. Makoto is smiling as Haru makes the turn and uses his powerful legs to kick the wall of the pool, “Wow! Haru-chan is in the lead now!”

After Haru touches the wall, takes off his goggles and swim cap to shake his hair back and forth, Makoto jumps up and down in excitement and laughs. Makoto hits the red button on his phone and stops the recording. He opens up a text window.

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

OMG Rin! Haru is awesome! Check out the vid I’m sending you! You will be so proud of your boyfriend! ^_^ ]

Makoto attaches the video he just recorded to his text and sends it to Rin. Makoto also texts Nagisa, Rei, and Gou the video he took of Haru. Smiling to himself, he looks down to see that Honda-sensei is talking to all the swimmers who participated, and decided to go downstairs to wait for Haru to finish up.

As Makoto waits for Haru downstairs in the main lobby of the facility, he receives several texts.

[To: Mako-chan

From: Nagisa

OMG!!! Awesome!! Haru-chan is AMAZING! ^_~ Awwwwww!!! I wish I was there to see it! LUCKY!]

[To: Makoto-senpai

From: Rei

Makoto-senpai! I am so honored to see such beauty! BEAUTIFUL~~~]

[To: Makoto

From: Gou

Ah~~~ Haruka-senpai is so awesome! I can tell that he has been working out everyday! His muscles are gorgeous! ^____^ Did you send the vid to Nii-san? ]

Makoto chuckles to himself as he reads all the messages from his friends. His heart aches, wishing that he could be back in Iwatobi with all of them. During these special moments, he remembers how close they all were and the warmth they all emitted when they were together, but its getting harder and harder to hold on to those strong emotions of happiness as the months go by. Makoto’s face falls, looks away from his phone, and clutches his phone close to his heart. “Nagisa, Rei, Gou…I miss you all so much…you have no idea.”

Makoto hears voices coming down the hall and turns around. He sees Haru among the crowd and waves at him happily. Haru notices Makoto, looks at his colleagues and says something to them before walking over to Makoto.

Haru says, “Makoto…I was wond…” Makoto gets up and glomps him with excitement, “Haru you were absolutely amazing! I am so impressed by your speed and your form has improved so much since we started university. I had to share it with all our friends, and they are all so proud of you, Haru!”

Haru just stands there as Makoto gives him a great big bear hug, “Ma…Makoto…that’s enough…”

Makoto smiles and lets Haru go. He could tell by his tone that he is smiling on the inside, “Did you want to have an early dinner or something?”

Haru looks up at Makoto, looks back at his colleagues, and then looks back at Makoto, “The rest of the guys want to go out and celebrate our practice match. I was wondering if you wanted to come, but I remembered you saying that you didn’t sleep well last night…so you don’t have to come if you’re tired.”

Makoto ponders for a moment, looking at Haru, at the swim team, and then back at Haru, “Haru, thanks for looking out for me. Yeah…maybe you’re right. I think I should go home and take a nap. I am pretty tired. But, please go out with your team and celebrate. Tomorrow, I’ll take you out to lunch to celebrate.”

Haru stares at Makoto, “I don’t have to go, I can go wit…”

Makoto puts his hand on Haru’s shoulder and gently squeezes, “No, Haru. You need to spend time with your team. They want to celebrate with you. Please don't skip out just because of me. Go on! I will be a good boy and rest. Don’t worry.” Makoto gives him one of his trademark smiles.

Haru and Makoto stare at each other for a couple minutes. Makoto gives him another reassuring smile to give Haru the courage to go out and celebrate with his swim team.

Haru sighs, “Ok. I will go. I will call you later tonight.”

Makoto chuckles, “Thank you, Haru. Have fun and eat more than just mackerel, please. I will talk to you later tonight.” Makoto hugs Haru and squeezes gently. Makoto waves to Haru and heads to the subway to go home and rest, but before he gets on the subway, he feels his phone vibrate and fishes it out of his pocket.

[To: Tachibana

From: Watanabe-san

Tachibana! Did you go to history class this week? I didn’t go and I was wondering if you have notes from class. Can I borrow them? I’m at the café working…be here til 8 pm. ]

[To: Watanabe-san

From: Tachibana

No problem, Watanabe-san. I will have to stop by at my apartment and grab my notebook. I’ll text you when I head to the café. ]

[To: Tachibana

From: Watanabe-san

OMG! Tachibana! You are a lifesaver! I owe you one. ^_~ ]

Makoto checks the time, it’s 3:37pm. Makoto has plenty of time to get the notes to Watanabe-san, but he won’t be able to take a nap.

\------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke gets off the subway and checks his phone to make sure that he got off at the right subway station to get to Momento Café. Sousuke checks the map and sees that the café is only 5 or 6 blocks away from the subway station. He stuffs his phone back in his indigo blue hoodie, and shoves his hands into his pockets. He walks up the subway station stairs, and sees that there is still some light out. He glances at the clock at the front of the station showing that it’s 5:27pm. He slowly walks out of the station and shivers slightly as the cool autumn breeze brushes against his cheeks. He sees a flurry of colorful leaves swirl around the sidewalk as he steps into the street. He pauses and pulls his black scarf out of his backpack and wraps the cozy warmth around his neck.

Sousuke walks to the café and spots it immediately across the street with a bright yellow awning that says, “Momento Café” in cursive English writing with katakana under the logo. The café is a decent size, it could easily hold about 30 people or so. Sousuke walks across the street, opens the door, and is immediately hit with the fragrance of a variety of coffee blends.

Sousuke breathes in deeply and relishes in the delicious smells of baked goods and delectable sandwiches, all the while enjoying the toasty warm fireplace near the seating area. He walks over to the counter and sees a large variety of sweet and savory options from chiffon mousse cakes to toasty panini sandwiches. Sousuke looks up at the menu behind and above the counter, he notices that there are quite a few different beverages listed.

Sousuke decides that since it’s late in the day he doesn’t want coffee and looks toward the cashier. He walks up, and says, “Hi, I would like to order a large chai latte. Is it possible to get it more on the spicy side than sweet side?”

The waitress looks at Sousuke with a smile, “Yes, I will make a note of it. Will that be all sir?”

Sousuke looks at the sandwiches, “I guess I’ll have the cranberry turkey sandwich with a side of leafy greens. And this is all for here.”

The waitress rings up Sousuke, he pays for his order and is given a number to take to his table. Sousuke moves over to the side so the person behind him can make his order. He takes a look around and spots a free table close to the front window. Sousuke takes his dark grey backpack off, sets it down on one of the two chairs, takes a seat on the other and puts the number “24” on the table for his order.

Sousuke notices that the seats are a deep burgundy color, and nicely cushioned. He takes a look around. There are several small round tables like the one he’s sitting at, two large rectangular tables in the very back and it looks like they were made for big parties or study groups. He also takes notice that on the other side of the café are counters and bar-style stools for those that come in by themselves. He takes a look around and he notices that the vibe in the café reminds him of an antique feeling, with a modern twist with the dark browns, reds, and golds in the interior of the café. He decides that it’s a nice place to just chill and study especially with the free wifi. He can faintly hear some jazz music coming from the speakers above.

The waitress that tended to him at the register comes by with his order, “Here you go sir. Please enjoy. If there is anything else you need, please let us know.” She bows lightly before she takes her tray and heads back behind the counter. Sousuke feels himself salivate as the scent of delicious food awakens his senses. He lifts up one of the sandwich halves and digs right in.   As he takes a bite, he notices that the bread is toasty, buttery, and golden on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. The flavors burst into his mouth, at first he can taste the rich, moist, and well-seasoned turkey harmonizing with the sweet, yet sour cranberry spread. The flavors are perfectly complemented and mellowed out by the very mild, creamy, and gooey Brie cheese. Sousuke is thoroughly enjoying his sandwich and polishes off the whole thing. He smiles, wipes his hands on a napkin and takes out his phone from his hoodie.

Sousuke takes a picture of his chai and gets part of the front counter as background to show Rin. He opens a text window.

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

You happy now?! I’m at the café where Makoto works, but I don’t think he’s working today. ]

Unbeknownst to Sousuke, Makoto rushes into the café, cheeks flushed pink due to the combination of running to the café and the nippy air outside. Makoto walks up to the cashier and says, “Watanabe-san! I have my notes in my bag. I’ll let you borrow them, but can you give them back to me on Monday? I’ll be working the afternoon shift…ummm…at 2:00pm. Would that be okay?”

As Makoto swings his backpack off and onto the counter to fish out his notebook, Watanabe-san says, “Oh! Of course! Yes! I will look through your notes tomorrow and get up to speed. I can totally drop by on Monday and give them to you!” Makoto gives her the red spiral bound notebook and says, “Thanks. And since I’m here as a customer for once, I would like to order a mocha with extra whip.”

Watanabe-san covers her mouth and giggles, “Oh you! So cute with your extra whip! Sure! And don’t you dare take that wallet out! You work here for heavens sake. It’s free, silly!”

Makoto smiles sheepishly, “Ah…well…I thought it would be a nice gesture. But ok. Thanks, Watanabe-san!”

Watanabe-san chortles, “Oh Tachibana! Go sit down anywhere. I know what you look like, I think I can manage without handing you a number card. Go on!”

Makoto giggles at Watanabe-san and steps away from the counter to find a spot to sit at. He quickly glances around for an empty table and finds one. He sits down and puts down his hunter green backpack on the table. Makoto’s cell phone vibrates.

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

Dude! DUDE! That was frickin’ awesome! ^_^ I have a skype chat scheduled with Haru tomorrow evening! I’m gonna tell him you sent that awesome vid to me. My sexy merman has totally improved. Thanks for the eye candy, Makoto! ^_~ Btw, where are you right now? ]

Makoto tilts his head as he reads Rin’s message. He thinks, _that’s a bit of a strange question, what is he trying to say, I wonder._

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

You are so very welcome! \\( ^o^)/ Haru was amazing! Wish you were there to see it in person. Umm, well I’m actually at the café where I work, but I’m not working today. I’m a customer for a change. (((o(*ﾟ▽ ﾟ*)o))) One of my co-workers wanted to borrow my notes, so I made some time to swing by. ]

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

Here’s the number btw. Call it now. Trust me. Just do it! Then look around… ]

Makoto raises one eyebrow in suspicion. He hesitates before actually following through with the request. The last time he followed through with one of Rin’s requests when he sent him a phone number he ended up on some phone sex line with some supposedly hot guy. Makoto was so embarrassed and sounded like an absolute idiot to the complete stranger on the other end of the line. If Rin has the gall to do something like that again, he totally will bomb his Skype chat with Haru tomorrow. Makoto smiles lightly as he comes up with a shady plan to ruin Rin’s ‘Skype date’ if he messes with him like that again.

Makoto’s thumb hovers over the phone number that Rin has provided him. Makoto takes a deep breath and clicks on the number, his phone registers the command and starts calling the number. Makoto looks around to see if anyone picks up the phone.

Sousuke put his phone down on the table after texting Rin. He grasps the handle of the cream colored ceramic cup and slowly brings the chai up to his lips. He takes a whiff of the steamy beverage and notices a faint spicy scent with moderate notes of clove and cardamom. Sousuke tilts his head slightly and knits his eyebrows wondering if the beverage is truly more spicy than sweet. He tenderly blows on the chai to cool it down before he brings the hot ceramic cup to his lips and takes a generous sip. Sousuke gets a great mouth feel of the smooth and frothy texture that comes from the steamed milk, the flavor is mildly spicy, and gracefully dances on his taste buds.

Sousuke puts the cup down. He thinks that the flavor is nice and mellow, but not enough of the kick that he prefers. Suddenly his phone rings, he looks at the phone and doesn’t recognize the number right away. He lets it ring a couple of times before he decides to answer the phone.

As Makoto has his phone to his ear, he is looking around the café for anyone ready to pick up a phone call. He hears a classical tune that is typically used for ringtones, and turns around to look behind him and he spots a young man with short onyx hair, sun kissed skin, wearing a deep blue hoodie, a midnight black scarf, and knitted eyebrows as he looks at the phone before answering. Makoto knows who he is, he’s seen him before and didn’t expect to see him so soon. Makoto hears his deep sensuous voice on the receiver, “Hello?”

Makoto just stares at Yamazaki-kun as he waits for his reply. Makoto quickly recovers and whispers, “Ya-ya-mazaki-kun…lo-look up. I’m sitting in front of you…”

Sousuke eyes shoot up and looks right in front of him. He sees a tall man with shocked wide emerald eyes, olive skin, sandy brown hair, wearing a black hoodie with green polka dots and a black t-shirt with a whale on it. Sousuke hangs up the phone and just stares at Makoto, mildly surprised to see him sitting down instead of working at the coffee shop.

Watanabe-san walks up to Makoto and places a hand on his forearm, Makoto looks up as Watanabe-san says, “Tachibana, here’s your mocha with extra whip. Again, thanks for coming to my rescue.” She winks at him as she puts down the beverage on his table and walks back to the counter.

Makoto flushes lightly and rubs the back of his neck laughing nervously. He was about to apologize to Watanabe-san, but she walked away before he had a chance. Makoto looks back at Yamazaki-kun.

Sousuke watched the interaction between Makoto and the waitress. When Makoto looks back at him, he holds his gaze. He notices that Makoto’s cheeks are flushed with a touch of pink and wonders why he just stares at him like that. Sousuke gives Makoto a look of indifference, now that the initial shock of seeing him has faded.

Makoto breaks eye contact first, turning around in his chair. He takes a couple of deep breaths to calm down, puts his phone back in his pocket. Makoto gets up slowly, grabs his backpack and his mocha. Makoto moves to the side and gently pushes the chair in with his hips. He walks over to Yamazaki-kun’s table and puts down his mocha.

Sousuke looks up as Makoto places his mocha on the table, he moves his backpack off the second chair, and places it on the floor. Makoto puts his backpack, next to Yamazaki-kun’s on the floor and sits right next to him.

Sousuke is a bit surprised Makoto decided to sit right next to him and Sousuke looks at him quizzically. He decides to just keep quiet, waiting for Makoto to start up some sort of conversation. He notices that Makoto still has pink stained cheeks, and he distinctly smells a sweet, woodsy fragrance mildly emanating from Makoto, which he guesses is some kind of cologne. Sousuke leans over the table, puts his left elbow on it, and rests his chin on his palm, and wonders how this first meeting will go. Sousuke really didn’t want to have any interaction with Makoto today, in fact he was certain that the backstroke swimmer wouldn’t walk through the door of the café as a customer.

Makoto notices that Yamazaki-kun is staring at him, his heart is racing, he’s feeling nervous because they never really talked like friends before. In fact, Yamazaki-kun never really seemed interested in making friends with him when they were kids and it’s a little awkward to be sitting so close to him. He remembered when they were younger after Yamazaki-Kun lost a race to Haru, he had tried to help him out of the pool, but Yamazaki-Kun just ignored his offer at the time.

He turns his head towards Yamazaki-kun and gives him his trademark smile, tilting his head to the side slightly. “So Yamazaki-kun…it’s been a while since we last saw each other. How have you been?…uhhh…well…I don’t mean to pry. J-j-just that…” Makoto sighs and his expression shifts to one of pure nervousness. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be rude or anything. I-I…just wanted to talk with you. I hope you aren’t offended by me asking.” Makoto rips his eyes away from Yamazaki-kun, afraid he may just walk up and leave now that they are sitting together. Makoto puts his hands around the ceramic cup containing his mocha.

Sousuke can clearly see that Makoto is suddenly hiding under a shell, retracting himself and apologizing profusely. He says a bit more forcefully than he means to, “Stop that. You don’t have to apologize all the time, you know. Rin told me that he gave you my number, if anything this is his fault not yours.”

Makoto holds his breath as he listens to Yamazaki-kun. He sounds frustrated. The brunette exhales slowly, picks up his mocha and takes a long sip. Makoto closes his eyes briefly as he is overcome with the soothing flavor of chocolate; it’s comforting, rich, and overwhelmingly smooth. The mocha is a perfect blend of espresso and chocolate. It’s like a symphony as the chocolate dances with the slight bitter taste of coffee. The flavors intoxicate the bitter and sweet taste buds in his mouth creating a complex flavor profile.

Makoto puts the cup down and says softly, “Rin is just worried about you. And I’m worried about you. No one is at fault, Yamazaki-kun. Rin is trying to be a good friend. I-I-I would like to be your friend too if you let me.”

Sousuke sighs and rubs the rim of his ceramic cup. He considers what Makoto said. Makoto sounded scared but firm at the same time. He looks over at Makoto and sees a sad and forlorn expression on his face. Sousuke looks away, feeling a bit guilty for putting such an expression on Makoto’s face. ‘ _A smile belongs on your face Makoto, not that sad, pathetic kind of face.’_

“I didn’t mean to come off so harshly, Makoto. Don’t take it personal. I’m…not exactly happy about the fact that Rin is butting into my business. I’m fine really.”

Makoto looks at Sousuke curiously, and smiles timidly. “Friends care for each other, Yamazaki-kun. He probably felt that you weren’t taking care of the friendship the two of you have. Rin isn’t here to reassure himself that you are ok. You know…by…by watching you, looking into your eyes and…”

Sousuke interrupts Makoto firmly, “Stop! Don’t say things like that. Rin is not like that!” Sousuke grabs his cup and takes a long gulp of his chai. He sets the ceramic cup down with a bit of force, causing the ceramic to bang against the ceramic saucer.

Makoto winces slightly by the sound. He looks at Yamazaki-kun glaring down at his cup and holding the handle tightly. Makoto closes his eyes and says gently, “I’ll be completely honest, Yamazaki-kun. You just give off an air of coldness and indifference and it’s intense. You frighten me. But, I think it’s because I don’t know you, I don’t know what bothers you, what makes you smile, what makes you angry, what makes you laugh. I-I…just want both you and Rin to be on good terms. Have suppo…”

Sousuke grunts, continues to glare at his cup and says bitterly, “You don’t ever shut up do you? So, annoying.”

Makoto frowns and a pang of pain fills his chest. Frustration overtakes him and he grabs Yamazaki-kun’s right forearm and tightens his hold on him, forcing him to look at him, “It’s easy to just sit there and criticize when you aren’t the one putting yourself out there Yamazaki-kun. With all due respect…I am truly worried about you, and I have been worried about you for a long time now. But you seem to push my feelings aside, just the same as you did Rin’s. It’s rude and disrespectful to continue such behavior if you really want to keep the people you love and care for in your life. Sooner or later people will leave you alone and you are going to be sitting down right here wondering what the hell you did to deserve such treatment. So, I suggest you listen and consider what others have to say to you instead of tossing their thoughts and feelings aside like trash.” Makoto lets go of Yamazaki-kun’s arm. Makoto runs his hand through his hair and looks away from Yamazaki-kun.

Makoto is embarrassed by what he just said to Yamazaki-kun. He thinks, ‘ _Oh my god! What the hell did I just do. I…I just ran my mouth and said what was on my mind. I’m horrible.’_ Makoto takes a few deep breaths and mulls over what he said again. He worries that Yamazaki-kun will get in his face and yell at him…just like Takeshi does.

Makoto has been getting better at keeping a calm exterior, but he hasn’t been able to shake the nervous and worrisome interior. Makoto clenches his fists on his things, and takes a few shaky breaths.

As soon as Makoto looks away, Sousuke eyes widen, and parts his mouth slightly. Sousuke was blown away by what Makoto said. It stung. He looks down, ashamed for acting like a petulant child. Sousuke frowns, looks up, and stares at Makoto. Makoto is refusing to look his way.

He is impressed with the resolve Makoto has shown him, telling him the truth, telling him that he was basically acting like an asshole. He’s never seen Makoto stand up for himself in any way. Sousuke smiles to himself, “Thanks. I think I needed that. I’m a little shocked to hear you speak your mind like this. Makoto…look at me. I want to apologize to you…appropriately.” Sousuke gently puts his right hand on Makoto’s shoulder and shakes him tenderly. “Come on. Turn around and face me.”

Makoto turns around slowly and looks at Yamazaki-kun. His eyes are watering and he is trying his best not to cry.

Sousuke feels a moderate wave of guilt flood him for almost making Makoto cry. Sousuke moves his chair to move closer to Makoto, then places both of his hands on Makoto’s shoulders, gently encouraging Makoto to face him. Makoto follows Sousuke’s lead, and moves in his chair to face him. Sousuke’s face softens as he looks Makoto in the eyes, “Makoto, I am sorry. I am sorry for trampling on your feelings. You are just trying to help me. And, I will apologize to Rin sometime soon for being a lousy friend, okay? I promise.”

Makoto genuinely has a look of surprise written all over his face, his eyes shift back and forth looking into Sousuke’s eyes to see if he is telling the truth. Makoto doesn’t see any kind of deceit in his eyes, looks down and unclenches his hands. Makoto laughs anxiously as his muscles relax, “Yamazaki-kun…” he looks up and holds Yamazaki-kun’s gaze, Makoto smiles sweetly, “Thank you. For listening…and reconsidering. I’m sure you have your reasons to be upset. If you need anything, please come and talk to me. I will be holding you to your promise.”

Sousuke feels relieved for some reason, and smiles lightly, “Call me Sousuke. No need to be so formal Makoto.” He let’s go of Makoto and turns in his chair, leans forward to grab his cup to take a sip of his chai.

Makoto laughs wholeheartedly as he shifts in his chair and wraps his hands around his mug of mocha again. Makoto feels relief and gratification that he didn’t slip up by apologizing profusely. It took a lot of effort for Makoto to hold back the words of apology, but he felt that an apology would have ruined the respect that he had just earned from Yamazaki-kun.

Makoto’s heart feels light, he is happy that Sousuke has acknowledged him, and proud of himself for having courage. Makoto has been working hard to do right by his friends, and in turn for himself. He knows that he still has a long way to go, but he made a promise to himself and to his mother that he would celebrate the times he notices progress.

Makoto glances at Sousuke with a brilliant, uplifting air about him, “Sousuke.” Makoto giggles, “It feels so good to say your name like this. I’ve always wondered what it would feel like. I-I…I’m…happy, truly.”

Sousuke glances over to look at Makoto, and can’t help the blush that forms on his cheeks. He feels himself staring at Makoto a few moments too long, and looks back at his mug of chai. He covers his mouth with his hand as he tries to compose himself. Sousuke suddenly feels an unexpected surge of awkwardness that builds within him. The raven-haired boy has been rendered speechless.

Makoto takes a sip of his mocha, enjoying the burst of flavor that flows throughout his senses. The creamy and chocolatey mocha tastes heavenly. Makoto looks over at Sousuke and then looks over at his mug. Makoto says curiously, “I see you ordered a chai. What do you think? Is it good?”

Sousuke slightly lifts his head up as Makoto speaks. He processes what Makoto says and chuckles to himself, “Yeah. I got a chai, but I asked for it to be more spicy than sweet. That…didn’t quite happen. I mean…it tastes fine, I’m okay with it.”

Makoto presses his lips together before he says, “Um…can I take a sip? Uhh…I just want to see how it was made. I’m a barista here, so if you ever come by when I’m working, maybe I can work on catering to your taste.”

Sousuke looks over at Makoto with an incredulous expression. It takes Sousuke a moment before saying, “Ha? Yo-you want to drink my chai?”

Makoto chuckles as he lifts his hand up to his mouth, partially covering it. “Yes. I want to try your chai. All the baristas make the drinks a little differently. I would like to taste it and come up with my own analysis, if that makes sense.”

Sousuke looks back down to his chai, and shrugs, “I guess. Knock yourself out.” He hands his mug over to Makoto. Makoto lifts both hands to take it from Sousuke, their hands touch as Makoto takes the mug into his hands.

Makoto looks down at the chai, and takes a whiff of it before bringing the mug up to his lips and taking a moderate sip of the chai. Makoto closes his eyes and lets the flavor dance on his tongue. He can taste the smooth, frothy texture, and the sugary, mild flavor notes of spiciness. Makoto moves the cup away from his lips that slightly part, looks down and notices that there isn’t much of the chai left. “Sorry…I think I drank more than I meant to. Do you want the rest of it?”

Sousuke gently places his hand over Makoto’s and guides their hands over to him so Sousuke can see how much of the beverage is left, he snickers, “Nah. Go ahead and finish it off.”

Makoto smiles sheepishly and nods, “Okay. Thanks. If you want, you can drink the rest of my mocha. I don’t want you to feel cheated…and it was my fault. I’ll take responsibility.”

Sousuke smirks, “I’ll accept your offer, if you tell me what you think about my drink.”

Makoto tilts his head, “Okay. Let me just take another sip.” Makoto closes his eyes as he finishes the chai. He opens his eyes, puts the cup down on the table and tenderly holds the cup in his hands. “I think the texture is good, and I am assuming that you have no qualms with the texture of the drink. However, I do think it is a little too sweet. There is a mild spicy flavor in the chai. If I made it, I don’t think I would have sweetened as much as this one.” Makoto ponders to himself, wondering what he would change, but comes up with nothing. “Hmm…I’m not sure if I would change the spiciness level of the drink, but I can definitely look into that. I’ll play with a few recipes, don’t you worry Sousuke. Tell me what you think.”

Sousuke raises one eyebrow, “Look into it? Makoto you don’t have to do that for me. No need to go out of your way just to make a drink to my liking. It’s just a drink.”

Makoto gives him a disapproving look, “I know I don’t have to do anything for anyone. I want to look into it because I would like to make you happy. Even if it’s a small stupid thing like a drink. And, tell me Sousuke. What did you think about my assessment?”

Sousuke reaches over and takes Makoto’s drink, taking a large gulp of the beverage. He looks down at the drink in his hands before answering Makoto. “Well, you got it right. I did think it was too sweet. I wanted it spicy, which it wasn’t. And this mocha is quite good.”

Makoto smiles widely, “Okay, I will keep that in mind. Mochas are one of my favorite drinks here. But the hot chocolate is absolutely scrumptious. I make a delicious hot chocolate. Although, I would recommend the dark hot chocolate and not the milk hot chocolate for you. I think it would match your taste better.”

Sousuke casts his eyes up to look at Makoto and smiles, “Now you’re making recommendations.” He laughs. “Alright, maybe I’ll come back and check your drinks out.”

Makoto flushes lightly, a rosy pink color graces his cheeks and ears. “Yes, please. I would be honored to make you a drink when I’m working.” Makoto looks away and rubs the back of his neck as he remembers that he has something in his apartment that belongs to Sousuke, “Ummm…this may be a bit bold of me, but I do want to return something to you. Y-y—your clothes. Uhh, not sure if you remember, but I borrowed your clothes a while back…you know, at Samezuka. I’ve been meaning to give it back to you, but you left before I could properly return them. I actually brought them with me here, to Tokyo. If you have some time…maybe we can head to my apartment, and I-I can give them back to you.”

Sousuke thinks about Makoto’s proposal. He tries to remember the situation that Makoto described. Sousuke takes some time to reflect on the past, trying to recall when he could have offered to give Makoto any of his clothes. A couple minutes pass before Sousuke remembers the event. It was almost a week after graduation, and Makoto came over to Samezuka to give Momotaro a beetle that Makoto’s brother found somewhere. Rin had complained about the noise coming from Nitori and Momotaro’s dorm room and they found Makoto talking with them. Rin and Makoto went over to the pool and sat by the pool’s edge, until Rin pushed Makoto into the pool. They raced after that, but Makoto’s clothes were wet. Sousuke now remembers offering his clothes up to Makoto since his clothes were wet and Makoto needed to go back home. Sousuke didn’t want him getting sick or anything.

Sousuke picks up his phone that was left forgotten on the table to check the time, it’s 7:02pm. He doesn’t have any plans for the evening and says, “Sure. I don’t have anything scheduled tonight. If it’s alright with you, I can go with you to your apartment to pick it up.”

Makoto looks astonished with Sousuke’s answer, and rubs his arm up and down. Makoto says, “O-Of course. I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mean it. But, finish your mocha. Then we can head to my apartment. If it’s a mess…I apologize in advance.”

Sousuke snickers, “Just like you to apologize for something, even before I see your place.” Sousuke downs the mocha and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “Alright, done. Let’s go.” Sousuke gets up, puts his phone in his pocket, and grabs his backpack, “After you.”

Makoto chortles, “Okay.” He gets up and picks up his backpack. Makoto waves at Watanabe-san before heading out the front door with Sousuke following him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your support! I appreciate the comments and will be replying back to you soon ^////^ I will try my best to update this fic about once a week. It just depends on my schedule especially with the upcoming holidays. Hope you enjoyed this chapter <3 Feel free to message me ^^ Tumblr: http://lovelessmelodies.tumblr.com/


	3. Chapter 3

Makoto breathes in deeply as he and Sousuke walk towards the apartment complex. The sky is now a dark grey and the earlier autumn breeze has picked up to strong gusts. Sousuke pulls his scarf up to warm his cheeks and he glances at Makoto as they arrive at a brown door that reads 507.

The emerald-eyed teen fumbles in his pocket searching for his apartment key, his hands too cold to be as nimble as he’d like. He continues to search and smiles nervously when he finds it. He feels relief as he is able to put the key into the lock on his first try and opens the door.   When the door opens, warmth emerges from the room, and Makoto is relieved that his thermostat is working properly. Makoto walks in, turns on the lights, and says timidly, “Please excuse the mess, Sousuke.”

Sousuke follows Makoto into the apartment as he says, “Please excuse my intrusion.” Sousuke takes his shoes off after Makoto does, and places his backpack by the entryway. He sets down his scarf on his backpack and takes a moment to relish in the inviting warmth.

Makoto turns on the remaining lights and walks into the living room to give Sousuke space. Sousuke takes a few steps into the apartment and looks around nonchalantly, “Makoto, I don’t see a mess at all. Looks fine to me.” The raven-haired teen didn’t really have expectations about Makoto’s apartment, but since the brunette kept mentioning a mess in his apartment, Sousuke had visualizations about clothes being scattered around, dishes in the sink and stuff like that. However, he didn’t see any of that. Sousuke saw a well-maintained living space. The apartment looks small, but it has an inviting and cozy feel to it.

Makoto watches Sousuke take in his surroundings, and feels a bit anxious about what the teal-eyed boy thinks about it. The brunette decides to not ask about the apartment at all, and just let’s Sousuke keep his judgments to himself unless he wants to share them with him. Makoto walks over to his bedroom door, and looks over his shoulder, “Please come in here. This is my bedroom and where I keep my clothes, so, uhh…yeah.”

The onyx-haired teen turns his head to look at Makoto, “Okay.” Sousuke follows the green-eyed boy to his bedroom. He sees a full sized Western-style bed against the wall, a closet, a nightstand, a dresser, a desk, and a low, small square table for studying.

Makoto turns around to face Sousuke, “Sit anywhere you like. But, the bed is probably the most comfortable thing in here, so, please go ahead.” Makoto smiles at Sousuke as he heads to his closet and opens it up looking for Sousuke’s clothes.

Sousuke looks at the bed. The bed is neatly made, there are two standard sized pillows on the bed, a small jade green roll pillow with an orca on it against the wall, and the quilt on the bed has various shapes and swirls of green, yellows, and whites. He plops himself on the bed and places his hands behind him while leaning back on his arms. Sousuke watches Makoto digging into his closet, he chuckles. “Don’t remember where you put it?”

Makoto turns around and smiles sheepishly at Sousuke, “Uhhh, yeah. I have to admit, I did wear them a couple times while I was here in Tokyo. I kept thinking they were mine, and during midterms or finals or both…I don’t remember, I wore them. They are clean, I promise.”

Sousuke snickers, “If you say so. You’re bed is comfortable by the way. Nice quilt.”

Makoto furrows his eyebrows, for some reason he can’t find where he put Sousuke’s clothes. He knows that the pants were black puma sweatpants with a blue logo on it. The shirt he borrowed was a soft teal short sleeve v-neck t-shirt with the tag cut off, white and grey puma socks, black ribbed underwear with blue trim, and a black and blue pullover sweatshirt. Makoto is now on his hands and knees looking to see if maybe it fell on the floor, when he hears Sousuke.

The brunette peers out of his closet to answer Sousuke, “Ahhh, I’m glad the bed is to your liking Sousuke. I sleep on it all the time, so I think it’s pretty comfortable. And thanks. My mom made the quilt. It was a graduation gift.”

Sousuke raises his eyebrows, and looks at the quilt more carefully, “No way. Your mom made this? It looks so, professional. Your mom must be good at sewing.”

Makoto gets up from the floor and looks at Sousuke, “Awww. Thanks. I’ll let my mom know that my friend thinks her work looks great. That would make her blush.” Makoto laughs.

Sousuke looks over to the wooden nightstand and picks up a framed picture. He studies the photo, he clearly can tell which one is Makoto. He guesses that the other people in the picture are family members. He asks curiously, “Is this your family?”

Makoto walks over and sits next to Sousuke on the bed as he says, “Yeah.” The brunette starts pointing to the family members in the photo, “This is my mom, and this is my dad. And these two rascals are Ren and Ran, my little sister and little brother. I miss them a lot.” Makoto laughs nervously.

Sousuke looks at the brunette and smiles lightly before looking back at the photo, and says softly, “You all seem so close.”

The emerald-eyed teen detects a bit of sadness in Sousuke’s voice, and he looks at the teal-eyed teen staring at the picture. Not wanting the situation to become awkward, he says, “Yeah. We are close. We keep in contact frequently, but I’m sure you don’t want to hear about all that. I have to say, living here in the big city has been an experience. I really thought I was going to have a lot of problems, but it seems that I’ve been adjusting pretty well. How about you Sousuke? How have you been adjusting?”

Sousuke puts the photo back on the nightstand. He looks at Makoto, “I’ve lived in Tokyo before, so it wasn’t too hard to adjust. I have my own apartment. I like living by myself.”

Makoto looks down and crosses his ankles, “Oh. So you lived here before. I guess it was during the time you left Iwatobi. You know, I was curious about that. You just left. An-anyway, I’m glad that you didn’t have any problems adjusting. I find it hard being alone though. I’m so used to having my little siblings around, it gets lonely knowing no one will barge in sometimes.”

Sousuke sighs and looks at the ceiling, “Ah, you get used to it. I’m used to being alone most of the time. I can see you having trouble.”

Makoto gasps, “Wh-what? Am I that easy to read?” Makoto giggles at the whole situation.

Sousuke looks at the brunette incredulously. He can tell Makoto is trying to make things lighter between them, and he can’t help but feel a bit of gratitude about that. Finally, the raven-haired boy laughs gently, “Yeah. Sometimes, I guess.”

Makoto uncrosses his ankles and bumps his thigh against Sousuke’s, “I know. Haru says its one of my weaknesses, but I wonder if it also could be considered one of my many strengths.” The brunette shakes his head, and laughs nervously, “Ah…forget I mentioned that. I say some silly things sometimes.”

Sousuke shakes his head lightly, “Just depends on which angle you prefer, I guess. You and Nanase, huh? You guys have always been close. I remember you speaking up for him all the time. It was like Nanase couldn’t talk without you around. Used to piss me off. Nanase has his own voice, I used to hate it when you would speak for him.” Sousuke looks down and frowns.

Makoto looks at the teal-eyed teen, curious about what Sousuke meant. When they were younger, Haru didn’t really talk very much. Now that Sousuke mentions it, he remembers talking for Haru a lot, but the brunette just didn’t want people to misunderstand Haru, so he would speak up for him. It was Makoto’s way of protecting his best friend, and helping Haru gain friends too.

The brunette says carefully, “Hm. I guess you’re right. I did speak for Haru a lot. But there were times when Haru did speak up in front of you. Well…sorta. You guys argued quite a bit.”

Sousuke crosses his ankles and leans forward a bit, “You always had to talk first, you know. It just pissed me off how you could just talk for him. You were like his personal butler or something. No one wants to go through a secretary, just to talk to the person right behind you. Anyway…that’s in the past. Hope that’s still not true nowadays.”

Makoto takes a few deep breaths, taking in what Sousuke had to say. He never really thought about his relationship or friendship with Haru being like that. It was just the way things happened, and he didn’t have a problem with it. The brunette now understands why Sousuke didn’t like talking to him, and he feels a little upset with himself.

“I see.   I never really thought about that. How, you know…I would be perceived by others. I’m sorry if it made things difficult in the past. I was just, trying to be a good friend. Haru can be misunderstood sometimes, and I didn’t want him to shy away from others. Maybe that backfired on me, but I can’t change that. Haru and I are not like that anymore. He talks a lot more than he used to. So, you don’t have to worry about that.”

Sousuke moves his eyes to look at the brunette out of the corner of his eyes. He can see that Makoto is looking at his hands, and that the green-eyed teen is thinking about what he said. He looks away as he rubs his neck, “Yeah. Don’t take it personal. It bothered me a lot at the time.”

Makoto rubs the back of his hand, “It’s okay. I know I tend to be a bit emotional at times. I still have this strong desire for people to get along, I never thought it would bite back so harshly. Don’t take that the wrong way, I’d rather know than not know. Everything has a consequence. It makes sense now…why you didn’t accept my friendship in the past.”

Sousuke glances over at Makoto and knits his eyebrows lightly, “Honestly, yeah. I had this thought that you were just wanting to keep Nanase and I on peaceful terms. I couldn’t accept that. My beef is with Nanase, and his is with me.   It’s not something you could change. I was not sure what to expect if we became friends, so I refused every time.”

Makoto’s face falls and he feels sadness grow in his chest. The brunette really wanted to be his friend, get to know Sousuke more, understand him better, have direct interactions with the teal-eyed teen, instead of being the middle-man between Haru and Sousuke. If he had known what the raven-haired teen had just told him, would he have done something differently? The brunette can’t help but feel like he would have tried a different approach if he just knew why Sousuke refused his friendship in the past. Would things have been different? Would they have been friends way back when? Or would things be the same?

He looks up at Sousuke. The brunette sees that face of indifference, the wall is up all over his face.

Makoto frowns and his eyes soften, “Sousuke. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way. I wanted to be your friend because _‘ **I** ’_ wanted to get to know you. It had nothing to do with Haru then, and it still has nothing to do with him now. I…I did think about you a lot. I could tell that every time you came to swim club, you improved, you worked hard. I admired that about you. Maybe you never noticed, but I did watch you swim. I really wish I could have improved like you did.” Makoto looks away feeling awkward. He starts rubbing his thighs.

Sousuke looks at Makoto and slowly his eyes widen as he hears the brunette’s words. How can he just speak so sincerely like that. Isn’t it embarrassing to say such things directly? Makoto admired him, watched him during practice, and wanted to improve like he did.

Sousuke stumbles over his words, “Um, wait, you, you, wanted to be like me? I mean...” Sousuke pauses, and a blush stains his cheeks. He covers his mouth with his hand and continues, “I’m not sure what I mean. I’m just shocked to hear all this. I thought you only cared about Nanase and whomever flocks around him. Not, not, me.”

Makoto feels Sousuke’s embarrassment, and he starts to feel fazed too. When Makoto notices movement out of the corner of his eye, the brunette looks at Sousuke and sees him cover his mouth. Makoto’s mouth hangs open as he watches the teal-eyed teen. The brunette can’t help the smile that graces his features. It’s adorable how Sousuke gets all flustered.

Makoto has never seen Sousuke so embarrassed and he chuckles lightly, “Oh! You’re so cute when you’re flustered!” Makoto’s adverts his eyes wildly, “I-I…didn’t mean to say that out loud. Sorry. Don’t take that the wrong way…” Makoto flushes. He hopes that things don’t become awkward between them.  

Sousuke smiles and laughs at Makoto’s reaction, “Oh? And what way should I take that?” Sousuke bumps his thigh against Makoto’s.

Makoto looks at Sousuke and smiles nervously, “Um, I-I-I don’t know. Just…as a um, a compliment. I-I just never seen you so embarrassed before. It caught me off guard and I thought you looked cute…and forget I said that.” Makoto covers his face with his hands as his shoulders slump, “And now I’m rambling because I’m embarrassed.”

Sousuke just stares at Makoto, wondering how the brunette could possibly be so exposed. Rin also exposes his feelings to others, but not with feelings of embarrassment. Sousuke blurts without thinking, “How do you do that?”

Makoto peeks through his fingers and whimpers, “Hu-huh? What do you mean? What am I doing?”

Sousuke sighs lightly and shakes his head, “I don’t know how to explain it. Just, you are so comfortable with your own feelings.” Sousuke looks confused as he knits his eyebrows and rubs his forehead, “Wait. That didn’t come out right. You aren’t really comfortable, but expressive, maybe?” Sousuke gets frustrated with himself as he can’t seem to find the right words to state what he means. Sousuke groans, “Ugh, never mind. I don’t know how to say it right.”

Makoto looks at Sousuke curiously, slowly putting his hands down. He doesn’t quite understand what he means, but he has an idea. The brunette wonders if it makes Sousuke uncomfortable how he can identify his own feelings and communicate them to others. Being around Ran and Ren gave the brunette many instances of expressing many emotions and identifying their emotions too. Makoto wonders if that’s what Sousuke is referring to.

Makoto scratches the back of his head, “I don’t know how to answer that. I guess because I like being around kids, it’s a little easier to see how they feel, and I possibly just picked that up…maybe.” Makoto sighs, “I don’t think that explanation helped at all.”

Sousuke looks at Makoto through the corner of his eye, and raises an eyebrow, “Okay. Yeah. That didn’t help much. So, you like kids? I can see that.”

Makoto beams, “Yup! I’m planning on becoming a coach to teach kids how to swim. So, I’m majoring in physical education. During my last year of high school, I helped Coach Sasabe at the ITSC Returns, or the Iwatobi Swimming Club Returns. Anyway, I taught some of the kids how to swim, and the experience was amazing. I don’t think I would have found my calling if I didn’t help out.”

Sousuke nods, but then frowns as he looks at Makoto, “I see. What about swimming? Ever thought about swimming competitively?”

Makoto blinks at Sousuke, and then looks away as he shifts his weight on the bed, “Well…I don’t think competitive swimming is for me. I love swimming, but I don’t think I am built for competition. I mean, I’m glad I swam with all my friends. I wouldn’t exchange that experience for anything in the world. But, to swim competitively in the future…I don’t think I would be happy. I did struggle with that. Rin had said I was good enough to be scouted, but now that I think about it, I wonder if he just said that to keep my spirits up.”

Makoto looks at Sousuke, who is now looking up at the ceiling. Makoto’s eyes land on Sousuke’s shoulder and he wonders about his injury. During regionals, he remembers seeing the raven-haired’s shoulder and it looked terribly red and inflamed. Makoto says cautiously, “Ho-how about you?”

Sousuke listens to Makoto, and can’t help but think that if Makoto really wanted to pursue a career in competitive swimming, the brunette would be really good at it. Makoto had good form, but there was room for improvement. Sousuke can’t help but feel envious of Makoto’s physical abilities. Makoto didn’t screw up his shoulder. Makoto didn’t overwork his muscles. Makoto could enter the Olympic stage if he really worked at it. Makoto never felt the pain of giving up a dream.

Sousuke remembers somewhat coming to terms with giving up on his dream, and finding his new dream of swimming in a relay with his friends, his buddies. But when he had to get surgery, and then deal with recovery, it became easier to forget all those good times.

Sousuke didn’t really think that the question would come back to him, and now that it did, he dreaded answering it. Sousuke takes a deep breath, as he focuses on how white the ceilings are, “First off, you could have been scouted. Rin probably wanted you to do your best regardless. You have the ability, Makoto. Don’t doubt yourself. But, if it’s something that doesn’t call to you, then you are right. It’s not for you. As for me, I gave up on competitive swimming. There’s no way I can ever swim like I used to.” Sousuke grasps his right shoulder gently, “I fucked up badly.”

Makoto looks down at his feet as Sousuke talks, and he can feel his heart break. Makoto can’t imagine giving up a dream, but he can hear the pain behind Sousuke’s words. Makoto whispers sorrowfully, “Sousuke…”

Sousuke grunts, “Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault, okay. I fucked up. It’s my fault.” Sousuke falls on the bed and covers his eyes with his forearm, “Just, don’t. I don’t need someone else feeling sympathy for me. Just, fucking sucks. That’s all there is to it. So, leave it alone.”

Makoto feels the shift in the bed, and looks over at Sousuke. He can see that Sousuke really doesn’t want to talk about it anymore, so the brunette will leave this alone for now. Makoto has more questions about it, but Sousuke has closed the door on the topic.

Silence envelops the teens, and Makoto can hear Sousuke taking deep breaths to calm down. The brunette also takes deep breaths to bring the tension in the room down as well. He says softly, “So, what are you doing in Tokyo?”

Sousuke laughs contritely, “Well, I’m going to university. I haven’t quite decided yet, but Yumiko, my stepsister thinks I should go into athletic training. My dad prefers that I go into sports medicine. I’m not sure yet. I guess I could always work in my dad’s company, but that would be my last resort.”

Makoto can’t help but frown as Sousuke speaks. It sounds like no matter what Sousuke decides to do, there is a possibility the teal-eyed teen won’t be happy. Haru and Rin are going for their dreams. Even he is going for his dream. But to hear Sousuke so uncertain about his future makes the brunette uncomfortable, but he knows it’s not his battle. He just wishes he could do something to make it easier for the raven-haired teen.

Makoto says quietly, “So, we are both in university studying. I hope you find what you’re looking for, Sousuke. If you ever need help, I’d love to listen, even if it’s just to rant or if you just need someone’s presence. You don’t have to do this alone.”

Before Sousuke gets a chance to say anything, he hears a playful beat. Sousuke knits his eyebrows trying to make out the song, as he gets up to lean on his elbows. He recognizes the song, it’s a Vocaloid song…Levan Polka or something. It’s not his phone that’s ringing, so it must be Makoto’s.

The brunette fumbles as he tries to get his phone out of his pocket, he gets up, walks over to the bedroom entrance and says, “Sousuke, give me a moment. Haru is calling me. I’ll be right back.” Makoto leaves the room, phone in hand, and he gently pushes the door closed, but the door stays ajar.

Sousuke can hear Makoto in the living room. He decides to get comfortable on the bed by lying on his side, and propping his torso up by leaning on his elbow. Sousuke fishes his phone out of his pocket and plays PokoPang. He had a response for Makoto, but since the interruption, he decides that it’s not important.

Makoto answers the phone quickly as he walks over to the living room. “Haru! How was it? Did you have fun with your colleagues? And please tell me that you had a nice balanced meal, not just mackerel.” Makoto bombards Haru with questions. The silence ensues much longer than he’s used to. He continues with concern, “Haru? Is something wrong?” Makoto hears a shaky exhale on the other end of the line, and the brunette’s back stiffens with tension.

Makoto is standing very straight as anxiety gurgles in the pit of his stomach. The green-eyed teen thinks, _‘this isn’t good. Something happened. What the heck could have happened.’_ The hand by Makoto’s side starts to shake a little, and he clenches it into a fist. He starts to feel afraid to say anything, he can tell Haru is angry. Makoto nervously waits for Haru to say something.

After a few minutes of dead noise between Makoto and Haru, Haru finally speaks with a venomous sting to his voice, “Makoto. Tell me, what is your relationship with Ito?” The brunette winces as he hears Haru’s voice, he feels dread bubbling up inside of him. He wonders what could have happened to spur this question up so suddenly.

Makoto admits that he hasn’t been quite fair with Haru about his boyfriend, but he really felt that it would have led to an argument, an argument that he didn’t want to have; and here he is about to have that argument. Makoto takes a deep breath and exhales through his nose, “H-Haru, w-wa-wait…before we discus..”

Haru barks, “NO! We are talking about it now! You have been holding back, Makoto. I know you have. I tried to wait patiently, but your damn boyfriend is not patient! I had my doubts about him, and now I am certain that he is not for you, Makoto! He will only bring you trouble! Now tell me! I want to hear you say it!”

Makoto closes his eyes and knits his eyebrows in fear, concern, and discomfort. He bites his lower lip as he hears Haru yell at him, but something poignant hits him. Haru said something about his boyfriend not being patient, and a ghastly wave of anger surges through him. Makoto’s face darkens as his grip on the phone tightens and he presses on with some intensity, “What the hell did Takeshi do, Haru? What did he do to you? I swear, if he hurt you in any way…”

Makoto can hear Haru throw something down on some kind of surface as he yells, “Don’t change the subject! Answer the question first!”

Makoto huffs, “Alright! Yes, Takeshi is my boyfriend. We have been dating since May. Look…I’m sorry Haru. I didn’t mean for this to just drag on for such a long time. But things happened so quickly between Takeshi and I. I-I…wasn’t sure how to bring it up to you. I know how possessive you can be, Haru. And every time you guys met, you guys would just frown or glare or something at each other and it made me so damn worried to even talk to you about it. I knew you didn’t like him. It’s my fault. All my fault. I’m so sorry Haru. Please, please tell me nothing bad happened between you guys.” Makoto ends his rant in a plea.

Haru sighs deeply and bites back, “Me? Possessive? Of course I’m possessive! You are important to me, Makoto! Very important. I will not stand to see you hurt by some simpleton. I do NOT accept this relationship you have with Ito. He will bring you nothing but despair. Break up with him!”

Makoto’s mouth hangs open, and he is taken aback. He panics, “Wa-wait! Haru! That’s not fair! You just found out about my boyfriend and now you’re saying that we can’t be together! I can’t just break up with him! I jus…”

Haru interrupts Makoto with force, “I don’t care! I don’t care how long you have been with that jerk! He is not good for you Makoto! He will hurt you! I know it! I am not going to wait around to see you suffer! Break up with him, NOW!”

Makoto’s eyes are wide open and he slams his fist against the wall between his bedroom and the living room before he barks, “NO! I’m not breaking up with him! Listen to me Haru! You aren’t being fair at all! I have been so supportive of your relationship with Rin! You have no idea how hard it was for me to let you go! Maybe I’ve never been overt about this, but I love you Haru! I love you so much…so much that I was able to let you go and let you be happy with Rin! Don’t think for a moment that I didn’t know why you didn’t confront Rin sooner about your feelings for him! I know you held back because of me, and I still blame myself for making you feel like you had to hide your feelings from me! Maybe I was confused with what kind of love I felt for you back in Iwatobi, but I am sure now! I love you like family, Haru! You are precious to me! And I would hope that you would do the same for me when I try to find my own happiness! Takeshi can be rough around the edges, but he’s a gem! Why can’t you see that? Why…why is this so hard?” Makoto’s fist drops down and hits his thigh limply. He leans against the wall and moves his hand over his eyes, as hot angry, and sad tears fall from his eyes.

Haru sighs on the other end of the line, “I’m sorry. I…I don’t want to make you cry, Makoto. But, we have agreed to be more honest with each other. And…you haven’t been honest with me. I, I was a little hurt by that. I want to continue to be honest with you. You’re right, I don…”

Makoto interrupts Haru with a strained cry, “I’m sorry Haru! Deeply sorry! I knew I would hurt you by keeping Takeshi from you. I really meant to tell you! I really did. I just never felt the right time to tell you. I kept looking for the right opportunity, and I hurt you! I’m horrible! I’ve been so selfish. I’ll take responsibility! I, Haru, I…”

Haru interjects gently, “Makoto. I, I didn’t want to have this conversation this way. I was willing to wait for you to tell me. I could tell that there were some concerns that you were working out. And, really, I am proud of you. And, I knew about you and Ito already. I saw you guys kissing in the back alley of Momento Café when I was coming to see you after my birthday. I was shocked at first, and realized that there must be a reason you were keeping your relationship quiet, so I kept quiet. But, really, I know he will hurt you in the long run, Makoto. I don’t want to see that happen.”

Makoto puts his hand over his mouth and thinks, _‘hurt me? Again, Haru says that Takeshi will hurt me. Something happened. What…did he see Takeshi with someone else? Did they talk or something? I have to know what happened between them!’_ Makoto wipes his tear-streaked cheeks with his fingers as his voice cracks, “Wa-wait a minute. What happened Haru? You keep saying that Takeshi will hurt me? Did he cheat on me? Did you guys talk or something? Please, tell me.”

Haru is silent on the phone for a couple minutes before he says firmly, “Ito was waiting for me at my apartment when I returned home. I let him in. He was angry with me. He told me to stay away from you, Makoto. He told me to stay away from his boyfriend. I tried to be civil at first, but when he threatened me, I punched him in the face, and then he punched me. I told him to leave otherwise I would call the police. He left. I’m taking care of the injury, but then I thought about you. I was worried that he was going to see you.”

Makoto’s mind reels with uncertainty. The brunette is in utter shock. He can’t believe that Takeshi would be so aggressive toward his best friend. Takeshi knew how important Haru is to him, why would he do that. Haru has never lied to him. Makoto and Haru have a special bond together that Takeshi has a hard time understanding.

The brunette doesn’t know what to do. He’s torn between defending his best friend and his boyfriend. How could Takeshi do this to Haru, to him? Makoto rubs his temples in an attempt to make sense of everything and to find his own stance about the situation. Makoto stays quiet as he considers everything Haru has said and what he knows about Takeshi.

After several minutes, Makoto sighs and with a frustrated voice, “I’m conflicted. I hear your worry, your concern for my safety, Haru. You have every reason to be upset about all this. I-I…I want to resolve this another way, and I will need time to figure it out. Takeshi can get very angry, but he hasn’t hit me. I’m angry at him for hitting you, Haru. That’s unacceptable. But I have to hear his side. Takeshi can’t go around hitting the people I love! I won’t stand for that. I will talk to him.”

Makoto groans, “Ugh…this has gotten completely out of hand. I want to apologize to you so badly, for his actions, but that won’t solve anything. So, I won’t apologize on his behalf, but I will apologize again for taking part in creating tension between both you and Takeshi. I’m sorry, Haru.”

Haru listens to what Makoto has to say, but is a bit disappointed that Makoto doesn’t completely take his side. Haru sees that the brunette wants to get all the facts before coming down to a consensus.

The freestyle swimmer says gently, “Makoto. You don’t need to apologize. These things…it happens. I don’t think you created tension between us, the tension was there without you doing anything, and it just bubbled up into a hot mess. Just, be careful, Makoto. I don’t trust Ito, and he hasn’t given me any reason to. I think you need to take time to see this in a different light as well. Just…if Ren or Ran was in your position and you were in mine, I think you may reevaluate your stance on all this. I love you, Makoto. I don’t want to see you cry.”

Makoto listens to what Haru has to say. Sometime while Haru was speaking, the emerald-eyed teen moves his hand from his face, gently makes a fist with his hand and stares at it. He exhales shakily as he envisions the situation Haru describes for him. Makoto doesn’t like the idea of Ren or Ran dating anyone, but when he thinks about Ren or Ran with a boyfriend who hurt a precious friend, and their feelings, his blood boils.

Makoto clenches his hand roughly, and laughs with a grim tone, “I would hurt them. Hunt them like a predator and rip them to shreds. I wouldn’t care…all I would care about is keeping that bastard away from Ran and Ren. No one hurts my baby sister or my baby brother.” Makoto wails, “Okay, Okay! I see your point Haru. I hate this situation. I feel stuck. Ugh!” Makoto is feeling frustrated, sad, and hopeless. He doesn’t like the mix of emotions that flood him.

Haru sighs and says delicately, “Makoto. I don’t want you talking to him. Maybe, I should come over and make sure that doesn’t happen. I don’t trust Ito to be alone with you. I’ll come over.”

The brunette frantically panics, “Haru! Haru! No, no, please don’t worry. I’ll just talk to him on the phone, that’s all. Please, please take care of your injury! I will see you tomorrow. I promise, I swear, I won’t see Takeshi at all tonight, no matter what. So, please, please take care of yourself, Haru. I-I really need you to take care of yourself. I want to come over to see the damage myself, but…I-I don’t know. I just need tonight to think about everything.”

Haru thinks about what Makoto says. Haru trusts Makoto, but he fears that Ito will just come over anyway. He debates what he should do. He weighs the pros and cons to each possibility and finally commits to one, “Okay. I am going to trust you Makoto. I am going to trust you to keep your distance from Ito. Even if he comes running to your door, I’m going to trust that you won’t answer him. I’m, I’m afraid…but you are more important than my own fear. So, please Makoto. Take tonight for yourself. I will take care of my injury. If you do call him, be careful.”

Makoto smiles lightly. His heart feels warm knowing that Haru decided to trust him. He says, “Haru…thank you. For trusting me. It means the world to me. I am blessed to have a friend like you. I will keep my promise. I will see you tomorrow, Haru. Rest up and take care of yourself.”

Haru smiles on the other end of the line, “I will. See you tomorrow.”

Makoto and Haru hang up. He sighs to himself and slides down the wall until his bottom hits the floor. He plops his head on his knees and mopes.

In Makoto’s bedroom, Sousuke looks over to the bedroom door. He can hear everything Makoto has said. Sousuke is shocked to hear all this, and feels like he is intruding on something private that are not meant for his ears. His frown deepens as the conversation between Makoto and Nanase continue.

When Sousuke hears the bang on the wall, he’s eyes widen and he sits up on the bed, planting his feet on the hard wood floor. Sousuke had no idea Makoto was having issues with Nanase, and now boyfriend troubles. Sousuke thinks, _‘I had no idea. Behind his angelic smile, there is so much more underneath, so complex. He thinks so thoroughly. I thought he was weak willed and kinda pathetic, but he has some kind of inner strength.’_

Continuing to listen to Makoto’s end of the conversation, he can’t help but worry about the green-eyed teen’s wellbeing. Sousuke shakes his head, his phone now on Makoto’s bed, forgotten. When Sousuke doesn’t hear anything for a long while, he starts to feel a bit anxious. Slowly he walks over to the bedroom door, but then he hears Makoto talking again. Sousuke stands by the bedroom door, crossing his arms as he listens.

Makoto looks down at his phone on the floor. He sighs slowly, feeling the need to call his boyfriend. He needs to know what happened, he needs to know what his boyfriend was thinking. Makoto builds the strength to grasp the phone moderately in his hands, bring it up to his knees, scroll down through his contacts, and click on ‘Takeshi Ito.’ He brings the phone up to his ear and listens to the dial tone. He waits for his boyfriend to pick up.

“Mako! I’m glad you called. Come over. I want to see you,” Takeshi drawls. Makoto can sense that Takeshi is smirking on the other end of the line. He frowns, and feels disappointed.

Makoto says firmly, “Takeshi. We need to talk.”

Takeshi huffs, “Let me guess, it’s about Haru, right?” Takeshi sounds like he’s getting up from his leather couch and growls, “Figures, it’s always about your so-called friend.”

Makoto says a little darkly, “Takeshi! Haru isn’t my ‘so-called friend’! He’s my best friend, my family! Don’t belittle our relationship, it’s disrespectful.”

Takeshi barks back, “I’m your damn boyfriend, and you’re gonna take his side?! What the hell! You should be paying more attention to me, than him! Just come over! I want to see you right now!”

Makoto snaps, “And what? Do what? Have sex on the couch? I don’t think so Takeshi! I’m not coming over and we aren’t having sex tonight! We aren’t making up that way! It won’t work this time! You hurt me! You hurt Haru! What the hell were you thinking stalking Haru like that, waiting for him like a vulture!? He gave you the opportunity to talk and you punched him! How can…”

Takeshi bites, “Oh!? All you fucking care about is Haru! What about me, goddammit!? I’m more important than him! So why the hell are you so bent on placing him before me, huh!? Fucking ridiculous! What do I have to do to make you see that? I went there to tell Haru to butt-out of your life, it’s causing problems for us!”

Makoto feels his heart break, and interjects with vigor, “Excuse me! I’ve never put Haru before you! I never put you before Haru! Both of you are important to me! Don’t you dare blame Haru! He is not at fault! This is our problem! Stop being so jealous of my friendship with Haru, and trust me! I have been fair, and don’t you dare say that I haven’t been! I’m trying really hard to please you! But it’s never enough! You just have to have more! How much of me are you going to…”

Takeshi growls, “I want all of you Makoto! ALL OF YOU! You are mine, and I’m gonna make sure it stays that way!”

Makoto eyes widen, his eyes start to water again. He didn’t realize he was holding his breath, and finally he exhales through his mouth. With a shaky voice he says, “Y-you can’t possibly mean that…that’s impossible. Takesh…”

Takeshi yells, “Goddammit! Don’t you fucking get it!? You mean so much to me Mako! So much! I’m not sharing you with some childhood friend! That’s the past, this is the present! I will not let him monopolize you like that!”

Tears fall from Makoto’s eyes. He doesn’t know what he feels anymore, he’s over-flooded with so much emotion that he just reacts without thinking things through.

He cries, “Takeshi! You can’t have all of me! I share my time with the people I love! My friends and family are important to me, and I will not stand here and let you rip them away from me! You will have to accept that my family and friends are important if you want to keep me! I am not an object that you can put on display whenever you fucking want, Takeshi! I decide what I do with my time, and I don’t need to ask you for permission! Stop acting like a goddamn brat and grow up!”

Silence ensues between them. The tension in the room makes the brunette aware of his muscles. The green-eyed teen can’t help but feel like a taut tightrope. He is trying his best to calm his nerves and not snap again. He meant what he said, but didn’t want to say it quite like that, not so harsh. He knows that Takeshi has some issues with trust and sharing with others.

Makoto believes that he has been extremely unfair to Takeshi and tries to come up with something to smooth over the situation without ignoring their problems. It seems like he just walked over a trap pit, and now he’s desperately trying to find a way out.

Takeshi breaks the silence and scoffs, “Asshole! Don’t you fucking care about my feelings!?”

Makoto quickly replies as his voice cracks, “Yes. I do care about your feelings, Takeshi. Please don’t misunderstand. I care about you a lot! I love your smile. I love your laugh. I love how you wrap your arms around me, squeeze me and make me feel safe. I miss the jokes we make. I miss the times we cuddle on the couch while we watch silly things on TV. I miss playing basketball with you and panting on the floor with you after a one-on-one match. I miss singing duets with you. I miss…I-I-I miss you, Takeshi. I…” Makoto starts sobbing as his body can’t contain the feelings inside anymore.

Takeshi listens to Makoto cry. His heart breaks when he hears the brunette sob in agony. He makes a pained expression and rubs his face. He sighs lightly and says, “Shit. Mako…stop. Don’t do that. Goddammit, don’t cry.”

Makoto tries to stop crying. It takes him several minutes to collect himself. Makoto calms down after a few more minutes and says in a whimper, “I, I, I can see myself fall in love with you, Takeshi. But not like this. I need a break, I need to…”

Takeshi stiffens on the other end of the line and bites, “You want a break? Are you frickin’ serious!? Ugh, fine, you want a break!? You got one! I won’t see you until this fucking break is over! You, come and see me when you are done with this damn break!”

Makoto panics, “No! That’s not, wa-wa-wait, Ta-Takeshi, please…”

Takeshi barks, “No! You get what you ask for! We are on a break!” Takeshi hangs up.

Makoto’s mouth hangs open and he hears the click that indicates that Takeshi hung up. He takes the phone from his ear and just stares at his phone like it grew an extra head. Makoto can’t believe what happened. He throws the phone on the floor and rubs his scalp, trying to figure out what’s going on.

Sousuke heard everything Makoto said, again. He takes a deep breath and releases some of the tension that he felt in his body. Sousuke can’t believe how intense his relationship is and he heard more than he wanted to know about Makoto’s relationship with his boyfriend.

What Sousuke can gather based upon what Makoto said is that his boyfriend must be an impulsive prick, but then again, he couldn’t hear what his boyfriend said really. Sousuke peeks through the door when he hears something fall.

He sees Makoto’s back pressed against the wall with his knees to his chest, his head down and rubbing his scalp. Sousuke can see that Makoto is frustrated and upset with everything that happened. Slowly and quietly, he walks out of the bedroom and walks over to Makoto standing in front of him. Sousuke stands there and just stares at him for a couple of minutes, not sure what to do or what to say.

Sousuke can imagine that Makoto is a jumbled mess of emotions right now since he had an argument with Nanase and then with his boyfriend. Sousuke feels sympathetic towards the brunette. The raven-haired teen can sense that Makoto is quite sensitive, hearing and seeing him like this pulls his heartstrings. Sousuke doesn’t like to see people cry, and he knows that Makoto will definitely cry, if he hasn’t already.

Sousuke doesn’t think that the brunette deserves this, but he has no idea how things have changed for him either. The teal-eyed boy looks around the room to calm his nerves. He thinks about what he should do right now. Would it be a good idea for him to comfort the brunette? Should he just leave without saying anything?

Sousuke takes a few moments to debate what he should do. He sighs quietly, not wanting to startle the brunette below him. Slowly, he kneels down in front of the brunette and puts his hands on Makoto’s shoulders, gently placing pressure on his muscles.

It takes a moment before Makoto realizes that someone is with him in the room. His eyes widen and he becomes aware of the cream colored area carpet that he’s sitting on, and feels two strong hands on his shoulders. Slowly he stops rubbing his scalp, and raises his head to look at Sousuke. Makoto is terrified to hold his gaze, but what he sees are calm, serene eyes laced with worry. Sousuke’s teal blue eyes are beautiful, and Makoto can sense himself gently relaxing as he continues to stare at Sousuke.

After a few minutes, Makoto shifts his eyes away from Sousuke and closes his eyes. Makoto says with a weak voice, “I’m sorry you had to hear all that. I didn’t mean to…”

Sousuke gives Makoto a light squeeze on the green-eyed boy’s shoulders and says in a whisper, “Don’t apologize, Makoto. You have been through a lot. I’m sure I’m the last person you want to see right now, but, here I am. Go ahead and cry. I won’t judge you. It will just be between us and we can forget it ever happened in the morning.”

Makoto makes a pained face. Tears brimming to fall down his face, he looks down. Makoto’s shoulders start to shake, whimpers leave his lips, tears stream down his face, and the brunette starts crying. Sousuke gently pushes Makoto’s knees apart as he wraps his strong arms around him. Makoto shifts closer to Sousuke and grasps him. Makoto’s arms are around Sousuke’s torso and he clenches the indigo blue fabric of Sousuke’s hoodie. The raven-haired man repetitively rubs Makoto’s back gently.

Makoto lets all his frustration, sadness, fears, humiliation, and remorse out. The brunette doesn’t care anymore, he gives himself permission to just let it all out and let it all go.

Makoto can apologize to Sousuke later, he won’t worry about that right now. Those teal blue eyes said that he can use him for comfort, and he will trust those wonderful blue orbs.

Sousuke holds the brunette in his arms, witnessing his pain. Sousuke closes his eyes and listens. He hears the sobs, the whimpers, and the groans as Makoto continues to lament on his shoulder. The raven-haired man frowns and furrows his eyebrows as he continues to be present for the brunette.

Sousuke wonders what he is doing and why he is doing this. The teal-eyed man thinks about Rin, and how he said that Makoto is a precious friend to him. Rin can’t be here to comfort his friend, therefore Sousuke believes he is here right now as an extension of Rin. He recalls Rin mentioning that he needed more friends anyway, and friends should comfort each other. But, Sousuke remembers Rin as a big crybaby, and that he hated seeing Rin cry.

Nothing was harder for him than seeing tears well up in Rin’s eyes. He recalls back during the time when he and Rin met at Samezuka. They had time to sit and talk after seeing each other in their homeroom. They talked about swimming. Sousuke remembers the panicked face Rin made when he hit the bullseye in regards to quitting swimming.

At the time, Sousuke couldn’t bear the thought of telling him the truth, and so he lied, saying that he was scouted. Rin beamed at him, and Rin had that charming playful attitude that he adored. But deep down, Sousuke knew if he told Rin the truth, Rin would have cried right then and there. However when Rin did figure out what was wrong, he did indeed cry. Sousuke dreaded making him cry, and he played the lie for as long as he could.

But this is Makoto. Why is this different? Why is it that he can be here right now to comfort the brunette? Maybe it’s because he doesn’t know Makoto all that well, or maybe it’s something else completely. Could it be because he wasn’t the one who made the brunette cry?

Sousuke doesn’t know the answer, but maybe it doesn’t really matter. Makoto fought today, he fought for himself. Something about that makes him smile lightly. Rin would be proud of Makoto; that he knows for a fact. Sousuke stays right where he is until Makoto becomes quiet, and the brunette’s hands fall to his sides.

Sousuke looks down and gently lifts the emerald-eyed boy off his chest. Sousuke shakes his head gently as he notices Makoto has fallen asleep. The teal-eyed teen lightly pushes Makoto towards the wall as he gets up and moves to the sleeping boy’s side. He bends his knees and slowly picks up Makoto off the floor. He carries the sleeping boy bridal style and takes Makoto to his room and carefully puts him on the bed.

The raven-haired teen notices that he left his phone on Makoto’s bed, picks it up and puts it in his pocket. He looks around for a blanket to place over the sleeping boy. He goes over to the closet, looks inside, and finds a fluffy, soft lavender blanket on the top shelf and takes it down. Tenderly, Sousuke places the blanket over Makoto and wipes the tears away from his face with the sleeves of his hoodie.

The teal-eyed teen walks out of the bedroom, and closes the door quietly. He sighs and pulls out his phone, deciding he needs to call Rin about what he should do.

“Ha? You’re calling me now? Do you have any idea what time it is Sousuke?” Rin complains.

Sousuke scoffs as he walks over to the living room and sits on the couch. He realizes that it’s not as comfortable as his own couch, he shifts his body and crosses his ankles. Sousuke says quietly, “No. And I don’t care. I called to tell you something…and I need to ask you something.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow and scratches the back of his neck as he yawns, “Kay, shoot man.”

Sousuke shakes his head and says, “I just put Makoto to bed. He’s been upset since I got to his apartment…”

Rin eyebrows shoot up, “Eh? You put Makoto to bed? What the hell did you do?”

The raven-haired man huffs, “I didn’t do anything to him. He asked me to come to his apartment to pick up my clothes that I lent him. He got a call from Nanase and he called his boyfriend. Both ended up being arguments. I couldn’t really leave when I was in his room, so I stuck around, and heard things I shouldn’t have. Either way, he cried and I stayed until he got tired, end of story. But, should I leave? Would that be okay?”

Rin blinks in surprise. He’s not sure what to say, but the one that caught his attention was that Makoto and Haru fought. That concerned him immensely, “What? Haru and Makoto fought? Why?”

Sousuke sighs, “You want to know, call him and ask yourself. I’m not telling you that, it’s a private matter. I said I heard things I shouldn’t have.”

Rin frowns and bites, “Fine! I will after our conversation. And his boyfriend?”

Sousuke pauses, not sure how to handle this question. He takes a few moments to organize his thoughts and says, “Well, they argued. It ended badly. I don’t know who Makoto’s boyfriend is, but he sounds like a prick. You would have been proud of Makoto. He really stood up for himself. I was impressed.”

Rin smiles lightly, but then knits his eyebrows in concern, “What a minute, wait a minute. Makoto stood up for himself, really?”

Sousuke chuckles, “Yeah, he did, really.”

Rin sighs, “And I missed it. Damn. So…how is Makoto? You said he argued with Haru and his boyfriend.” Rin yawns again, as he rubs his face trying to rub sleep out of his body.

Sousuke rubs his temples and grunts, “Yeah. How should I put this? Haru was upset with Makoto, something to do with the boyfriend. The argument with the boyfriend, was worse. He cried. I comforted him. But only for you, Rin. Usually I don’t do stuff like that.”

Rin’s frown deepens, “Sounds like I should kick this guy’s ass.”

Sousuke sighs lightly, “Something like that. You know Makoto better than I do. You think it would be okay if I left? I mean, I don’t know. I don’t think you want me to upset him or anything. So, what do you think?”

Rin ponders about what Sousuke has mentioned. Either way, would be fine. But, he doesn’t like the sound of Makoto by himself. The answer is quite clear to the redhead, “I think you should stay. If it was bad, he’s going to need someone around. Honestly, I get scared when Makoto is alone when he’s upset. He’s so good at taking care of others, he’s not very good at taking care of himself. He’d probably stretch himself too thin.”

Sousuke smacks his hand to his head, “Ugh, I was afraid you would say that. You know, his couch is not as comfortable as mine. This is gonna suck.”

Rin chortles, “I appreciate it. So, make yourself comfortable. If you get uncomfortable, tell him I said that you should stay with him. I don’t mind being blamed for this one.”

Sousuke smiles, “Will do. Ok, I’ll stay. We’ll talk later, sleepy-head.”

Rin takes a deep breath, “Yeah, ok. Talk to you later.” They both hang up.

Sousuke puts his phone back in his pocket and lies down on the couch. He shifts a few times trying to find a comfortable position. He finally decides on lying down on his side, grabs the other round pillow by his foot and makes himself comfortable. He pulls down the giant green throw that is draped over the couch and tries to get some rest. He closes his eyes and hears the wind howl outside against the window. He pulls the blanket closer and wonders what the morning will be like.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your ongoing support! <3 This chapter was pretty hard to write, and I guess it might be a little long. I'm also sorry if some of you find it too boring or too intense. I took a lot of inspiration from the data sheets and high speed for part of this. Sorry if Takeshi is a bit of a jerk, but I was trying to show how much resilience Makoto can have (also he's an orca. . .they protect their own lol)


	4. Chapter 4

Frosty autumn air condenses against Makoto’s apartment window and wind howls and beats against the door. Leaves rustle and provide a soothing white noise. Makoto pulls his warm blanket closer to his cheeks in a protective manner and burrows under it. He cuddles closely to his soft, plush pillow.

Sousuke shivers and curls up to fit under the throw on the couch. He pulls the throw up close to his face, and there is extra fabric nestled around his neck, leaving his feet sticking out under the throw below. He grumbles and shifts into a number of positions until his squishes himself in a manner that would likely make him sore in the morning.

Sousuke wakes up to the sound of classical music humming. He opens his eyes slowly, and feels a vibration coming from down below. He realizes that it’s his cell phone. He sits up listlessly, leaning back on the couch as he fishes his phone out of his jeans.   He looks to see who is calling him before he answers groggily, “yeah?”

“Sou-chan? Where are you? I’m standing in front of your apartment and I have been waiting for the last 10 minutes,” a young feminine voice fills his ears.

Sousuke inwardly groans as he rubs his forehead. “Yumiko…I’m not at my apartment right now. I’m…at the gym. I decided to go for a workout,” he lies. “And why do you want to see me?”

Yumiko sighs dramatically, “Honestly, Sou-chan! I was hoping to grab some brunch with you. Ah, well. I guess not. Just be carefu...” Yumiko pauses. She remembers how Sousuke hates being doted on so much, so she refrains. She says firmly, “You know what…forget I said that. I will see you tomorrow, right?”

Sousuke grunts, “Well, yeah, can’t do lunch…er…brunch today.” Sousuke takes a few moments to think about his schedule for Monday. He vaguely recalls Yumiko mentioning that she wanted to accompany him to his appointments. The teal-eyed teen says heavily, “Okay, yes, tomorrow for my physical therapy, but I’m not seeing my rehab guy. We cancelled this week due to conflicting scheduling or something.” He rubs his eyes and resists the urge to yawn.

Yumiko is silent on the other end of the line for a moment before she says delicately, “Hmm…okay. But, if you don’t see Satoshi-san next week, then we may have a problem. But don’t worry about that right now. We will work it out together. Also, I want to take you out. Since we can’t meet today, are you free tomorrow afternoon after we go to your physical therapy? We can have lunch together.”

Sousuke frowns, and sleepily rubs the side of his face as he thinks about what his plans are after his appointment, “Uh, yeah. I think that’s fine. We can do lunch after my thing. Just us, right?”

Yumiko says gently, ”Yes. Just us. You don’t have to worry about anyone else.”

Sousuke smiles lightly, “Good. I don’t think I can handle family right now. Anything else, Yumiko?” Sousuke looks out the window and notices that it’s overcast outside.

Yumiko says carefully, “I know, Sou-chan. Family get-togethers aren’t my thing either. Just…there is one family thing coming up, but we can talk about it tomorrow. See you later, Sou-chan!”

Sousuke hangs up the phone, and notices that it’s 10:51am. Sousuke sighs heavily and plops his phone on the couch. Slowly he gets up off the couch and looks around to familiarize himself with his current surroundings. He rubs his head as he remembers the events from the previous night. He takes off his indigo blue hoodie and tosses it on the couch before he closes his eyes and stretches his arms above his head. Sousuke does some neck rolls, and realizes that his neck hurts.

After doing some body stretches, Sousuke saunters over to Makoto’s bedroom to take a peek.

Makoto is still sleeping, but he’s partially off the bed with his arms flung off to the side, the blanket that he put over him is now crumpled up on the floor. Sousuke looks at Makoto curiously and wonders how he could be so messy in his sleep. He shakes his head and wanders to the bathroom.

After Sousuke uses the restroom to freshen up a bit, his stomach begins to rumble. He stalks over to the refrigerator to see if there is anything to eat. His teal eyes search the kitchen for some food and grabs items he can use to whip up some breakfast.

Sousuke thinks, _‘I guess I could make some for Makoto too. Since I’m using his ingredients.’_ The raven-haired teen wonders if the brunette had a chance to eat dinner before coming to the café last night. He remembers that the emerald-eyed male only ordered a large mocha and nothing else.

Sousuke frowns as he continues to wonder about Makoto’s wellbeing. He decides that he should try to incorporate a little bit of everything in terms of food groups, well almost everything. The raven-haired teen spends some time trying to figure out something quick, easy, and balanced to make.

Makoto starts to stir when he hears some clatter in the kitchen. He starts to get up out of the bed slowly, but falls over as he loses his balance. Makoto pouts as he falls on the floor. He pushes his body up with his hands, and unsteadily walks out of his room. Rubbing both eyes, he says with a slumberous tone and a yawn, “Haru…you didn’t have to come over. I…I’ll get ready…just…yeah…”

Makoto stumbles into the living room, falls onto the couch, and closes his eyes as he scratches his cheek. He mumbles sleepily, “Give me a couple more minutes…and we can go to lunch.”

Sousuke just raises his eyebrows as he watched the whole display of Makoto coming out of his bedroom with sleep lingering in his body. He smiles at how utterly ridiculous Makoto is acting, and when he plopped over on the couch, Sousuke tried to make out what he said to no avail. He decides to remain silent as he finishes making the fried rice he started.

Sousuke looks down as he gently places the fried rice into white ceramic bowls with red trim, and wonders to himself if this dish really is healthy. The raven-haired male scowls at the fried rice as he continues plating the dish into the bowl. He thinks, _‘It’s not really healthy, but at least it does have a little of some things. At least I made use of some of his leftovers and frozen vegetables.’_ Sousuke decides not to worry about nutrition so much, now that he was done cooking.

Makoto shifts on the couch and takes a deep breath through his nose. Something smells good. He opens his eyes and groggily sees some kind of blue fabric that he is partially lying on. Makoto grasps the indigo blue hoodie, brings it up to his nose, and takes a long breath. He can make out some faint notes of sweet, spicy, and citrus. The brunette can’t figure out what it is but he likes it. He rubs his face, and neck as he shifts again so that his back is on the couch and he projects his voice to make sure Haru can hear him, “What are you making? Please tell me it’s not mackerel.”

Sousuke looks up as he pours hot water into a teapot to brew some genmai cha. He thinks about answering, and decides against it since he doesn’t know what to say. He carries over the teapot with two teacups and sets it on the wooden coffee table in front of the couch. He then retrieves both bowls of fried rice and carries them over to the living room and places them on the coffee table as well.

Sousuke pats Makoto’s legs, and the brunette bends his knees to move his feet out of the way for Haru to sit. Makoto lifts himself up and scoots back with his eyes closed. The brunette sits cross-legged on the couch as he rubs his eyes to rid himself of sleep and rolls his neck.

Sousuke pours the tea, then picks up a bowl of fried rice and holds it firmly with one hand, “Come on. It’s time to eat.”

Makoto frowns at first, not quite sure if he heard the voice right. Makoto opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. The voice is too deep and sensual to be Haru’s voice. Finally, Makoto looks to see who is with him. He sees teal-blue eyes looking at him with a blank expression.

Those same teal eyes he saw last night, the teal eyes that gave him permission to let it all out, the teal eyes that witnessed everything. Makoto breaks eye contact between them by closing his eyes again, and a twinge of pain graces his features. He delicately says, “Yamazaki-kun…I’m so…sorr…”

Sousuke sighs as he interrupts, “Back to Yamazaki now are we? Stop apologizing Makoto. Come on. Eat.” Sousuke gently thrusts the bowl of fried rice in front of Makoto until it bumps his chest. He says reassuringly in an attempt to soothe the brunette, “Remember, nothing happened last night.”

Makoto looks at Sousuke and then down at the bowl of fried rice. Slowly, he takes the bowl into his hands and lifts the spoon of piping hot rice to his lips. He blows softly on the fragrant rice and takes a bite. Immediately, comforting flavors of fluffy egg, green onion, sesame oil, oyster sauce, and crispy rice dance on his tongue. The textures of carrot and peas give a refreshing bite to the dish.

He noticed that Sousuke must have used the teriyaki chicken that he had in the fridge, since the sweet and gingery chicken intermingled with the other flavors. He hadn’t gone grocery shopping in a while and is very surprised that Sousuke could whip up such a delicious breakfast out of practically nothing.

While the dish itself is rather simplistic, at that moment, it was the most delicious fried rice he ever had because it was made for him when he needed it most. He couldn’t stop the serene smile that came to his lips.

As Makoto continues to eat, he starts replaying the conversation that he had with Takeshi. He starts to feel gloomy, insecure, and distressed. Makoto’s eyes start to water, and he can’t help the silent tears that fall down his face. Makoto continues eating with Sousuke, trying his best to let the emotions pass through him, knowing they are there, but not holding on to them. He wants to say something to Sousuke, but he just can’t will the feelings into words to express them properly. Makoto is just a big mass of emotions, and the quiet continues to fill the room.

Sousuke notices Makoto silently crying and sniffling to himself. He frowns as he continues to eat. He really doesn’t like to see people cry. Sousuke takes deep breaths between each bite, trying to calm his nerves and allowing Makoto some space regardless of how physically close they are. He remembers all the times his family had cried in front of him, minus his dad of course, and he hated that feeling of helplessness, of not being able to erase the sadness.

When Rin cried in front of the teal-eyed teen, he always blamed himself, even if it wasn’t his fault. He hated seeing Rin cry, especially. When Rin was angry, he could tell that a part of Rin cried on the inside at times. The redhead has a tendency to go to anger as an expression for his sadness. Sousuke doesn’t know how to explain the difference, but when he sees it, or hears it, he knows it. It’s one of the reasons why he gets into people’s faces about bothering Rin. It was his way of protecting his best friend from harm, of protecting the one shining light in his life.

But this is Makoto, he doesn’t know what to do. Sousuke has never seen him cry, ever. It just doesn’t feel right to him. Makoto always had a smile on his face, even when he was concerned, his emerald eyes had a smile behind them.

Sousuke tilts his head and creases his brow. He thinks, _‘wait…is that true? Or is it that I just never paid that close attention. I don’t know.’_ Sousuke stops thinking about it, just going with the idea that Makoto shouldn’t be down in the dumps like this. He decides to maintain the silence between them in hopes that it is enough to soothe the brunette.

Makoto and Sousuke eat in complete silence. The only sounds that can be heard are clinks of ceramic and metal as they eat their meal. The silence is comforting for Makoto. After the brunette is done with his meal, he wipes his wet face with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, puts the bowl down on the earthy coffee table, and takes a moment to remember this feeling of silent respite. Makoto lifts his teacup to his lips and inhales slowly, taking in the delicious fragrance of green tea and roasted rice. He sips slowly and relishes in the warmth.

As Makoto was taking his moment, Sousuke gets up from the couch, picks up the bowls, and is currently walking to the kitchen to clean up.

The brunette watches Sousuke in the kitchen cleaning up the mess he made for their meal. Slowly, the green-eyed teen gets up and strolls into the kitchen, leaning his lower back against the counter next to Sousuke.

Makoto gazes at Sousuke as he washes the dishes. He can’t help but admire Sousuke’s strong features; his refined nose, his adorably droopy teal eyes, his masculine jawline, his slightly tousled bedhead, his youthful skin, his brawny muscles, the way his Adam’s apple bobs up and down when he swallows. Makoto blinks and looks away, feeling heat burn his cheeks. He looks down at his feet as he attempts to will the blush away.

The brunette gently says as he wiggles his toes, “I’ll go get your clothes, Sousuke. And…the food was delicious. It really hit the spot for me.” Makoto looks up and gives Sousuke a blissful smile, “thank you so much, Sousuke. I appreciate your kindness and comfort.” Feeling a little shameful for gazing at Sousuke for a period of time just before, Makoto quickly leaves the kitchen and heads to his room to look for Sousuke’s clothes.

Sousuke was taken aback by the angelic smile, and reddish-pink stained cheeks Makoto had just shone him. He stopped washing when he saw the brunette’s face. And just as quickly as he saw it, Makoto left, retreating into his bedroom.

Sousuke looks down at the dishes in the sink, and starts washing the dishes again. He can feel a slight burn on his cheeks, he can tell he’s blushing slightly. He’s never seen such a beautiful smile directed at him for such a long time. Something about it just felt good, but he doesn’t quite understand why.

Rin was the last person who ever smiled at him with such radiance. Rin’s smile was gorgeous, and Sousuke always felt a flutter in his chest whenever he saw it. Sousuke sighs as he washes the last dish, thinking about Rin’s luscious mahogany red hair, his crimson eyes that screamed passion, his well-toned muscles, and his strikingly luscious, silky voice. Sousuke rubs the back of his wrist against his forehead not wanting his thoughts to plummet into the gutter, he shuts the water off and wipes his hands on a dishtowel.

Shaking his head, Sousuke lets the whole event with Makoto go as just some sort of happenstance, he convinces himself that it will never happen again as he starts putting things away in the kitchen.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Makoto is looking through his drawers to find the items of clothing that belong to Sousuke. He was successful in finding Sousuke’s v-neck turquoise shirt and the white and grey socks, but he hasn’t found the black ribbed boxer briefs with light blue stitching, the black puma sweatpants or the black and blue pullover sweatshirt. Going through his last set of drawers, he finally finds the sweatpants and the sweatshirt. Makoto puts the clothes he found on the bed, and goes over to his underwear drawer to find the missing boxer briefs. Nothing.

Makoto scratches the back of his head and wonders if he wore them at some point. He takes off his sweatshirt and hangs it over the back of his desk chair since Makoto is feeling a little warm from scrambling about in his room. He goes through his hamper and finds nothing. Makoto furrows his eyebrows in absolute confusion. He thinks to himself, _‘how can I not find them. I thought I just saw them about a week ago, didn’t I? Where else can they be? I’m not wearing them, I…’_ Makoto stops thinking, and looks down at his black form fitted jeans.

Makoto says to himself shakily, “No way…I couldn’t have…” Makoto unzips his jeans and takes a look at his underwear. He combusts in complete embarrassment with bright red staining his cheeks and ears as he sees that he is indeed wearing Sousuke’s black ribbed boxer briefs with blue stitching. Makoto thinks as he hugs himself, ‘ _Oh my god! I’m wearing them! Ugh…just my luck! So embarrassing! I can’t believe I was rushing so much yesterday that I didn’t even bother to look down and make sure I was wearing my own briefs.’_

The brunette feels mortified. Makoto sighs and walks over to his closet to find a new pair of underwear. He knows he has at least one new pair hidden in his closet. He hopes that he can just give him a pair of his, or maybe he can buy him a new pair later.

Either way, Makoto wants to give him something to wear in the meantime, the least he can do is allow Sousuke to take a shower, and he should have some nice clean clothes to get into afterwards. He finds a new pair of underwear that Nagisa had sent him as an early birthday present, that he just couldn’t bear to wear. They are bright blue superman boxer briefs with the logo right on the crotch.

Makoto’s cheeks are still burning, and he walks over to the pile of clothes on the bed and places the superman boxer briefs in between the shirt and the sweatpants, hiding them from view. He is feeling so flustered with the current situation, he just hopes that Sousuke won’t chew him out for this.

Makoto picks up the pile of clothes, takes a deep breath and hopes that the redness on his face has subsided. He heads out and sees Sousuke in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, with his head tilted back, drinking some Pocari Sweat that he must have gotten from the refrigerator.

Makoto looks around the kitchen, refraining from staring at Sousuke, and he sees that the raven-haired teen had put everything away. Makoto stammers, “Yo-you didn’t have to do that. I could have helped you.”

Sousuke takes one last gulp from the sport’s bottle, finishing it off completely. He brings the clear bottle down from his parted lips, and looks at Makoto before saying calmly, “No worries. It’s the least I could do for eating your food, and taking your drink.” Sousuke puts the bottle down on the counter and notices the pile of clothes in front of Makoto.

“Oh. Looks like you found them.” Sousuke sees that Makoto had taken off his hoodie as he gets off the counter. He notices that the brunette is looking away from him and decides to stand where he is. Sousuke wonders what could be bothering the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto slowly walks over to Sousuke, and presents the clothes in his hands towards the teal-eyed male as he says shakily, “Um, yeah…for the most part.” Makoto laughs nervously and continues, “Um, you should take a shower. There is a guest towel in there already, it’s hanging behind the door…the dark green one.”

Sousuke looks down at the clothes presented to him, and takes them from the emerald-eyed teen. As he grasps the clothes from the brunette, he notices that Makoto’s pants are undone, and he recognizes the top of the briefs that he is wearing. Sousuke’s eyes widen momentarily, and he tries to play it cool by looking at the clothes and says as seriously as he can, “Okay. Thanks. But, what do you mean by ‘for the most part?’” Sousuke starts to feel a bit embarrassed for asking the question, as he already knows the answer, he covers his mouth with one hand in hopes that the embarrassment doesn’t show on his face.

Makoto blinks as he processes the question, his ears start to burn as the green-eyed teen rubs the back of his neck nervously, “Uhhh…well…I wore one of the items, so I gave you a new one. Y-you’ll see in the bathroom. And, I have an extra toothbrush in my nightstand, I can give it to you after your done.” Makoto turns around and shows the teal-eyed teen the bathroom.

Sousuke keeps his hand over his mouth as he walks over to the bathroom and places his free hand on the doorknob. The raven-haired male pulls his hand down from his mouth and opens the bathroom door. Before Sousuke walks in, he decides to correct Makoto, “You mean you’re wearing them, right?” Before the brunette could comment on what he said, he closes the door behind him.

Makoto watches as the bathroom door closes and just stares at the door flabbergasted. The brunette hears the water turn on, and the daze he was temporarily in fades. Makoto looks down and he can clearly see that his pants are still unzipped, and for the second time that day, the brunette combusts in a furious blush.

Makoto bends down and covers his face with both hands as he whimpers in humiliation. He thinks, _‘I forgot to zip up my pants after checking! I’m such an idiot! And he noticed! Oh my god! Just…uhhh! How am I gonna face him after this! Okay, okay, okay! Calm down! Just calm down. I didn’t do it on purpose, it was an accident, a terrible accident.’_  

Makoto takes a few minutes beating himself up for his stupidity before he’s able to calm down and let the situation go a bit. Makoto sighs in defeat, gets up and scrambles to zip up his pants as he trudges over to his bedroom. He sits on the bed and goes through the drawer of the wooden nightstand to find the new toothbrush, and places it on top of the nightstand.

The brunette looks at the clock next to his bed and realizes that it’s 12:37pm. His eyes widen. Makoto starts looking for his phone, checking his pants, his sweatshirt, desk, under the bed, before he stops to think about what happened last night.

Makoto knits his eyebrows trying to remember what he did with it. After a minute, he remembers tossing it on the floor in the living room. Makoto goes out to the living and looks at the floor. He finds his cell phone in the middle of the living room and picks it up, and notices that the battery is dead.

The brunette goes back to his room, sits on his desk chair, and plugs the charger into his phone. When his phone finally has some charge, he quickly calls Haru.

“Makoto, I’ve been trying to call you. Are you ok?” Haru asks with concern.

Makoto quickly responds, “Haru! Oh! I’m so sorry for not calling right away. I forgot where I put my phone and I’m charging it right now. Ohh! I promised that we’d go to lunch today and it’s already past noon. Just give me some time and I’l…”

Haru interjects firmly, “Makoto. Stop. It’s okay. I’m more worried about you. Ito didn’t bother you last night did he?”

Makoto’s face falls at the mention of Takeshi. He says sadly, “No. He didn’t come. I did call him and we…we talked. I’ll come over Haru, and we can talk then. I…” Makoto sighs deeply, “I just need to shower and clean up here. I’ll text you when I leave.”

Haru sighs in relief when he hears that Ito didn’t go to Makoto’s apartment, “Oh, good. I’m glad to hear that.” Haru knits his eyebrows in confusion, “Wait…you didn’t talk to Rin last night, did you? Because he called late last night, after we talked. I ended up over-reacting thinking something bad happened to you. I had to tell Rin some things about last night.”

Makoto contemplates about what Haru has said. The brunette didn’t call Rin, but he has an idea who may have called him. The only person who knows what happened last night is Sousuke.

The teal-eyed teen must have called Rin sometime last night. Although, he did notice missed text messages from Rin, so it could be possible that Rin tried to contact the brunette and then called Haru.

Makoto says carefully, “Rin did try texting me last night. Maybe he was worried about me and called you about it. Oh! Aren’t you and Rin having a skype-chat tonight? What about your injury? How’s it looking, Haru? Is it bad?”

Makoto thinks about Rin seeing any kind of injury on Haru and he just knows the redhead will flip out. Makoto begins to worry, “Oh my god! He’s going to kill me when he sees you.” Makoto flops on his desk in despair.

Haru gently says, “Makoto. Don’t worry. I will explain what happened. In fact, it might be a good idea if you stay with me tonight. We can talk to Rin together. So take your time coming here. I finished my grocery shopping early today, so I’ll make dinner. Bring your stuff for Monday.”

Makoto takes into consideration what Haru says, “But…I wanted to take you out to celebrate and…”

Haru sighs, “Okay. Then watch one of my waterfall videos with me. That would be a great way to celebrate.”

Makoto can hear the smile in Haru’s voice and he smiles too, “Okay. I’ll text you when I leave. Bye, Haru.”   Makoto hangs up and lets his phone charge as he starts picking out some clothes for his own shower, and putting books, notebooks, and other things in his backpack.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After closing the bathroom door, Sousuke wonders to himself if it was a mistake to say anything about the underwear to Makoto. Sousuke shrugs, puts down the clean clothes by the sink, and turns on the water for the shower.

As he’s taking off his shirt, he hears whimpering behind the door. Sousuke looks over at the door and realizes that the brunette is whimpering in embarrassment. He knits his eyebrows as he takes his pants, socks, and underwear off.

Sousuke sighs, and takes a quick look at himself in the mirror, he sees that his cheeks are flushed pink and does a double take. Why was he blushing considering it was Makoto who was embarrassed?

As Sousuke enters the shower he relishes in the warm water as it splashes down his sore back and shoulder muscles. He slowly rubs his neck under the spray of water working the kinks that came from sleeping on the couch. The warm stream of water feels amazing on his sore muscles and he decides to revel in it longer as the rivulets dripped down his tired, chiseled body.

After several minutes of enjoying the warmth and steam emitting from the showerhead, Sousuke starts to clean himself. He takes a washcloth and lathers it up with a bar of soap. The scent that fills the room is eucalyptus and spearmint with a splash of citrus. Cool and refreshing. Sousuke gently rubs the washcloth against his skin, and there is a bit of a cooling effect that brushes against his skin as he lathers his well-defined body. He tenderly slides the washcloth soothingly over his neck and shoulders, attentively washing around his incision scars from the surgery.

After washing his body, he picks up some shampoo, and pops the top. He takes a whiff from the bottle before using it. He can make out the scent of lemon verbena. He squirts some of the viscous liquid into his hand and rubs it into his hair. He massages his scalp gently, taking in the citrus and woodsy smell. Sousuke comes to the conclusion that he likes the shampoo. After rinsing his hair and using the conditioner, he cuts the water.

Sousuke gets out of the shower and dries himself quickly. He goes through the clothes looking for some underwear, and stops when he finds it. His eyebrow twitches. He takes out the underwear and turns it around. He thinks, _‘is this some kind of joke? Superman briefs? And the back is red like a cape? Bright blue…with the logo on the crotch. And bright red lining and waistband? And it says superman around the frickin’ band.’_

Sousuke just stares at the briefs in his hand, dumbfounded. He sighs heavily and puts it on. He picks up his black puma sweatpants and stops momentarily. He decides to ask Makoto about the briefs. He opens the door of the bathroom and looks in the kitchen and living room. He realizes that Makoto must be in his bedroom and knocks on the door gently.

Makoto is kneeling on the floor in seiza position. He put all the books in his backpack, and opened a bottle of water that was in the water holder. Makoto felt thirsty after all of his running around and feeling flustered. When he heard the knock on the door, he says firmly before putting the opening to his mouth, “Come in.”

Makoto takes a swig of water when he hears Sousuke ask, “What’s the meaning of this?”

Makoto looks over at Sousuke with his head tilted back, and tries to gasp as his eyes bulge out, a blush quickly makes itself present upon his cheeks and ears, and he spits the water out, coughing frantically and wiping his mouth.

Sousuke furrows his eyes in confusion as he watches Makoto choke on his water and spits it out. He laughs at the sight of the green-eyed teen spewing out water. The raven-haired teen places his forearm on the frame of the door, leans forward a bit as he laughs at the brunette. Sousuke says with a chuckle, “you okay? Didn’t mean to startle you.”

Makoto places the hand holding the water bottle down on the floor as he wipes his mouth with the other. Makoto takes a couple of moments to recover. He says after a few coughs, “Oh my god. I didn’t expect to see you in underwear. Why…why are you just…” Makoto looks up at Sousuke and his eyes drift to the briefs.

He blinks as he sees the superman logo on the bulge of the teal-eyed teen’s crotch and rips his eyes away. He says with embarrassment, “I-I…I didn’t think. I don’t...ummm. I-I…it was new. I knew it was silly, I mean, oh god, what do I mean?”

Makoto lets out a shaky sigh and continues, “Na-Nagisa got that for me as an early birthday present. I-I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it, just wanted to give you something new to wear. It-it looks good…on you.” Makoto smacks his hand over his forehead, “Crap…I mean…oh…I’m just flustered.” The brunette rubs his forehead and tries to calm his nerves.

Sousuke raises one eyebrow as Makoto speaks. He didn’t think that the brunette would be so nervous about the whole situation. He just wanted to know if he gave him the briefs as some sort of joke. Sousuke rubs the back of his neck and says, “Ok. Ok. Calm down. I just wanted to ask about it. I’ll go get dressed.”

Makoto looks up as Sousuke turns around and notices that the backside is bright red, like superman’s cape. The brunette says quietly, “Oh my god. I didn’t notice that. Wa-wait. The toothbrush.” Makoto gets up off the floor and walks over to the nightstand to pick up the toothbrush.

Sousuke turns around and walks over to Makoto as he hands him the toothbrush. He notices that Makoto is still flushing from ear to ear. He says as he takes it from the brunette, “thanks.”

Makoto watches Sousuke leave to go back to the bathroom and exhales. The brunette puts down the water bottle and rubs his face. The emerald-eyed teen tries his best to will away the image of Sousuke in nothing but tight blue briefs that accentuated his crotch. Makoto slumps and thinks, _‘really…I just had to go there. I’ve got to stop thinking about such pervy things.’_

The brunette picks up his water bottle and downs the whole thing. Some water escapes past the corner of his lips and leaves a small trail down his neck. After drinking he crushes the water bottle, picks up his backpack and walks over to the entryway. Gently he places his backpack next to Sousuke’s, walks over to the kitchen and puts the water bottle into the recycling bin under the kitchen sink.

Sousuke comes out of the bathroom and says, “Is it okay if I use your computer? I have a couple of emails I need to write.”

Makoto takes a cautious peek over towards Sousuke and sighs in relief to see Sousuke clothed in black sweatpants and the black and blue pullover hoodie. The brunette walks over to Sousuke and says, “Yeah, no problem. Go right ahead.”

Makoto follows Sousuke into the bedroom, grabs his clothes and takes a shower.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After Makoto’s shower, he walks into his bedroom and finds Sousuke still on the computer typing something, and says, “When you’re done, uh, I need to go to Haru’s. So, we can leave when you’re done.”

Sousuke looks over as he hits the send button and signs out of his email account, “Ok. Done. We can leave now.” Sousuke feels irritable after writing the email and his muscles tense, and he wears a shell of indifference. Sousuke walks over to the entryway, as Makoto picks up his cellphone from his desk.

Sousuke puts his black scarf on, and Makoto puts on his brown parka coat hanging by the entryway. They both sit down to put their shoes on. Makoto stops when he’s done and looks over at Sousuke. He says, “Thanks. I appreciate all you’ve done for me.”

Sousuke looks over at Makoto when he’s done and frowns, “Look. It was nothing. Just, forget about it.” Sousuke gets up and reaches over to put his backpack on. Makoto follows and puts his backpack on as well. They both leave the apartment, and descend down the staircase.

Makoto feels confused. He thinks back on the evening and the morning that they shared. Finally he remembers Sousuke saying something about just forgetting the events that took place.

The brunette frowns, and says once they get down the staircase, “Okay. You can forget about everything that happened. But, I don’t want to forget. I want to remember. What you did for me Sousuke, meant something to me.”

Sousuke freezes and doesn’t look back to see the brunette. He listens to him, and glares at the floor. Sousuke says, “Whatever. Do as you please, then.”

Makoto knits his eyebrows, he’s about to say something when Sousuke starts walking towards the train station. Makoto pouts sadly and walks to keep up with him. Makoto sighs, “Sousuke. Is something wrong?”

Sousuke glances over to Makoto with a blank expression, “Nothing. Stop worrying.” Sousuke looks ahead as he covers his mouth with his scarf.

Makoto looks at Sousuke sorely as he grabs Sousuke’s wrist and makes him stop to look at him, “Sousuke. I don’t want to pry, but you are giving me the cold shoulder. You can be upset at whatever it is that’s bothering you, and you don’t have to confide in me about it. But, you…are closing yourself off…”

Sousuke looks away from the brunette and clicks his tongue, “Tsk’. I have my reasons. Leave it alone, Makoto.”

Makoto’s frown deepens, “Fine. I’ll leave it alone this time. But, you can’t stop me from worrying. I will worry whether you like it or not. If you really want me to stop, then you will have to show me that you are ok.”

Sousuke glares at Makoto and groans, “Whatever. Let’s just go. Don’t you have to see Nanase?”

Makoto rolls his eyes, “Yes, I do.” Makoto looks down sadly, “I have to see what Takeshi has done.” He lets go of Sousuke’s wrist, and starts walking towards the train station, taking out his phone to text Haru.

Sousuke briefly watches Makoto walk away from him. He feels like he has been a bit unfair to the brunette. The teal-eyed teen catches up to Makoto easily and side glances at him. He can see that Makoto finished writing his text message and puts the phone back into his pocket, but the forlorn expression remains on the brunette’s face.

Before they head into the subway station, Sousuke grabs Makoto’s hand and moves over to one side of the sidewalk and says forcefully, “Look. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. You’ve been through a lot. Um, let me at least walk you over to Nanase’s place, okay? I don’t feel comfortable leaving you when you look…like this.”

With a dejected look Makoto looks at his wrist, then looks at Sousuke quizzically, “look like what?”

Sousuke stares at Makoto. Sousuke thinks about how he should answer the brunette’s question. Makoto hasn’t done anything wrong; it’s just that after writing an email to his mother back in Iwatobi got him in a foul mood. The raven-haired teen doesn’t want to burden him with his own issues. Sousuke sighs, “You look like someone kicked you in the gut. You’re upset, right? Fine, I’m not being fair. Just let it go. Come on. Let’s get you to Nanase’s.”

Makoto looks down and frowns, “I’ll let it go, but just tell me two things. Is something bothering you? And does it have something to do with me? You don’t have to explain, just a simple yes or no will suffice.”  

Sousuke rolls his eyes and grunts, “Ugh, fine. To the first question, yes. To the second question, no. Happy now?”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke and notices that he’s looking away from him. Sousuke still has his hand wrapped around his wrist, and the brunette places his other hand over the raven-haired teen’s hand that is connected to his wrist.

Makoto smiles tenderly, “thank you. I will keep my promise. I hope whatever it is, it gets resolved for you. And, no. I’m not happy, but I do feel respected. Also, I am holding you to your promise to me, about apologizing to Rin. Just so we are clear.”

Sousuke eyes glisten as he stares at the brunette feeling taken aback by Makoto’s words. The emerald-eyed teen is smiling at him, and he doesn’t know how to feel about that. How is it that Makoto can speak so genuinely? Last night he fought with his best friend and his boyfriend, and somehow the brunette is able to recall a promise he made to him at the café. How does he keep others in mind like that? Rin is right, Makoto really does put others before himself. The teal-eyed teen wants to ask the brunette how he does that, how he just cares for others so much without regard for himself.

Sousuke blinks slowly and smiles lightly, “Jeez. Yeah. I will apologize to Rin for being such a craptastic friend. No need to remind me.” Sousuke lets go of the brunette’s wrist, but Makoto is still holding his hand. Sousuke looks down at their hands.

Makoto chuckles softly, “Good.” The brunette lets go of Sousuke’s hand and looks up at the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke looks at the emerald-eyed teen’s face, and sees alleviation written all over his face. He smiles cordially, “Alright. Let’s go. I’m sure Rin would like to make sure you arrive at Nanase’s place in one piece.”

Makoto tilts his head in confusion, “What do you mean by that?”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow and says, “Just exactly what it sounds like. Look, I called Rin last night. I didn’t tell him much, but he was worried about you. He asked me to stay, so I did. In a sense, I did all that stuff in Rin’s stead.”

Makoto crosses his arms and looks at Sousuke questioningly, “Is that so? Well, I will make sure to thank Rin for being a good friend. But I’m still holding you accountable for your own choices.   Maybe you did all that for Rin, but you did call him for the advice. You listened. So…yeah. Don’t discount yourself. I’m still grateful to you.” Makoto teases, “Looks like you missed one opportunity to apologize though. Hope you do it next time.”

Makoto starts walking over to the entrance of the subway. Sousuke mouth hangs open. For a moment, he watches Makoto go through the double doors of the subway station, and the teal-eyed teen quickly shuffles his feet towards the brunette.

Sousuke says with surprise, “Did you just joke with me? Seriously? And, I didn’t know I had to apologize right away. Is that a prerequisite to the promise I made? Cuz, you should have mentioned that in the first place.”

Makoto glances back at Sousuke as they head towards the pay stations, “No, not really. But either way, it was an opportunity. And don’t forget the other stuff I said before that. As I said, I will remember what you did for me, regardless of what got you to do it. Forget it if it makes you feel better.”

Sousuke huffs teasingly, “Yeah, yeah.”  

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the train ride, Makoto and Sousuke walk out of the station. It’s still overcast outside, and the chilly air sends a shiver through Makoto’s body. He internally groans for forgetting his scarf and gloves back at his apartment.

Makoto cups his hands over his mouth and huffs warm air into his hands. He looks over at Sousuke and points in the direction of Haru’s apartment, “It’s this way. About 4 blocks.”

Sousuke looks at the direction Makoto points at and nods. He follows the brunette through the busy streets of Tokyo. Sousuke pulls his scarf up over his cheeks covering himself from the cold, and stuffs his hands in his sweatshirt pocket.

The raven-haired teen looks over at Makoto and notices that he doesn’t have his parka jacket all the way zipped up and the brunette seems to be shivering while he puts his hands deeper into his pockets. Sousuke quirks an eyebrow and grabs Makoto’s elbow to pull him off to the side.

The teal-eyed teen faces Makoto and is in the process of taking off his black scarf to give to Makoto.

Makoto’s eyes widen when he sees Sousuke taking off his scarf. The brunette says, “Sousuke. You’re gonna get cold if you do that. Keep it on.” Makoto grasps Sousuke’s hands to stop him from removing the scarf, the brunette says gently, “You’re only wearing a sweatshirt. I’m wearing a warm jacket. Please, don’t worry about me.” Makoto swats Sousuke’s hands away and repositions the scarf back on Sousuke’s neck.

Sousuke watches Makoto and still notices that the brunette is shivering under the jacket and says, “You may be wearing a warm jacket, but I can see that you are shivering.” Sousuke zips up Makoto’s jacket and clasps the buttons on the outside, he says firmly, “At least zip it up all the way.”

Makoto laughs with embarrassment, “Uhh, sorry.” Makoto watches Sousuke knit his eyebrows as the raven-haired teen adjusts the jacket around Makoto’s neck. The green-eyed male looks away and says quietly, “Thanks. That does feel better.”

Sousuke exhales, “Good. Don’t want you to freeze to death. You should take better care of yourself. Come on. Let’s go.” Sousuke puts his hands back into his sweatshirt pocket to preserve as much warmth as possible.

Makoto shoves his hands deep into his parka jacket as he looks down to the floor, “Yeah, I should. Um…just a couple more blocks.”

The brunette leads the way to Haru’s apartment. It’s a taupe building with many balconies. The apartment complex is right next to a convenience store that he has frequented many times in the past. There is also a fish market right next to the convenience store, which makes it way too convenient for Haru to have his fill of mackerel. Sometimes, Makoto wonders if that was the only reason why he picked the apartment he currently resides in.

The brunette chuckles to himself and says, “Here is Haru’s apartment.” He points up, “This is my stop.” He looks at Sousuke and smiles at him.

Sousuke looks up at the apartment complex, “Ah. Convenient. Well, I guess I better go then.” The raven-haired teen looks at the brunette and smiles lightly, “Take care of yourself. I’ll check you out as a barista sometime. I have to try your hot chocolate, right?”

Makoto chuckles, “Yes, please. I work three days a week, Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Come by anytime I’m working. And…please go home and change if you have plans today. I don’t want you catching a cold or anything.”

Sousuke scoffs, “Figures. Yeah, yeah. I was planning on going home after this anyway.” The raven-haired teen shrugs.

Makoto smiles and waves as he walks over to Haru’s apartment complex, “I’ll text you about your promise later. I won’t let you forget.”

Sousuke clicks his tongue, “Che. Yeah, yeah.” Sousuke waves back to Makoto.

Makoto giggles and heads up the first staircase before he leans back against the wall. The brunette sighs deeply, feeling nervous. He really didn’t want Sousuke realizing how nervous he was and tried his best to keep things light between them. However, now that Makoto was in the process of climbing up the stairs to see Haru, he’s afraid.

The brunette is afraid of what kind of injury his boyfriend gave Haru. The green-eyed teen is afraid he will hate himself. He’s afraid that as soon as he gets into Haru’s apartment, he’s going to cry when he sees the damage. Makoto takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm down, and tightens his pocketed hands into fists. Makoto just hopes that he can calm his nerves enough to climb the other two flights of stairs.

Sousuke watches Makoto disappear up the staircase before he walks back to the subway station. He hopes that Rin will appreciate all he’s done for Makoto when the raven-haired teen gets a chance to tell him about it. When Sousuke gets to the train station, he walks over to a bench to look for his cell phone in his backpack.

Sousuke knits his eyebrows in confusion. He can’t find his cellphone at all. Sousuke sighs as he takes a moment to recall where he could have placed it. The only time he used it was when Yumiko called him in the late morning. Sousuke thinks, _‘Oh. I left it at Makoto’s. I threw it on the couch with my hoodie. Ah, man! I forgot both.’_ Sousuke sighs in disbelief. He knows he’s going to have to email Rin to get in contact with Makoto at some point today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy belated birthday Makoto! <3 I meant to post this before his birthday ended, but I didn't have time ^^|| I'm not sure if I will be able to post a new chapter next week or not due to Thanksgiving, but I will update soon after if I can't. Thank you all so much for your feedback and ongoing support ^////^ *tosses virtual mini whale sharks to everyone*


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates ^_^ This chapter is rather long. I decided to not split the chapter up since the content seemed to flow. Thank you so much for your support!

Sunday, 3:20pm

The crisp breeze blew through the stairwell of Haru’s apartment complex. Makoto felt his body chill from the breeze and hugs himself tightly.

After a few minutes of deep breathing, Makoto finds the courage to open his eyes and takes on the two flights of stairs up to Haru’s apartment. As he exhales, the brunette moves forwards and slowly goes up the staircase.

His steps feel heavy as he continues up the first flight of stairs. Makoto looks up at the second flight and winces internally. He wonders why walking up a couple of staircases is so painful and hard. The brunette really does want to see Haru, but at the same time he’s dreading seeing him too.

Makoto casts his doubts and fears aside as he continues up the second flight of stairs, holding on to the metal rail as he climbs. As soon as the brunette gets to the third floor, he takes his hand away from the rail and brings it up to his mouth to huff some warm air into it.

Step by step, he carefully walks to apartment 303 and stares at the cream-colored door momentarily. Makoto thinks to himself, _‘Ok. This is it. The moment of truth. Just calm down and breathe. I, I have to know. I can do this.’_ The green-eyed teen brings his hand up with the intention of knocking on the door. His hand drifts over to the cream-colored surface and stops. Makoto takes a deep breath and closes his eyes before he raps on the door three times.

Makoto exhales as he counts to three, before he tries the doorknob. The brunette turns the doorknob, and of course, it turns all the way allowing the backstroke swimmer entrance into Haru’s apartment. Makoto sighs in defeat as he thinks, _‘Again. He left the door open.’_

The brunette closes the door behind him and locks it before he sits down by the entryway to take off his shoes. He says as he’s untying the knots of his sneakers, “Haru. I’m here. And you forgot to lock your door again.”

Makoto gets up and shimmies his feet out of his shoes carefully. He takes off his parka jacket and places it on one of the hooks by the entryway. The emerald-eyed male looks around the apartment, noticing that Haru is nowhere to be seen.

The brunette looks around Haru’s living room and sees a DVD titled ‘ _Amazonian Waterfalls’_ on a large round low wooden table, and Haru’s blue laptop. Makoto laughs nervously, until he hears drips of water.

Makoto knows where Haru is instantly, he walks over to the mint green titled bathroom and smiles at his friend, “Figures you would be taking a bath.” Makoto extends his hand to the navy-haired teen as he singsongs, “Haru-chan.”

Haru had his nose and mouth underwater when Makoto came in, so his eyes shifted upwards when he notices the brunette’s hand in front of him. Haru comes up for air and says quietly, “Hmm…no -chan.”

As soon as Haru’s face comes up, Makoto’s eyes glisten in shock as he focuses on Haru’s right cheek. The brunette kneels down beside the bathtub, resting his forearm on the edge of the tub, and with his other hand, the brunette hooks his pointer finger under Haru’s chin gently. The emerald-eyed teen inspects his cheek more closely by shifting Haru’s head to the side tenderly with his hand.

The fear Makoto had earlier, creeps up in his gut ferociously, gnawing on his insides as he stares at Haru’s cheek. The navy-haired teen’s peachy skin is stained with harsh blues and purples, and it’s slightly swollen. The brunette winces, feeling as if he was the one punched in the face. Makoto’s eyes start to water as it finally hits him; his best friend was hurt by Takeshi, his boyfriend.

Makoto can’t stop his hand from trembling as he just sobs in front of Haru, and heavily flops his head, hitting his forearm with a thud.

Haru knew Makoto would cry once he saw him, and expected this reaction. The navy-haired teen gently places his hand over Makoto’s head and runs his hand through coffee-colored locks to try and soothe the backstroke swimmer.

Makoto cries uncontrollably, his sobs becoming hoarse and heart-wrenchingly pained. The brunette feels stricken, wounded, and exasperated. Never did he imagine that something like this would happen to Haru; not because of him. His treasured friend, an innocent party was hurt because of him. Makoto wails in agony as tears fall down his cheeks, onto his forearm, and the brunette’s body shakes violently. He doesn’t know who to be angry at: himself or Takeshi.

Haru watches the brunette weep in front of him. He doesn’t like seeing the green-eyed teen so upset, but there is nothing he can do but listen to his cries echo in the bathroom. Haru shifts his body in the tub so that he is facing the brunette as he continues to delicately massage Makoto’s scalp. He combs his outstretched fingers through silky locks of hair, gently twirling some of the soft hair between his fingers every now and then.

Haru is determined to stay in the tub for as long as Makoto needs to let all his feelings out. Of course, he would love to stay in the water for eternity, but with Makoto’s cries of pure sadness, the navy-haired teen feels himself closing in on himself and a part of him wants to run away from the pain that he is seeing.

Haru frowns as he continues to pet Makoto’s hair. He remembers running away before nationals, when he went to Australia with Rin. That evening during the Obon festival, when Makoto told him of his plans to go to university in Tokyo was the first time he lashed out at the brunette, dumping his jumbled frustrations on him.

At the time, Haru just didn’t want to think about the future, he didn’t want the responsibility; he just wanted to be free. After the trip to Australia, his feelings changed; Rin showed him so many things he can never forget, the redhead gave him the opportunity to embrace true freedom. To be truly free, acceptance is necessary: transitions, change, high school, and swimming, it all transformed for Haru. For the first time in a long time, he felt a deep-rooted burden lifted off his shoulders, and he finally saw a dream that he desires to pursue.

To wander like he once did, was not freedom; to look at his destiny head-on broke the chains around him. His friends showed him the path to free.

Haru’s friends, his boyfriend, and water, they all gave him something important that he just can’t tarnish, love. He loves all of them dearly. With Nagisa and Rei he feels a chum-ship, or a chummy love. With Gou, he feels a congenial love. With Makoto, Haru feels a familial love. With Rin he feels all sorts of romantic and sometimes a lustful kind of love. Of course with the water, the navy-haired teen feels reverence and a devoted love.

So when any of his beloved friends get hurt, Haru has a desire to protect, especially Makoto.

Makoto has been with him through everything, if it weren’t for the brunette, Haru would have never found his love for the water. Since Makoto introduced him to his first love, swimming in the water, Haru wants to support the emerald-eyed teen with his romance too.

The cerulean-eyed teen has given the brunette his opinion of Ito, and it wasn’t favorable. Haru wants Makoto to find his own ‘Rin,’ like he did. Someone who understands the feeling of intimacy that comes from the power of friendship and family. Ito doesn’t have a clue what that means at all, and just how important it is for the backstroke swimmer.

Haru blinks as he realizes that Makoto is no longer wailing or shaking. The navy-haired teen stops the repetitive scalp massage on the brunette’s head and murmurs gently, “Makoto?”

Haru waits a minute before tenderly shaking the green-eyed teen on the shoulder, “Makoto?”

After another minute of a lack of response from the brunette, Haru gets up from the bathtub and he is wearing the black jammers with purple squiggles. He quickly dries himself with a soft, luscious lavender towel.

Haru assumes that the brunette must have fallen asleep after all his tears.

The free-swimmer grabs Makoto under his arms from behind the brunette and lifts the backstroke swimmer as much as he can, dragging him out of the bathroom and into the tatami mat living room.

Gently, Haru lays Makoto on the tatami mat floor, next to the wooden table with his DVD and laptop. The navy-haired teen goes into his bedroom, opens his crisp white closet doors to retrieve the extra futon on the top shelf.

Haru carries the futon to the living room and places it down next to Makoto. The cerulean-eyed teen goes back to his bedroom and grabs some blankets. Haru puts one of the blankets down on the futon, then with both feet planted on either side of Makoto’s head, Haru slips his arms under the brunette’s upper arms once more and hauls him over on top of the futon to lay the green-eyed teen on top of the Japanese-style mattress.

Haru grabs Makoto’s legs and places them on top of the futon. He drapes the other blanket over the brunette and tucks him in sweetly.

The cerulean-eyed teen goes to the bathroom, grabs a washcloth, and runs some lukewarm water over the fabric. The navy-haired teen goes over to kneel beside the brunette to carefully wipe the backstroke swimmer’s face.

Haru watches Makoto’s face distort into frowns and small whimpers as he wipes the brunette’s face. The free-swimmer’s heart hurts for Makoto.

Haru decides to put on some clothes and make some dinner. The navy-haired teen thinks that maybe he can go one night without his cherished mackerel. He may go out grocery shopping again for other ingredients.

\----------------------------------------------

Makoto stirs in his sleep, tossing and turning every now and then. He softly whimpers in his sleep as he tosses and turns until he eventually hears water. The brunette hears soothing sounds of gentle streams of water caressing small pebbles, Makoto envisions himself immersed in many shades of blue.

The brunette wanders through a large body of water, and sees a merman, no, Haru with a dolphin tail swimming up to the top of the surface. The green-eyed teen tries to swim up, but feels some sort of pressure pulling him down below. Makoto looks down and sees nothing wrapped around his feet, then looks up to see Haru looking down at him sadly. Why? Why is Haru so sad? The brunette tries to swim up to the top, up to where Haru is, but every time he tries to move up, he moves down.

The green-eyed teen panics as he looks back down and just sees a black hole of darkness below him. Makoto tries to swim up to the top, up to Haru. He feels his airway passages restrict, and lets out a pained cry before he sees the color teal grasp his hand firmly pulling him up…

Makoto wakes up with a start and a cold sweat. Violently jerking up and grasping his black and blue ombre plaid flannel dress-shirt. The brunette’s breaths are ragged, and he feels that he is desperately trying to fill his lungs with air. Makoto’s eyes wander around the room until he sees a shocked-faced Haru sitting crossed-legged in front of the laptop with images of waterfalls, a bowl between his legs and wooden chopsticks hanging from his mouth.

The brunette looks down at himself and notices that he is covered in a soft bluish-green blanket as he tries to calm his nerves. Makoto unclenches his shirt and rubs his face with the palms of his hands as he says between breaths, “Haru, what time is it?”

Haru swallows softly as relief washes over his face. He says as he takes the chopsticks out of his mouth, “It’s 6:50pm. You have been sleeping for a couple of hours. Let me know when you are hungry. I made pork shougayaki and rice.”

Makoto blinks slowly, letting the information sink into his brain. Quickly he looks up at Haru with astonishment as he says in awe, “Haru…you didn’t make mackerel…” The brunette’s eyes glisten in admiration.

Haru looks away with a bit of pink growing on his cheeks as he nods, “Mmm. I figured you needed something a little different, and meaty.” The navy-haired teen digs in his bowl with his chopsticks, and picks up some pork and rice together before he swiftly noms the bite.

Makoto rubs the back of his neck as he chuckles to himself. He remembers the terrible swollen bruise on the free-swimmer’s cheek, and Makoto face becomes crestfallen as sorrow fills his chest. The brunette knows he needs to figure out what he needs to do about his boyfriend.

The green-eyed teen closes his eyes as he lets details of the past few days flow into his memory. His heart aches horrendously, but his mind screams that he could give Takeshi a second chance; doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance? No one is perfect. Makoto shakes his head lightly, mentally walking away from the crossroads he presented himself with. He needs more time.

Makoto wills all the negativity away, looks at Haru and smiles warmly, “Thanks Haru! I’ll go get some.” The brunette gets up slowly and trudges over to the small kitchen and opens one of the cabinets. He grabs a medium sized black ceramic bowl, goes over to the rice cooker and plates up some hot steaming white rice. The green-eyed teen walks over to the range, pulls up the lid of the pan, and plates up some of the thinly sliced pork shougayaki into his bowl.

Makoto goes over to the refrigerator and grabs a bottle of water, then opens one of the drawers, places the water bottle under his arm as he fishes out a pair of wooden chopsticks before heading back over to the tatami mat room to sit right next to Haru in front of the laptop on the table.

Haru watches Makoto get his food and come back to sit next to him. The navy-haired male stares at the brunette blankly as Makoto shifts his weight and gets settled next to the cerulean-eyed teen. Haru asks curiously, “Are you up to watching the rest of this movie with me? Rin is going to call around 8:30. We have some time.” Haru places a light blue towel containing some blue ice over his injury.

Makoto glances at Haru and nods, “Yes. Let’s watch while we eat.” The green-eyed teen holds the black bowl in one hand as he grabs some rice and shougayaki with his chopsticks. The piping hot, fluffy rice feels nice in his mouth, and with the ginger pork, essences of salty-sweet spice explode on his tongue. The meat tastes juicy on the inside and lightly crisp on the outside. The brunette savors the flavors and smiles, “Haru. This is really good.”

Haru peers over at Makoto and looks at his laptop, “Th-thanks.” The free-swimmer pushes play on his computer to change the topic, and devour with his eyes the beauty of water.

The brunette takes a couple of bites before he looks over at Haru. Makoto notices that the navy-haired teen is thinking about something. Makoto tries to decipher what Haru is thinking about by inspecting the cerulean-eyed male’s facial expression and body language.

Makoto eats as he watches Haru shift from eating, placing the ice on his cheek and staring at the screen with amazement. Makoto smiles to himself as he witnesses Haru’s absolute, uncensored adoration for the different scenes of waterfalls that appear on the laptop screen.

When Haru places the ice pack on his cheek, the green-eyed teen looks down at his bowl and eats quickly and silently. Makoto inwardly berates himself thinking about the injury on Haru’s face.

When both teens are done eating and the movie on waterfalls ends, Makoto takes his bowl and Haru’s, gets up and washes the dishes. He says loudly, “Rin eats shougayaki a lot, trying to get better at making the dish, Haru?”

Haru flinches slightly as he puts the disc back into its case, he looks back at Makoto and they stare at each other. Haru’s eyes waver in being caught so easily, then looks away as he shrugs. The navy-haired teen mumbles, “Mmm-hum.”

Makoto chuckles as he finishes up washing the dishes, “Cute, Haru. That’s so sweet. I’ll make sure to keep it from Rin then. Gotta keep some surprises for the redheaded water shark.”

The brunette glides over to the cabinets to grab some containers to put the rice and shougayaki in. Makoto asks over his shoulder, “Do you need more ice?”

Haru takes out the blue ice in the towel he has in his hand to feel how cold it is. The navy-haired teen comes to the conclusion that he indeed needs a new one, “Yeah, I think so.”

Makoto stops, puts the rice cooker insert into the sink and heads to the freezer. He pulls out a pink blue-ice bear, saunters over to Haru to hand it to the cerulean-eyed teen, “Here. Um, is it hurting? Do you need anything else for the injury?” The brunette has concern and sadness written all over his face.

Haru takes the pink bear that Makoto hands him and gives the backstroke swimmer the green bear that is no longer cold, “A little. I don’t need anything for it. I took some meds earlier.”

The brunette takes the green bear and frowns at Haru, “When?”

Haru shrugs as he puts the pink bear between the fold of the washcloth he’s holding, “before you woke up. Probably around 6:30.”

Makoto kneels down in front of Haru, places his hands on the free-swimmer’s shoulders to look him in the eye. They stare at each other for a few minutes, conveying their thoughts through eye contact.

Makoto’s emerald eyes glitter with feelings of sadness, guilt, fear, and redemption.

Haru’s sapphire eyes glitter with feelings of unhappiness about the situation, concern, and hope.

The brunette sighs and wraps his arms around Haru, resting his chin on navy-haired teen’s shoulder. Makoto makes sure that he doesn’t interfere with Haru’s injury. The emerald-eyed teen holds Haru as he squeezes the free-swimmer warmly, “I know you will say it’s not my fault. I know I didn’t hurt you. But I hurt because you are hurt. I am sorry, Haru. Forgive me.”

Haru stops breathing momentarily as he takes in Makoto’s words. Relief washes over the navy-haired male. After everything that has happened the past couple of days, and also knowing something that the brunette wasn’t ready to tell him about yet, fills the free-swimmer with warm fuzzies in his chest. Haru doesn’t like being on bad terms with his best friend, and he doesn’t want to be the reason why Makoto cries. The cerulean-eyed teen exhales shakily and smiles, “Makoto, I forgive you. I…”

The backstroke swimmer squeezes Haru a little tighter, “Oh, Haru! I will do better. I promise. Never again will I withhold stuff from you. Haru, I…”

Haru tries to pry himself off of Makoto, feeling like he’s suffocating, “Ma-Ma…Makoto…st-stop…too…too…much…”

Makoto eyes widen and let’s go of the navy-haired teen, giving Haru some space. He places his hands on Haru’s shoulders as he laughs nervously, “I’m sorry.”

Haru closes his eyes in relief, and he fills his lungs with air, “Sometimes you forget your own strength.”

Both Haru and Makoto stare at each other before they bust-up laughing. Haru laughing quietly, and Makoto laughing boisterously. The joyous melody from both teens lighten up the mood between them. Haru’s deep blue eyes smile as their laughter dies down. The brunette wipes small tears from the corner of his eyes as he says, “Yeah, I need to be careful about that.”

Haru nods as he places the blue ice back on his cheek.

Makoto smiles at Haru before standing up, “I’m gonna clean up the kitchen. Let me know if you need anything.”

Haru nods as he does an Internet search on his computer.

\----------------------------------------------

Around 8:35pm, Haru notices that he has a Skype call coming in. The navy-haired teen closes the internet window, runs his hand through his hair a couple times. He looks around to see if Makoto is back from the bathroom and notices that the light is still on under the door. Haru gets up from his cross-legged position on the floor to knock on the bathroom door, “Makoto. Rin is calling now, so I’m going to answer it. When you are done, come out to join us.”

From behind the door, Haru hears, “Ok. I’ll be out in a minute.”

The cerulean-eyed teen goes back to sit in front of the computer, again he runs his hand through his hair, and covers his swollen bruise with the blue ice before answering. Haru answers calmly, “Hi, Rin.”

Rin stares at Haru and notices the navy-haired teen is holding a kind of towel over his cheek. The redhead’s knits his eyebrow as he stares at him and says firmly, “Haru. How is it? Let me see.”

Haru inwardly pouts, not wanting to show Rin his injury. The free-swimmer maintains a cool, calm and collected demeanor as he holds the redhead’s gaze, “you’ll cry. I’d rather not.”

Haru’s gaze looks over at Rin’s hair and notices that his hair is a little shorter since they last talked, which was 4 days ago. The navy-haired teen tilts his head slightly, “you got a hair cut?”

Rin sighs deeply and clicks his tongue, “Che. Yeah, got a trim yesterday. Don’t change the subject this time, Haru.” Rin crosses his arms and leans forward in his chair, “c’mon. Let me see.”

Haru’s eyes cast downwards, shifts his head to the side, so Rin can see his cheek clearly. The cerulean-eyed teen slowly removes the blue ice from his cheek, “it will heal. So, don’t cry.”

Haru knows if Rin were there with him, the redhead would have forced the free-swimmer to discard the blue ice instantly as the crimson-eyed teen inspects his injury. Haru can picture Rin caressing his uninjured cheek tenderly, as the redhead strokes his thumb over his cheekbone. The thought makes the free-swimmer flush minutely, as he slightly shivers with the image in his mind.

Rin focuses on the injury. He sees the swirls of purple, blues, some undertones of yellows and swelling. Rin’s face darkens, anger showing on his face, his muscles tense up. Some asshole hit Haru across the face.

Makoto nervously comes out of the bathroom, and closes the door slowly, not wanting to disrupt the discussion between Haru and Rin. He leans against the door with both hands behind his back as he watches his friends. Makoto can see Haru sitting on the floor and Rin on the screen. Haru eyes are closed with his head turned to the side. The brunette looks down at his feet. He saw a glimpse of Rin’s angry face and empathizes with him. The green-eyed teen fears that Rin will yell at him, blame him for what has happened.

Without realizing that he has been taking steps closer to his friends, Makoto kneels down behind Haru, placing his hands on the navy-haired teen’s shoulders lightly. Makoto looks at Rin, as the backstroke swimmer tries his best not to panic internally with fear, “Rin…I’m sorry this happened. You have every right to be angry. I…”

Rin focuses his attention on Makoto and leans back in his chair harshly as he releases a long exhale, “Makoto. I am angry, but not at you. You didn’t hurt Haru, your…” Rin scratches the back of his head roughly and grunts.

Rin is furious at Makoto’s boyfriend. How dare he punch his Haru? When he heard about it last night, the redhead wanted to book a flight to Japan to see his boyfriend and then hunt down the bastard to beat the crap out of him.

Makoto looks at Haru and then looks back at Rin. He can tell that Rin is thinking unpleasant things. Softly Makoto says, “I know, Rin. My boyfriend hurt Haru. I am…upset…about all this.”

Rin rubs his forehead as he takes in what Makoto said, he peeks through his fingers and sees the brunette looking a bit off to the side with a dull, empty expression on his face. He peeks over at Haru who is staring at Rin with a calm exterior.

Haru sighs gently and places the blue ice back on his cheek, “Rin. Makoto has already spent too much time crying over all this. He doesn’t need to feel worse.”

Makoto eyes shift over to Haru, and then back at Rin. Rin’s hand is over his mouth now. The brunette says shakily, “Haru, please don’t. Rin is angry, and he needs to let that out. I…I messed up. Big time. Rin has the right as your boyfriend and my friend to chew me out.”

Rin looks at Makoto with concern and says firmly, “Makoto, I’m not angry at you. I’m angry with the guy who punched my boyfriend and hurt you in the process. Don’t be so quick to take the blame here…I mean, yeah…you should have talked to Haru about all this, but you weren’t the one who…” Rin looks at Haru and the redhead’s features soften with care, “to hurt him like that.”

Haru’s eyes smile at Rin, but then he looks away over his shoulder to peer at the emerald-eyed teen. Haru sees the brunette listening to Rin’s words, but not focusing on anything in particular.

Makoto’s green orbs meet Haru’s deep blue orbs and they stare at each other momentarily. The brunette can see Haru’s worry deep within his eyes, and looks over at Rin who is also staring at him with worry. Makoto wants to smile and erase those gazes of concern away, but he just can’t seem to make himself smile like he usually does.

Rin breaks the silence between them all by asking, “Makoto, is he hurting you? Your boyfriend?”

Haru and Makoto look over at Rin. Haru stares at the redhead curiously, and Makoto looks at Rin with shock written all over his face.

The brunette remembers Haru asking him the same question, and for some reason, the question sounds a little different, there’s fury in Rin’s undertone. For the first time, he can’t defend Takeshi. Makoto feels frustration in the pit of his stomach. Both his friends are angry with his boyfriend, not him. It hits him like a ton of bricks. Makoto’s hands slightly shake on Haru’s shoulders, and he takes his hands off of the navy-haired teen to rub his own arm soothingly.

Makoto looks at Rin with honest eyes, “Physically, Takeshi hasn’t hit me. Sometimes he’s rough with me, but nothing serious. The past two months, we have been arguing a lot more. Mainly about my friends…he thinks that Haru and I are dating because of how close we are. Takeshi doesn’t have any really close friends, so he doesn’t understand what it’s like. He doesn’t like how friendly I am with lots of people. It’s been emotionally draining. I’ve tried talking to him about all this, but he just gets angry. But…”

Rin shakes his head and interjects, “No. No buts! I only want to hear your side, not his. Don’t you see, Makoto? He doesn’t have to physically assault you to hurt you. He’s making you feel bad about the people and things that are important to you. If he can’t understand, then is all that waiting and pain worth it? There’s a reason you didn’t tell Haru about him, and it’s not just because of Haru’s opinion. Deep down, I think you know what I’m talking about, Makoto. Just don’t put all that other stuff on top of it.”

Makoto eyes waver as Rin talks. He stares at the redhead as he points things out a little harshly for the brunette’s liking. Makoto sits on his legs, putting all his weight on shins. He lets the information sink in and he wonders if Rin is right. Deep down, is there a reason why he didn’t tell Haru? Did he already know that things would end up badly? What was the reason he didn’t tell Haru? He thought it was fear and anxiety that they wouldn’t get along with each other.

Haru shakes his head and glances over at Rin, “That’s enough Rin. He needs us right now.” Haru furrows his eyebrows slightly at Rin, letting the redhead know that he won’t take no for an answer.

Rin rubs the back of his neck, understanding the message clearly and says gently, “Uhh, sorry…Makoto. Sometimes I get a little…umm…hotheaded about things. I don’t want to force anything on you, I’m just worried. You are my friend, and I hate seeing you run yourself ragged. In the end, I know you will make the right decision for yourself, I just…I hate knowing you are sad and all.”

Haru smiles sweetly at Rin for toning down his words. Before Haru could say anything, Makoto says, “It’s ok, Rin. It just means you care about me, right? Thank you, for the advice and…just so you both know…Takeshi and I are on a break. I just said the wrong thing last night and he snapped at me. But maybe it’s what I need…so I have time to think.”

Haru is in deep thought when Rin speaks up, rubbing his shoulders, “Ok. Do what you need to do Makoto. Just remember you have friends who care about you. Not just Haru and I. You know Rei, Nagisa and Sousuke…Kisumi and friends you made in Tokyo will be there for you if you need them. All you have to do is just ask them to lend an ear.” Rin gives Makoto his famous toothy grin.

Haru puts his hand on Makoto shoulder and squeezes lightly, “Yes. We are all here for you when you need us.”

Makoto feels an overwhelming sense of thankfulness. He feels so lucky to have such caring and loving friends. He smiles brightly at both Haru and Rin, “thank you. I’m going to give you guys some alone time.” Makoto winks at Rin before the brunette gets up and walks over to Haru’s room. Before the green-eyed teen enters Haru’s bedroom, the backstroke swimmer looks back and says, “Haru, take all the time you need. I’m going to look over my notes.”

Makoto closes the bedroom door, and sits down on Haru’s futon.

\------------------------------------------

Monday, 1:25pm

After his Calculus and Human Development classes, Makoto went to the campus library to borrow a few books for class, and a cookbook. Currently the brunette is sitting in the small break room of Momemto Café. He didn’t want to stay on campus too long just in case he ran into Takeshi. Makoto took out a bento box of last night’s leftover steamed rice and shougayaki that he heated up in the microwave.

As the brunette eats, he recalls the conversation he had with Haru in the morning about Sousuke. The green-eyed teen had meant to tell the navy-haired male about Sousuke yesterday, but with everything that happened, he didn’t get around to it.

Haru didn’t seem too bothered by the fact that the brunette met Sousuke here at the café. In fact, he seems relieved to know that the backstroke swimmer wasn’t alone the previous night. Makoto wonders about Haru and Sousuke’s relationship. He knows that most of their interactions ended in arguments, particularly centered around Rin. The emerald-eyed teen has a feeling that Haru holds a form of respect for Sousuke, but never showed the teal-eyed teen anything of the sort. Makoto is not sure about that though.

Thinking about Sousuke, the brunette received a text before his Calculus class from Rin. Apparently Sousuke left his cell phone and a hoodie at his apartment. Makoto hopes that Rin was able to give Sousuke the information he sent the redhead.

The brunette hears his text tone, and fishes his phone out of his pocket. He is very grateful that the Line app on his phone allows him to communicate with Rin for free while he is in Australia.

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

Thanks! I told Sousuke about your work hours today. He said he would go see you when you are closing up. Hope that won’t be a problem. You’re welcome btw. Take care of yourself. ]

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

No prob. I should have asked Sousuke if he had everything before leaving the apartment. I will make sure he gets his stuff. I will stick around until I see him, don’t worry. If I don’t see him, I’ll text you about it. I will ^_^ ]

Makoto finishes up eating, and goes to the locker room to change into his uniform for work. He wears espresso-colored dress pants, a white dress shirt with a couple of buttons undone at the very top, a black vest with espresso-colored satin lapels, a burgundy waist apron that goes down past his knees, and black slip-on work shoes. Makoto adjusts his charcoal rimmed bottom-framed glasses on his face before heading to clock in for work.

\----------------------------------------------

Monday, 9:15pm

The brunette is exhausted as he is cleaning up the café with Kita-san, his co-worker. Kita-san currently is goes to a different university that is well known for their culinary program.

Makoto is currently mopping the floor with one ear bud in his ear as he listens to his playlist on his phone. He looks over at Kita-san and notices that he is having a difficult time staying awake. The brunette looks a bit concerned and asks, “Kita-san, are you ok?”

The young man with a ponytail looks up from wiping the counters, “Hmm? Uh, sorta. I’m fine, just tired. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Makoto stops mopping as he leans on the top of the stick, “Why don’t you go home Kita-san? I can finish up here. Besides, I need to wait for a friend anyway. Go on.”

Kita-san rubs his forehead and smiles at Makoto, “If you’re sure. That would be great. I really need to just pass out.”

Makoto chuckles as he continues mopping the floor, “Get out of here, before I have to mop you off the floor. Really, I’ll be fine. Go on and get some sleep.”

Kita-san leaves the rag in the sink and says, “Thanks Makoto. I owe you one.” Kita-san goes to the back to get his things and comes right out after a few minutes, still wearing his uniform and an ivory puffer jacket over it.

Kita-san taps Makoto on the shoulder, and gives the brunette the keys to close up, “Here. I clocked out, so don’t worry about that. Lock up after I go. And, see you Wednesday. Take care Makoto.”

Makoto places the mop against the main counter of the café and follows Kita-san out the front door. After Kita-san leaves, Makoto locks the door and resumes mopping the floor.

Makoto is singing along to the tunes of his playlist as he makes his way around the café cleaning the floor. Eventually the brunette bobs his head, and sings along to the music as he is cleaning the floor by the front door until he hears a rap on the glass.

Sousuke walks over to Makoto’s workplace, and sees the brunette mopping the floor while dancing to a tune. The raven-haired teen stops right in front of the glass double doors and watches the sight before him. He can hear the brunette’s voice as he mops and dances at the same time.

Sousuke can’t make out the song Makoto is listening too, but Makoto has a good sense of rhythm and a decent voice. The teal-eyed teen smiles to himself as he watches the brunette lost in the music. After a few minutes of standing in the cold, Sousuke knocks on the front door gently.

Makoto stops and looks up to see Sousuke behind the front door. The brunette smiles widely as he takes out the keys from his pocket to open the door.

Sousuke walks in when the door opens and says, “Thanks. You have a nice voice when you sing.” Sousuke turns around to face the brunette as he adjusts his messenger bag that is across his torso.

Makoto locks the door, and glances at Sousuke with surprise, “Eh? You-you heard?” Makoto smacks his hand to his head, “You weren’t suppose to know that. I mean…about me singing. I-I don’t sing that good.”

Sousuke chuckles, “Oh? That’s too bad. If you want, I can just keep that to myself.”

Makoto sighs and says, “That would be great. You might want to stand behind the counter, while I finish up the rest of the mopping.” The brunette pulls out his phone and presses stop on his music player, unplugs his ear buds from his phone, and drapes it over his shoulders.

Sousuke walks over behind the counter and leans his back on the counter next to the sink as he cross his arms and leg, “What song was that anyway?”

Makoto smiles lightly as he continues mopping the floor, “It’s OldCodex…umm…Beautiful Backbone.”

Sousuke slouches forward and looks down at his shoes in thought, “Hmm. I don’t know that one. Do you need any help?”

Makoto throws him a look of disbelief and raises an eyebrow, “I have the cd and downloaded it to my laptop. If you want, I can pass it along to you. I don’t need any help. I’m getting paid to do this…so you have the luxury of watching me work. If you came by before the espresso machine was cleaned, I could have made you something.”

Sousuke frowns and looks over at Makoto. He can see that the brunette is making his way to him as the backstroke swimmer continues swaying the mop back and forth against the floor. The raven-haired teen says softly, “Next time. I had some things to take care of. And…never mind it’s not important.”

Makoto finally makes it over behind the counter, and fishes his phone out of his pocket as he hands it over to Sousuke, “Might as well text Rin and let him know you’re here. I don’t want him worrying. Ok. Next time.” The brunette doesn’t want to pry in the raven-haired teen’s private life, but it seems that Sousuke is not completely opposed to sharing.

Sousuke uncrosses his arms and takes Makoto’s phone. He hits the home button and is greeted with a picture of Makoto and his family. It’s similar to the photo on the brunette’s nightstand, and he smiles inwardly. Sousuke thinks, _‘you really love your family, don’t you Makoto. It’s cute. I wonder about these two little ones though…they seem innocent, but kids can be little demons sometimes. I bet Makoto lets these little ones get away with murder.’_

The teal-eyed teen slides his thumb over the words on the bottom of the screen, clicks on messages and sees Rin at the top.

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

Yo! I’m here with Makoto. Did you know he could dance? I saw him mopping the floor before knocking, and he was totally dancing to a song. If I had my phone, I would have recorded it for you, dude. Priceless. ]

Makoto says, “Ok Sousuke almost done. Why don’t you head into the back room, through the door next to you? Turn right, and there should be a door straight ahead. Go ahead and sit down in there as I finish up in here.”

Sousuke looks up after writing the text as he places Makoto phone in the pocket of his leather jacket, “Sure.” Sousuke uncrosses his arms and heads thorough the door on his right. He does just as Makoto instructed and enters a room with a small kitchenette, a round white table with 5 chairs around it, another door that’s closed, and at the end of the room are 8 lockers with a bench in-between and a curtain for some privacy. Sousuke takes off his black messenger bag and places it on one of the chairs as he pulls one of the other chairs out and flops in it.

Sousuke takes out Makoto’s phone from his pocket, and clicks on the music icon. He goes through the brunette’s playlist looking for the song he mentioned. Sousuke thinks, _‘what was it again? OldCode or something. Or pretty back?’_ The teal-eyed teen scrolls through the playlist, until he sees ‘Beautiful Backbone’ and plays the song.

Sousuke leans back in the chair as he puts the phone on the table and listens to the lyrics. It starts off slow then the lyrics flow, and then the bass picks up with the electric guitar. The raven-haired teen allows the words to sink in, processing what the meanings are. It speaks to him somehow. Something about reminiscing on good times, guilt, understanding, wishes, it makes Sousuke feel a little uneasy listening to the song. It reminds him too much of his own reality, and he wonders if Makoto likes this song, or if he feels this way.

The song finishes, and Sousuke hits the pause button, not wanting to pry any more than he has already. Makoto’s phone vibrates as he’s holding it. It’s from Rin.

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

Good, good! I’m glad you made it there Sousuke. And, for real? I had no idea! I’d like a vid next time! o(〃＾▽＾〃)o Also, did you get the pic I sent you? You didn’t believe me when I said I cut my hair, so I had to give ya proof, ne? And this is for Makoto, my craptastic friend apologized, so promise fulfilled. ^_^ ]

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

Oi! I can tell him that! >.> Yeah, I got the pic. Lookin’ good! ]

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

LOL (｀・ω・´)” Careful, I may bite. ]

Sousuke laughs wholeheartedly reading the last text from Rin. The raven-haired missed the jokes and just can’t help himself.

Makoto walks into the break room and sees Sousuke reading something on his phone, and all of a sudden he hears him laughing. The brunette looks over at Sousuke and watches the raven-haired teen laugh with so much ease it stuns the emerald-eyed male.

Makoto’s eyes widen as he witnesses such a rare sight, his mouth parts open as he is awestruck. The brunette can see Sousuke’s shoulder shake in laughter, his eyes shut as he laughs warmly, and there’s a glow about him. The green-eyed teen smiles serenely at the sight. Sousuke looks like he’s content, and Makoto can’t help but cherish his wonderful laugh that fills the room, and the wide smile on his face, it’s amazing.

Sousuke finally collects himself and wipes a tear from his eye. He looks up to find Makoto staring at him, he blinks a few times before a blank expression replaces the happiness he had displayed just moments ago, “Uh…you done?”

The brunette looks away and rubs the back of his neck nervously, “Y-yeah. Well, no. I should change. Is that ok?” The emerald-eyed teen wanted to relish more in that rare sight, embedding it in his memory. He doesn’t know when he will see it again, if ever at all.

Sousuke gets up from the chair and places Makoto’s phone on the table, “sure. Is it ok if I use the restroom?”

Makoto says as he walks over to the lockers and starts inputting the combination, “Oh. Yes. It’s that door right there.” He points at the closed door in the break room.

Sousuke nods and heads to the restroom, he opens the door, turns on the light and closes the door firmly behind him.

Makoto watches Sousuke leave the room, and finishes putting the combination in the lock. He pulls down, and slides the lock hinge through the metal hole before opening his locker and putting the lock on the top shelf. Makoto thinks, _‘Sousuke…I really like your smile. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a beautiful smile on your face before. I wish you could feel just like that…so the rest of us can see that smile again. I wonder what made you smile like that…must have been special.’_

The brunette sighs as he feels some of the exhaustion earlier set into his body. He sits down takes off his shoes, and gets up to take off his waist apron. Makoto inspects the apron to see if there are any stains, and of course there are a few. He folds the apron and places it on the bench behind him. Makoto pulls off the ear buds around his neck and places it on the bench behind him, then unbuckles his belt, unzips his espresso-colored pants, gently slipping out of them.

The emerald-eyed teen pulls the belt out of the belt loops and coils it around itself and puts it on the top shelf of the locker. He picks up his loose fitted dark blue jeans and slips into them quickly. Makoto unbuttons his black vest, folds it, and puts it on top of the folded waist apron. He unbuttons the white dress shirt, folds it, and places it on top of the vest. The backstroke swimmer grabs his sneakers in the locker, sits down and ties his shoes.

Sousuke slips out of the bathroom, and closes the door quietly. He looks around and finds Makoto tying his shoes. The raven-haired teen takes one step forward towards the brunette and leans against the wall with his right shoulder as he crosses his leg and crosses his arm watching the backstroke swimmer.

The teal-eyed teen watches Makoto pick up his black slip-on shoes and place them in the locker before he gets up. The brunette’s back is all Sousuke sees. The raven-haired teen can clearly see the white border of Makoto’s briefs with two green stripes that peek over the top of his blue jeans. The backstroke swimmer stretches, and Sousuke watches the brunette’s back muscles constrict, and relax.

Sousuke swallows as he watches Makoto’s toned muscled back. He can tell that the brunette still works out, considering how fit he is. The raven-haired teen asks, “Still swimming? You back is quite toned. I’m impressed that you have been maintaining your fitness.”

Makoto stiffens and looks back to see Sousuke leaning against the wall, “Oh. Ahh…yeah. I usually work out with Haru every weekend. And I’ll go to the gym on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a bit by myself. I swim at least once a week, sometimes I skip the workout just to get in the water. Uhh, nothing to be impressed with.” Makoto faces Sousuke and rubs his arm as he laughs sheepishly.

Sousuke stares at Makoto and clicks his tongue, “really, you need to learn to take compliments. By the way, I never knew you wore glasses? Are those new or something?”

Makoto blinks and blushes lightly, “Ah…umm…well the glasses aren’t really new. I’ve had them for a while now. I only use them when I need them. I’m near-sighted, so I use them for classes mainly.” He lifts his hand and takes off his black semi-rimmed glasses from his face, “I wear them when I work too.”

The brunette grabs his backpack from the locker, unzips the small section to take out the white glasses case. He puts his glasses away, “I didn’t really wear them much in high school. And I didn’t need them for swimming competitions. I mean, I can see fairly well without them, just it's a little blurry to see things farther away. So…yeah…it makes sense that you’ve never seen them before.”

Sousuke shifts his weight and moves away from the wall, sitting back down at the white table, “Ah. I’ve just never really pictured you with glasses before. They suit you somehow. Anyway, finish getting dressed. Did you bring a scarf and gloves with you?”

Makoto grabs his black long sleeve shirt and puts it on, “Uh, no. I let Haru borrow the scarf I had left at his place. I was wearing one, but I gave it to him while we were heading to the train station this morning. And I didn’t bring any gloves with me.”

Sousuke shifts his weight in his chair, leaning over to open his messenger bag to take out a scarf and two pairs of black gloves, “You can borrow mine then. You’re going to need them. Trust me.”

Makoto puts on his green and black plaid flannel dress shirt and buttons it up, “Eh? You brought some with you?”

Sousuke gets up and brings over the scarf and one pair of gloves with him, placing the gloves on the bench and unraveling the folded black scarf, “Yeah. I figured you would not have one for yourself. When I stopped by my apartment, I picked up an extra pair for you. Here.” Sousuke wraps the scarf around Makoto’s neck.

The brunette looks up at Sousuke as he wraps the scarf around his neck, “Ah…thanks Sousuke. You know, you really are sweet.” Makoto smiles up at him.

Sousuke moves away when he’s done, “Oi. I’m not that nice. I just don't want to see you shivering like last time, and it’s cold outside. You need to take better care of yourself.” He heads back to the round table, picks up the pair of gloves he left on the table and puts them on.

Makoto looks down at the bench and picks up the gloves to put them on. He reaches in his locker and puts his parka jacket on, he picks up the lock, closes the door, and firmly pushes the lock in place, “Oh. Well, lets get going then.” Makoto puts the work clothes in his backpack, and places the backpack on over his back.

Sousuke picks up his messenger bag, grabs Makoto’s phone, and follows Makoto out the back of the café. When Makoto opens the door, the cold biting wind brushes against their exposed skin. Makoto shivers at how cold it is outside. Makoto locks the door and leads Sousuke out of the back alleyway.

The raven-haired teen leads the way, making sure that he’s just a step ahead of the brunette as he fishes into his pocket, handing the phone back to Makoto, “Your phone. Made sure you didn’t leave it there. Also, I looked up that song you mentioned and listened to it. It’s a nice song. A little depressing though.”

Makoto looks up and reaches for the phone, taking it into his hands, “Thanks. Oh, you did? Hmm…yeah it is a little depressing, but I like it. Sometimes I feel like that.” Makoto looks at his phone and checks the message Sousuke sent to Rin. He reads the texts, and smiles to himself, “I’m glad you two made up.”

Sousuke looks over his shoulder and curves one side of his lips into a half-smile, “Yeah. Had to keep my promise.” Sousuke thinks about what Makoto said about the song. He notices the street they are on, and says, “this way, Makoto.” He turns right rather than going straight across the street towards the train station.

Makoto stops and watches Sousuke walk down the street, “Eh? Aren’t we taking the train?” The brunette jogs over to catch up with Sousuke.

The raven-haired teen turns into a parking lot and walks over to a dark grey, almost black motorcycle. He takes out his keys from his black jeans and opens the side compartment.

Makoto stops as soon as he sees Sousuke in front of the motorcycle, his eyes wide and glistening in absolute shock. Makoto thinks, _‘He has a motorcycle!? Oh my gosh! It looks so…so…cool!’_ The brunette just stands there stunned and unable to move, he just watches Sousuke take out a helmet and puts it over his head.

Sousuke looks over at Makoto’s stunned face and laughs at the astonished expression the brunette has on his face. If only he had his phone, he would have taken a picture of it. The teal-eyed teen walks over to Makoto, grasps his wrist, and pulls him closer to his bike, “I’m gonna think your face is stuck like that if you keep that up. What? You’ve never seen a motorcycle before?”

Makoto looks at Sousuke’s face behind the shield of the helmet and says, “I-I…I’m just surprised. I thought we were taking the train, and here you are with a motorcycle. It’s so cool!”

Makoto looks down at the bike and walks around the motorcycle with amazement in his eyes, “I’ve never been on one before. It’s…wow! What kind of bike is it?” Makoto laughs at his own wonderment.

Sousuke watches Makoto take in the bike and smiles at the awe the brunette shows. His innocence about the whole situation fills Sousuke with some warmth. He shakes his head, as he puts his messenger bag in the side compartment, and closes it up, “It’s a liquid graphite Yamaha FJR1300.”

Makoto smiles at Sousuke and thinks, _‘Cool. A Yamaha, huh.”_

The raven-haired teen goes to the other side and opens the other side compartment, taking out a helmet that is yellow in the front, blue in the back with cat ears and a black visor, “if you’re gonna ride with me, you have to wear this.” Sousuke hands the helmet to Makoto.

The brunette takes the helmet and inspects it. He turns it around in his hands, and notices that the shield is tinted as well. Makoto raises his eyebrows and asks, “Cat ears? Is there a reason for that?”

Sousuke sighs, “Ah. Yumiko, my stepsister, she bought me a second helmet, and picked that one. Sometimes she rides with me, but not frequently. But I haven’t been riding my bike very often…well…that doesn’t matter. Anyway, she likes some chick from some anime series. I forget what it’s called. But apparently, that’s her helmet or something.” Sousuke shrugs, “You still have to wear it regardless.”

Makoto smiles and laughs nervously, “Uh…I guess I don’t get a choice in the matter.” Makoto take a deep breath and puts the helmet on. He asks, “Does it look funny on me?”

Sousuke drinks in the image of Makoto in his brown parka jacket, a black scarf, and blue jeans with a yellow and blue helmet with cat ears. Sousuke inwardly snickers, but he doesn’t want to deter Makoto to take it off, “Nah. You look fine. All that matters to me is that you are safe.”

Makoto pouts. He senses that Sousuke is hiding something from him and looks away, “You’re lying. It does look silly on me.”

Sousuke gets on the bike, “Come on. Let’s get you home. Get behind me and hold on tight, ok?”

Makoto watches Sousuke lift his leg up and straddles the seat of the motorcycle with such cool grace. Suddenly the idea of Makoto straddling a bike behind Sousuke clicks into his mind and he blushes ferociously. He is so glad that the raven-haired male can’t see the blush on his face, “Wa-wa-wait. Won’t it be kinda weird if I get on it? I mean…I-I…ummm…won’t it look kinda strange for two guys to be riding one bike?”

Sousuke puts his key in the ignition, looks over at Makoto, “I don’t care. It’s not that weird. I’m taking you home, is there something wrong with that?”

Makoto blinks and rubs his arm, “No…nothing wrong with that.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, “I mean…you have a choice here. You can ride with me, or you can take the train and I’ll meet you at your apartment. Which do you prefer?”

Makoto remains silent and sighs in defeat. After seeing the motorcycle and putting the helmet on, he wants to know what it’s like. The brunette walks over to the motorcycle, places his hands on Sousuke’s shoulders as he puts his foot on the ledge and swings his other leg over, straddling the second seat of the bike.

Sousuke says over his shoulder, “Put your hands around my waist. You really want to hold on to me. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Makoto laughs nervously, “Ah...hahaha. Uh…yeah. Yeah…right…” Slowly the brunette takes his hands off Sousuke’s shoulders and wraps his arms around the teal-eyed teen.

Once Sousuke feels the brunette’s arms snake around his waist, he turns the key of the ignition, revs up the engine, and turns his lights on, “Hold on Makoto. Don’t let go.” The raven-haired teen kicks up the kickstand and backs up out of his spot before speeding out of the parking lot and into the streets of Tokyo.

Makoto holds onto Sousuke tightly, as he feels the wind ruffle through his scarf, and the cold wind bite his skin through his clothes. The sound of the motorcycle’s engine revving up as they ride down the streets of Tokyo was heard, and the rumble he feels from the bike makes the brunette feel invigorated. There is just something about moving about in a motorcycle that sends shivers through him. He looks around the city watching the city lights blur as they speed on by. It reminds Makoto of being on a roller coaster ride, and he can’t help smiling throughout the whole trip to his apartment. He inhales the cool air deeply and enjoys the ride.

Sousuke parks his motorcycle in an alleyway next to Makoto’s apartment complex. He releases the kickstand down, turn off the lights, and cuts the engine. The raven-haired teen plants both feet on the floor, and says over his shoulder, “Makoto, you’re going to have to get off first.”

The brunette was lost in his own thought process and when the teal-eyed teen talks, Makoto quickly says, “Oh! Yes, sorry.” The backstroke swimmer puts his hands on Sousuke’s shoulders as he gets off the motorcycle.

Sousuke gets off the bike, takes off his helmet, opens the side compartment to take out his messenger bag, puts his helmet in and closes it back up. The teal-eyed teen looks over at the brunette, “Makoto, you ok? Pass me your helmet and we can head up.”

Makoto takes off his helmet slowly and smiles angelically as he passes the helmet to Sousuke, “Wow! That was so exhilarating! Thank you Sousuke!” The brunette giggles cutely.

Sousuke takes the helmet from Makoto as he stares at him. For some reason, Sousuke is rendered speechless. The dim light casting a halo around the brunette with his charming smile makes the raven-haired male nod and quickly puts the helmet in the other side compartment.

The green-eyed teen beams at Sousuke, “How long have you had your bike?”

Sousuke chortles at the brunette’s excitement, “Since September. My dad got it for me as a birthday present. But, I’ve had my license since I was 18. I thought you were tired, you looked exhausted earlier. Where did all this energy come from?”

They walk over to Makoto’s apartment complex, and start walking up the stairs. Makoto says with a laugh, “I was tired. But after that amazing ride, I just feel so…so…I don’t know. Good I guess.”

Sousuke inwardly smiles at Makoto’s response as they continue by the staircase. He didn’t think that the brunette would be so thrilled to be on a motorcycle. That sweet smile that the brunette had graced him with, why does it keep coming back to mind? It reminded him of the time Makoto smiled at him when he was washing the dishes at the brunette’s apartment. Then he thought that he would never see such a serene smile, but it happened again. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Yeah, it must have been just a coincidence.

As they reached the fifth floor, the green-eyed teen hears a, “Nya…nyaaaan.”

Makoto looks down and smiles, “Mr. Bean! What are you doing here? You silly cat.” The brunette bends down and rubs under the fluffy black cat’s chin.

Mr. Bean purrs and rubs his head on Makoto’s gloved hand.

The brunette giggles, “Awww. You are so cute. But let’s get you back to Yamada-san. She’ll worry if she doesn’t find you.” The green-eyed teen gently picks up Mr. Bean with both hands and carries him on his shoulder.

The black fluffy cat continues to purr as Makoto strokes his head and back.

Sousuke watches the whole display with Makoto and the black cat and raises an eyebrow, “Whoa. You know this cat?”

Makoto looks over Mr. Bean to look at Sousuke, “Um, yeah. I help his owner carry groceries and boxes sometimes. Apparently, Mr. Bean has a tendency to walk out the front door when it’s open and he wanders around the complex. Let me just bring him home real quick. Yamada-san is close by…502…so we will pass it.”

Sousuke shrugs and follows the emerald-eyed teen to apartment 502. The brunette knocks on the door. Both teens wait a couple minutes before Makoto knocks again.

The brunette worries that Yamada-san may be sleeping, and just when he’s about to suggest that they bring Mr. Bean to the backstroke swimmer’s apartment, he hears someone fiddling with the door chain lock.

The door opens and a 5 foot tall woman in her fifties with dark brown hair put into a bun with a few silver strands that can be seen throughout appears from behind the door and says with a sweet voice, “Tachibana-san! It’s so nice to see you. And…Mr. Bean?! Oh my! I’m so sorry Tachibana-san! I didn’t realize he was gone! Naughty, naughty kitty!” Yamada shakes her pointer finger at Mr. Bean.

Makoto hands Mr. Bean to Yamada-san, “It’s ok, Yamada-san. I’m just glad I found him before you went to bed. I’m sure Mr. Bean just wanted to have a little adventure.” The brunette laughs sheepishly.

Yamada looks up and notices Sousuke as she says, “Oh my, Tachibana-san! You have such a handsome friend with you!” She chuckles, “Ah! It’s nice to see such strapping young fellas! Oh! That reminds me! Tachibana-san, a tall and handsome young man was knocking at your door this morning. I think he was trying to get a hold of you. I tried to help him out, but since you never came to your door, I figured you left already. The poor young man left upset that he was unable to get you. Oh! What was his name again …Iwa… no… um… Ino… no…Ito…yes! Ito-san! That’s his name.”

Makoto eyes widen and says softly, “Takeshi…” The brunette shakes his head and says kindly, “Ah! Ito-kun. Yes, yes. I actually wasn’t home last night. I was with a friend. Sorry if he troubled you, Yamada-san. I will make sure to contact him soon. Thank you for letting me know. I should head home now.”

Sousuke looks back and forth between Yamada and Makoto. When the brunette mentions Takeshi’s name, he feels uneasy about the situation. For a moment, the raven-haired teen sees the brunette frown slightly at the mention of the name, Ito. The teal-eyed teen ponders, realizing that Takeshi’s last name must be Ito. Makoto’s boyfriend’s name.

Yamada says cordially, “Oh yes! It is quite late. Sorry to keep you Tachibana-san. Have a good night. Say good night Mr. Bean!” Yamada waves at the two young men.

Makoto waves at Yamada-san before heading over to his own apartment.

\------------------------------------------------

As soon as they get into the apartment, both teens take off their shoes.

Sousuke thinks about the whole situation with the cat, what was his name again, Mr. Bean. The raven-haired teen puts down his messenger bag on the wooden floor, “So…you and cats, huh?”

Makoto puts his backpack next to Sousuke’s messenger bag, and takes off his parka jacket, “Hmm? Oh. Um, I love cats. They are just so cute. Even back in Iwatobi, I would play with the cats in the neighborhood. I was quite surprised that some of the cats here in Tokyo like it when I approach them. I thought they would be so skittish and well, stay away from people.”

Sousuke takes off his leather jacket and places it on the hook next to Makoto’s parka jacket, “Wait…are you saying that Mr. Bean isn’t the only cat?”

Makoto chuckles, taking off the borrowed scarf and placing it on the hook with his parka, he walks over to the light switch in the living room, “Of course not. There are a lot of cat owners in this complex. I’ve met quite a few of them already. And when I walk to the university, there are a couple of cats I’ve seen that approach me, and let me pet them too.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, taking off his scarf and placing it over the hook with his leather jacket, “So it’s true. You are like a cat whisperer or something. Rin told me that he asked you for advice about a cat back in high school. That you helped him out with some cat problem.”

Makoto appears shocked, “Oh! Rin told you about that? Well…yeah. I did help Rin. But I wouldn’t say I’m a cat whisperer. Rin was having trouble with one of the cats around Samezuka, and all I really did was show him how to approach the cat. Although, I was scared…Rin told me that the cat was aggressive, and he did scratch Rin. I’m glad it all worked out in the end.”

Sousuke walks over to the couch, picks up his indigo hoodie and looks for his cell phone, “Oh. Still, you seem to be really good with cats. Mr. Bean really liked you. I wouldn’t be able to pick up a cat like that.” The raven-haired teen finds his cell phone, and the battery’s dead, “Is it okay if I charge my phone for a bit?”

Makoto takes off the borrowed gloves, puts them in his parka jacket as he takes out his phone from the jacket, “Really? I’m sure you could if you wanted to. Oh. Sure. Please go ahead.”

The teal-eyed teen walks over to his messenger bag and puts it on top of the kitchen counter with his indigo hoodie. He takes off his gloves and puts it on top of his messenger bag before looking for his charger, “I doubt it.”

Makoto checks his phone, and texts Haru, letting the navy-haired teen know that he’s home, “Oh? Did you ever meet the cat Rin had on the Samezuka grounds? The one that he was taking care of, that no one was suppose to know about?” Makoto leans on the kitchen counter next to Sousuke and plops his elbow against it propping his head on the palm of his hand.

Sousuke finds his charger, and looks at the brunette with a smile, “Of course I have. Eventually he asked me to feed Kuro a few times because he was busy. How do you know about Kuro?” Sousuke plugs in the charger into the outlet in front of him, and plugs the other end to his phone jack.

Makoto chuckles, “He promised me that Kuro and I could meet sometime, and he fulfilled that promise. Such an adorable cat. Love those blue eyes, and his soft fur. If you had to feed Kuro, then you can’t be that bad with cats.”

Sousuke shakes his head and chortles, “Nah. I wouldn’t have done it at all, if not for Rin.”

Makoto watches Sousuke and for a moment, he notices that his defenses are down, as if the wall that he usually notices has come down just a bit. He feels like Sousuke isn’t giving him any coldness, or indifference. Why is that? It reminds him of the smile that he witnessed earlier in the break room. It must have been that text from Rin, and they were just talking about Rin too.

Before the brunette could expand his thoughts, his phone rings and buzzes in his hand. He gets off the counter to see who is calling, “Oh. Haru is calling. Give me a moment, Sousuke.”

Sousuke nods at Makoto, “I don’t mind. Go ahead.” The raven-haired teen stares at the screen of his phone hoping that it boots up soon so he could at least check his messages.

Makoto moves away a little bit, but stays in the kitchen, “Haru! What’s up?”

Haru says, “I was wondering, if you should come over. It…would make me feel better to know that you are ok.”

Makoto frowns slightly and says tenderly, “Haru. I haven’t seen Takeshi today. What about your injury? How’s it looking? I looked up online that bruises like that take about a week to heal. Do you need me to take care of it?”

Sousuke can’t help but listen to the brunette’s end of the conversation. He continues to stare at the blank screen of his cell phone. The raven-haired teen thinks about the thought of Makoto not seeing Takeshi. If the brunette had stayed in his own apartment, he would have seen his boyfriend.

Haru says, “I’m taking care of it. It’s a little better, but I haven’t put a whole lot of ice on it today. I’m just worried that Ito will visit you…I don’t think you are ready to talk to him yet…are you? So just come over.”

Makoto sighs heavily, “Takeshi hasn’t visited…I mean. I’m sorry. One of my neighbors mentioned that Takeshi did come to visit, but I wasn’t here. I don’t think I’m ready to talk to him yet, but I don’t want to hide from him either. I think it will be ok Haru. I’m going to have to face him eventually. If he does come to visit me, I don’t want you getting hurt again.” Makoto slumps as he talks to Haru, afraid of what he will say.

Haru ponders for a moment, hearing the worry, and defeat in his voice. Considering Makoto cried when he saw his face, he knows if it came down to a fight, the brunette would cry again. The thought of the backstroke swimmer crying is unsettling, “Ok. What if I come over then? If not…then how about staying with a friend at least. Like…Watanabe. I don’t know anyone else that’s close to you and in the area.”

Makoto takes in what Haru says. Watanabe is a classmate of his, yes, but the thought of intruding into her private space makes him uncomfortable, “Please don’t worry. I’ll be ok. Please, take care of yourself. I don’t think I can bear to see you with another injury. As for Watanabe-san. I could ask, but it’s much to late to be asking her if I can stay with her.”

Sousuke looks over at Makoto’s back and thinks about what the backstroke swimmer has said. He thinks back to the evening when the brunette cried, and the things he heard. He remembers that his boyfriend knew where Nanase lives. Would the boyfriend try Nanase’s place if he doesn’t find Makoto? The brunette is right, it is late to be asking to stay over at someone else’s place. What about his place? Makoto could come over, and his boyfriend doesn’t know where he lives. Besides, Ito wouldn’t be able to get in very easily either, not without going through the concierge. Rin would definitely offer his place to the brunette.

Sousuke interrupts the emerald-eyed teen’s conversation, “Makoto. Why not come over to my place? That way Nanase would have some peace of mind, and you wouldn’t have to worry about him getting hurt.”

Makoto turns around and stares at the teal-eyed teen, “Huh? Wa-wait. I don’t want to burden you Sousuke. You’ve already done so much for me already.”

Haru tilts his head on the other line and says before the green-eyed teen could say more, “Yamazaki? Is Yamazaki there?”

Makoto glances at his phone, “Uh. Yeah. He forgot his phone at my place, so he came over to pick it up.”

Haru asks, “What did Yamazaki tell you?”

Makoto stares at Sousuke as he tells Haru, “He offered his place for me to stay tonight. But, I don’t want to burden anyone.”

Haru says firmly, “If Yamazaki offered, then you won’t be burdening him. I think that’s a good idea. Ito doesn’t know where he lives. Go with him Makoto. If you won’t come over or allow me to come over…at least do this.”

Sousuke waits for the brunette and the sapphire-eyed teen to discuss amongst themselves. He looks back at his phone and notices that his phone has enough charge that he can check his messages.  

Makoto’s eyes waver as he debates what to do. The brunette doesn’t want to make Haru worry, and Sousuke did offer.

Haru gently says, “Makoto. Are you there?”

Makoto looks down, “Yeah, I’m still here. I…will stay with Sousuke tonight. I don’t want to worry you.”

Haru exhales deeply, “Ask Yamazaki if I can talk to him briefly.”

Makoto hesitantly walks over to Sousuke and gently places his hand on the raven-haired teen’s bicep. Sousuke turns his head to glance over at Makoto.

Makoto looks into the teal-eyed teen’s eyes and says softly, “Haru is asking if he can talk to you for a moment. Um…would that be ok?”

Sousuke is a bit shocked to hear that Nanase wants to talk to him, but it doesn’t show on his face. Sousuke puts his phone down on the kitchen counter and extends the palm of his hand to Makoto, “I guess.”

Makoto says, “Ok, Haru. I’m passing you over to Sousuke.” The brunette passes the phone to Sousuke. The emerald-eyed teen wonders what they will say to each other as he takes the phone down from his ear to place it into the teal-eyed teen’s extended palm.

Sousuke exhales as he places the phone against his ear, “Nanase. What is it?” The teal-eyed teen breaks eye contact with the brunette, looking over at the living room. He has no idea what the navy-haired teen wants to ask him. Sousuke’s muscles tense up, his shoulders becoming broader. The raven-haired teen’s demeanor changes to one of indifference.

Haru says firmly, “Yamazaki. Rin trusts you, so I will keep my faith in that. Take care of Makoto. And…at some point, I would like to talk to you.”

Sousuke inwardly curses. His hand clenches into a fist at the mention of Rin name on Nanase’s lips. The teal-eyed teen takes a deep breath and glances over at Makoto. The brunette is staring at him intently. He wonders if the emerald-eyed teen is worried, however he isn’t sure if the backstroke swimmer is worried about Nanase, or him. Who is he kidding, the brunette and Nanase are close, of course he would worry about the navy-haired teen.

After a moment the raven-haired teen says, “If Rin were here, he would take care of Makoto. I’m only doing this for him, Nanase. I will make sure Makoto is safe. Sure we can talk, if the opportunity comes along. Is that it?”

Haru is silent for a few moments. Sousuke continues to stare at Makoto as the silence continues. Makoto holds Sousuke’s gaze, hoping to keep the raven-haired from closing off completely. The brunette wants to know if the only reason why he offered his place is because of Rin. The teal-eyed teen had mentioned that before, and he wonders what that means.

Should he view everything that Sousuke does for him as Rin being the one who actually does things for him, or is it something else, like an excuse to do things for him.

Haru finally says softly, “No. Nothing else.”

Sousuke huffs lightly, “Do you want to talk to Makoto?”

Haru says, “No, that’s ok. We’ll talk another time. Tell Makoto bye. Bye Yamazaki.”

Sousuke listens to Nanase before he hangs up the phone and hands it back to the brunette, “Nanase said bye. Let’s get some stuff packed up for you.” Sousuke attempts to walk past Makoto.

Makoto grasps the teal-eyed teen’s forearm, stopping him from moving past him, “Wa-wait. Sousuke…can I ask you something?”

Sousuke looks down at the brunette’s hand over his arm with a frown, “What?”

The brunette inwardly winces at the severity of the raven-haired teen’s face and tone, but shakes it off as best he can before saying, “What do you think about all this? I know Haru’s opinion about my boyfriend, and Rin’s. But…you don’t have strong feelings about me…I guess I’m curious what you think about this. Kind of like from a third-party perspective…I really am stuck. I understand Haru and Rin want to protect me, but I can’t help but feel like…I don’t know…I just want everyone to get along. I don't like this feeling at all.”

Makoto let’s go of the teal-eyed teen’s arm and looks down with a pained expression. He rubs his arm trying to soothe himself. The brunette didn’t mean to say all that. He wanted to ask if the raven-haired teen was okay, but at the last minute he just rambled on about some of the things that have been bothering him. He was going to ask Kisumi about this, but here he is now asking Sousuke about it instead.

Sousuke is a bit taken aback and looks up at the brunette. The emerald-eyed teen looks so grief-stricken that the raven-haired teen knits his brows. He exhales deeply taking his eyes off the brunette and looks at the cabinets, “What’s important to you in a relationship? That is what you should be asking yourself. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks if your standards are being met.”

Makoto looks over at the teal-eyed teen and stops rubbing his arm.

The raven-haired teen feels the brunette staring at him, and turns his head to meet those sad emerald eyes, “You do have standards right? Tell me, what are they?”

Makoto’s eyes waver as he stares at Sousuke’s cool teal-eyes, “I…I just want to love and be loved in return. I want everyone to get along. I…”

Sousuke frowns and takes a step forward, making the brunette step backwards until the emerald-eyed teen is pressed against the counter. The raven-haired teen places both hands on either side of Makoto, firmly holding onto the kitchen counter as he bores his serious eyes at the brunette and says profoundly, “that’s not what I meant. What about trust? What about respect? I’m talking about the things you need from him. You can’t be happy in any relationship if you don’t know what you want. Where is your line? If he crosses it, will you confront him about it? If you don’t know where these things lie, then you are doing a big disservice to yourself. So, try again. What’s important to you?”  

Makoto can’t tear his eyes away from Sousuke as he speaks, his words sting a little, but his tone isn’t harsh. The brunette can feel his heavy gaze, and it makes him uncomfortable. He tries to look away, but those teal eyes make him surrender. They are so close, his eyes are not the only things keeping him from running away from the questions. Makoto inhales sharply and exhales quickly as he takes in consideration the questions presented to him.

The brunette finally says after a couple of minutes, “I need him to trust me. My friends are so important to me. I will not choose between my friends and my lover. Never. I need him to understand that. I want him to understand that my relationship with Haru is intimate, yes, but we are only friends, and I love him…he’s the only family I have here in Tokyo. I will not abandon any of my friends, and they will do the same for me. I know things can get complicated…I…just want him to respect my choices rather than try to make me change my mind so harshly. I…” Makoto closes his eyes and places his hands over his face, not wanting to show how vulnerable he’s feeling.

Sousuke takes a step back, giving Makoto some space to collect his thoughts. He crosses his arms as he watches Makoto take his time trying to compose himself.

The raven-haired teen sighs, feeling a little unsettled with what the brunette had said. He wasn’t expecting to hear the emerald-eyed teen mentioning Nanase with such fondness, and a declaration of love so easily. The teal-eyed teen slowly runs a hand through his hair, taking a few deep breaths, shaking the unsettling feeling in his gut.

Finally Sousuke says, “So…where’s your line? Has that line been crossed, or is he just teetering on the edge of it? I know what I would do if I were in your position. I would have confronted my partner long ago if I noticed problems of this degree. If that person couldn’t accept what’s important to me, then that person is out. That may sound severe to you, but people don’t always get along. People’s desires and whatnot change over time…and sometimes the answer is to split up and go separate ways. Just, think about that. See what answer lies there for you. C’mon. Let’s get out of here before it gets really late.”

Makoto takes his hands down from his face and stares at the side of Sousuke’s profile with unguarded eyes. He knows the answer, but is so afraid to vocalize it. He knows once it’s said, there is no going back. The brunette dreads the conversation with his boyfriend. The last sentence Sousuke says registers in his mind and he quickly pushes all the other thoughts to the back of his mind, “Uh, yeah.”

The brunette pushes himself off the counter and starts to walk towards his bedroom until he feels a firm hold on his wrist. Makoto looks back to see Sousuke looking at him blankly, wait, his eyes hold some concern too. Makoto thinks, _‘No…that can’t be right. But, why is he stopping me.’_

Sousuke looks into Makoto’s sensitive eyes and says gently, “Realistically, how long do you need before you can talk to him?”

Makoto looks to the side and he thinks about the question. The brunette sighs with defeat, “Ma-maybe a week. Why?”

Sousuke walks forward, not letting Makoto go, heading to the brunette’s bedroom, “Then we shall pack a week worth of stuff for you. And don’t question that. I don’t think you should stay here either if you aren’t prepared to see him.” Sousuke opens the emerald-eyed teen’s closet looking for a duffle bag or any bag that’s big enough to fit quite a few things.

Makoto’s eyes widen as they stalk into his bedroom. He thinks, _‘wait a minute. Wh-why is this happening? A week!?! With Sousuke!? Wait…that is burdensome!’_ Makoto watches Sousuke pull down a duffle bag from the bottom of his closet and bring it over to the bed. The brunette grabs Sousuke’s forearm and says, “Wait. I know you said not to question you, but a week? You can’t be serious. I don’t want to intrude on your private space, Sousuke. You don’t have to do this for me. I’ll stay for one night and…”

The teal-eyed teen grabs Makoto’s other forearm, stares at him with seriousness and says, “I understand you don’t want to be bothersome, and you won’t be. I offered, and you accepted that offer. Nothing wrong with extending it longer if you need it. You said you aren’t ready to talk to him, and who is to say that he won’t come back here tomorrow night, or Wednesday morning? You don’t know. He can’t bother you if you come with me. You should talk to him on your terms, not his. I don’t like the fact that he imposes on you, and he should know better than to do that anyhow, if he knows you at all. I’m sure he’s ready to talk with you, but you aren’t. And that’s a bit insensitive. So no buts. You are staying with me for the next week. So pack up.”

Makoto has shock written all over his face as they stare at each other. Makoto is the first to look away, “Ok. I’ll pack.” Makoto heads to his drawers and picks out articles of clothing and putting them into the duffle bag.  

Sousuke watches the brunette for a few minutes, before leaving the brunette to pack up. As the raven-haired-teen turns around to head back to the kitchen, Sousuke hears Makoto’s voice ask, “Tell me something, Sousuke…should I be thanking you or Rin this time?”

The teal-eyed teen takes a moment to think about that question. When he asked the brunette to stay over at his place, his thoughts went directly to Rin. The raven-haired teen knew that Rin would help his friends out, especially good friends like Makoto. However, asking him to stay the week and being a bit forceful about it, was that something Rin would do? Deciding not to dwell too much on the topic, he says, “Rin. If Rin were here, he would be the one doing this.”

Makoto frowns as he puts his clothes in the grey duffle bag, “Oh. So, again…you have nothing to do with it. For a moment there, you really sounded like a friend to me. I guess not. Um, forget I asked. I’ll thank Rin for the hospitality you have shown me.”

Sousuke cringes when he hears Makoto speak. The brunette sounded broken. He looks over at the emerald-eyed teen and can clearly see a sorrowful expression on his face and a pang of guilt hits him in his gut. The teal-eyed teen watches Makoto pack and knits his eyebrows. He didn’t mean to hurt the brunette with his words; he just didn’t want to think too deeply on the matter.

Sousuke sighs and runs a hand through his hair, “Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Look, don’t take what I said too personally. I just meant think of me as an extension of Rin. Since he isn’t here to help you out, and I am, I’m sorta doing all this in honor of him so to speak. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t friends. I mean…we kinda are friends. I wouldn’t allow just anybody to come home with me, so consider yourself special, I guess.”

Makoto looks over at the raven-haired teen as he pulls a couple of hoodies from his closet, “Hmm. Do you do everything for Rin? I mean, when it comes to things like this? Or am I just a special case? I guess I’m just a little confused. You mentioned doing things for Rin before, and I can tell that you two really care about each other, otherwise Rin wouldn’t ask me to, umm, talk to you.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, “You mean look after me.” The raven-haired teen crosses his arms and says, “Don’t think too hard about that. Rin and I are best friends, nothing more. I just want him to be happy, and helping you out will do just that. And maybe that includes me too, ok. Mainly I’m doing all this for him, but maybe I’m doing it because I don’t want to see you hurt. Now can we stop talking about this? It’s starting to get uncomfortable.”

Makoto goes over to his desk and grabs his laptop and chargers, “I think you forgot to mention that Rin also wants to see you happy. The feelings you have towards Rin are mutual. I’ll let it go for now. Thanks Sousuke. For helping me out and talking with me like this. Even if you don’t feel the same way I do, I do think of you as a friend. To be here with me when I’ve been so down, it means a lot to me.”

Sousuke continues to watch Makoto pack up, and rubs the back of his neck feeling a little more uncomfortable than he did just a moment ago. His face darkens slightly at the thought of Rin having mutual feelings. The raven-haired teen knows that isn’t true, but the brunette knows nothing about that. When Makoto mentions that he views the teal-eyed teen as a friend, he looks away and ponders about that. Does he see the brunette as a friend?

From what he knows of the emerald-eyed teen, he takes his friends very seriously. To be considered as a friend makes the raven-haired teen blush slightly, “Uh…are you sure you consider me a friend? I mean, friends mean a lot to you.”

Makoto goes over to his desk and grabs a notebook, putting it into his duffle. He looks over at Sousuke and notices that his cheeks are flushed slightly. The brunette smiles, “Of course I’m sure. You are one of those special people in my life. Friends are very important to me, and you reminded me of that. I’ll go get my toothbrush and then we can leave. Make sure you have everything too.”

Makoto goes to the bathroom grabs his toothbrush and his hairbrush before heading back to his bedroom to place them in the duffle bag. The brunette zips it up, turns off the light, and carries it over to the entryway. He looks over at Sousuke who is in the kitchen putting his indigo hoodie and cell phone charger in his messenger bag.

Sousuke looks at Makoto and says, “I got everything. Let’s go.”

Both teens put on their shoes, coats, scarves, gloves, and bags before heading out the front door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe I had to have Makoto sing an OLDCODEX song. . .it was just too appropriate since Suzuki Tatsuhisa plays him ^^ For anyone who wants to know the song's translation it is here: http://kuroi-misaki.livejournal.com/140908.html and the song is on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzkzI74wmwA
> 
> Also I really couldn't help the Durarara! reference ^__^ The idea of Makoto in a Celty helmet just made me giggle inside.


	6. Chapter 6

** November 10th, Monday, 11:30 pm **

Sousuke pulls into the ‘17’ motorcycle spot in his parking garage. He turns the key in the ignition to cut the engine.

Makoto gently places his hands on Sousuke’s shoulders as he gets off the motorcycle, adjusting the duffle bag and backpack he’s carrying.

Sousuke gets off the bike and opens the side compartment to take out his messenger bag. He straps the bag around his torso, takes off his helmet, and closes the side compartment, “how are you doing?”

Makoto takes off the yellow helmet with cat ears, shaking his head lightly, “I’m ok.” He smiles weakly as he hands Sousuke the helmet.

Sousuke opens the second side compartment, takes the helmet in Makoto’s hands, and locks it away. The teal-eyed teen looks at Makoto, “Come on. Follow me.”

The brunette follows Sousuke to a set of elevators as the raven-haired teen hits the up button. The emerald-eyed teen looks back and notices that the whole parking lot is just for motorcycles, “Hmm…so what if you have a car?”

Sousuke side glances at the brunette and says nonchalantly, “there’s a separate garage just for cars. It’s across the street. Didn’t know you were so interested.”

Makoto laughs nervously, “Ah. I should have known it was something like that. Still, there are a lot of motorcycles and bikes down here.”

The elevator comes down and opens up. Both teens get in as Sousuke pulls out a key card from his breast pocket and slides it into the card reader before pushing the ‘L’ button. The teal-eyed teen shrugs and says, “I guess. I don’t know my neighbors that well. I usually keep to myself.”

Makoto looks over at Sousuke. The brunette can see that the teal-eyed teen is in deep thoughts. He wonders if Sousuke is thinking about what happened back at the Makoto’s apartment.

Before the green-eyed teen could ponder further, the elevator doors open. Makoto follows Sousuke, but the brunette just can’t stop looking at his surroundings.

The ceilings are high, and it’s very well lit. The floor is shiny white marbleized tile; there are well-manicured plants, a seating area for the residents to relax, big windows, and a round counter where a man in a suit is sitting by a computer. Sousuke and Makoto walk over to the concierge.

The man with slicked black hair, and black framed glasses looks up and smiles at Sousuke, “Yamazaki-san. I’m glad to see you home.”

Sousuke smiles back at the man sitting behind the counter, “Thanks, Oda-san. Did anyone come by to see me?”

Oda shakes his head, “Not tonight. Are you expecting someone?”

Sousuke shakes his head, “No. Anyway, this is my friend Tachibana Makoto. He is staying with me for awhile.”

Oda looks over at Makoto and smiles gently, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Tachibana-san.”

Makoto bows and says, “I-It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Oda-san.”

Oda laughs fondly at the brunette’s formality, “have a good night, Yamazaki-san, Tachibana-san.”

Sousuke leans forward and whispers into Oda’s ear, “Keep this between us, please. Yumiko and my dad don’t need to know about this. I’m just helping out a friend.”

Oda nods, “Yes, Yamazaki-san. Please have a good night.”

Sousuke half-smirks at Oda, “Thanks. Have a good night Oda-san.”

Sousuke looks over to the brunette and says, “C’mon Makoto. Let’s go upstairs.”

Makoto nods at Sousuke and looks over at Oda and bows slightly before catching up with the raven-haired teen who is already waiting for the elevators.

When the elevator comes down, the teens enter through the double doors. Sousuke uses his key card before pressing the ‘15’ button.

Makoto looks at all the buttons in front of them and notices that there is a ‘gym/pool’ button. The brunette looks at Sousuke wanting to ask about the pool, but Sousuke is rubbing his temples, “tired?”

Sousuke sighs softly and looks at the brunette, “a little. I just remembered that I have to meet a few classmates tomorrow after my nutrition class. I’m not looking forward to it.”

Makoto holds Sousuke’s gaze, “I see. Nutrition, hmm? I was thinking of taking nutrition next trimester, and maybe a psychology class too.”

Sousuke smiles, “I think it’s worth it, if that’s your question. Funny. I was planning on taking a psych class too.”

The two teens chuckle lightly, until they hear the elevator doors open. Sousuke leads the way with Makoto following close behind him. The hallway is spacious compared to what the brunette is used to, and there are a few glass coffee tables in between apartment complexes with plants on each side of the tables.

The two teens walk to the very last door at the corner before the hallways go farther to the left. Sousuke stops in front of a solid white door with silver-plated numbers that read ‘1515.’ The raven-haired teen places his card in the card reader until it beeps softly before opening the door.

The teal-eyed teen opens the door for the brunette and says, “Come in Makoto.”

Makoto grasps the strap of the duffle bag that is crossed over around his torso a little tighter as he says, “Ah…please excuse my intrusion. Thank you, Sousuke.”

Sousuke turns on the entryway light as he closes the door. Makoto puts his duffle bag and backpack down by the entryway before sitting down on the step to take off his sneakers.

Sousuke sits next to Makoto as they both take off their shoes. Sousuke gets up first leaving his shoes haphazardly by the entryway as he walks over to the entryway closet and slides it open. The teal-eyed teen takes out his cell phone, and puts it into his jean back pocket, takes off his leather jacket, and puts it on a hanger.

Makoto turns his shoes around so the front of his shoes are facing the door. The brunette turns around and the raven-haired teen is extending his hand in front of a closet.

Sousuke says, “Give me your jacket. I’ll hang it up for you.”

Makoto smiles sheepishly at the raven-haired teen as he unzips his parka jacket, “Thanks.” The brunette hands Sousuke the jacket and watches him hang it up in the closet. The emerald-eyed teen takes off his borrowed gloves and scarf. The brunette says, “Can I help you put these away?”

Sousuke half-smiles, “Just can’t let me take care of you, huh? Too bad, I’ll put those away. Hand them over.” The raven-haired teen extends his hand towards the brunette.

Makoto looks to the side and pouts slightly, “Aw. You’re no fun.” He hands the gloves and scarf over to Sousuke.

Sousuke looks over at Makoto quizzically, “Did you just pout? Seriously? Real cute Makoto.”

The brunette’s eyes glide up to the raven-haired teen’s profile. He notices that the teal-eyed teen starts knitting his eyebrows as he puts the articles of clothing in a drawer in the closet. Makoto thinks, _‘did he just call me cute? I’m not that cute.’_ The emerald-eyed teen decides to let that comment go and says, “Didn’t work, did it?”

Sousuke chuckles, “Nope. Does it ever work?” The raven-haired teen takes off his scarf and gloves and places it in a drawer. He can’t believe he just called the brunette cute. Inwardly he curses himself for saying something so cheesy. He must really be tired.

Makoto tilts his head to the side thinking about the question. Sousuke looks over at the brunette and a small smile forms on his lips. The raven-haired teen turns on the light to the hallway and picks up his messenger bag, “don’t hurt yourself. I’ll show you around.”

Makoto picks up his duffle bag and backpack following Sousuke through the hallway, “Oh. Yes. Sorry. I was just thinking about it working. I don’t think it really works anymore, but it used to when I was younger. My grandparents would give me whatever I wanted when I pouted and gave them the puppy eyes. Even Haru caved and gave me his popsicle once, but of course I would share it wit…” Makoto is rendered speechless when Sousuke turns on the lights to the rest of the apartment.

The brunette sees dark wooden floors, granite countertops in the kitchen, a big living room area. The emerald-eyed teen thinks, _‘Whoa. This place is huge. I had no idea Sousuke lived like this.’_ All of a sudden Makoto feels out of place as he covers his mouth with his hand in hopes that Sousuke doesn’t notice that he’s starting to feel uncomfortable.

Sousuke turns around and quickly notices how Makoto looks uneasy. The raven-haired teen sighs as he rubs the back of his neck, “That bad, huh? I was afraid of that.”

Makoto casts his eyes at the teal-eyed teen and notices how Sousuke refuses to meet his gaze, “Uh. No, no…I mean…I don’t mean to embarrass you. I’m just a little embarrassed. You have such a nice place, Sousuke.”

The teal-eyed teen shrugs, “if you say so. Since you are staying with me for a while, you might as well get…uh…comfortable.” He scrunches up his eyebrows as he face palms.

Makoto smiles sympathetically, walks over to Sousuke, and gently pulls the raven-haired teen’s hand away from the teal-eyed boy’s face. The brunette looks up at him and smiles sweetly, “I will try my best. Thank you Sousuke, for letting me in to your private space. I can see that…umm…this is something you don’t normally do.”

Sousuke stares at Makoto and says, “Uh, yeah. I don’t usually bring people home with me. In fact, you are the only person I brought to my apartment. And, I just found out today that my dad owns this place. He got this place a while back in hopes that my mom and I would move to Tokyo, so, yeah.” The teal-eyed teen looks away feeling uneasy.

Makoto smiles sadly and whispers, “So…this was meant to be a home for you.” The brunette wonders about Sousuke’s family life, but doesn’t want to pry. It seems that the raven-haired teen is giving him tidbits here and there, and he ponders if Sousuke has ever told anyone about some of the concerns he has.

The brunette shakes his head, of course he told his best friend, Rin. At least the teal-eyed teen has told someone. It would be really lonely to go through troubles by yourself. Makoto smiles knowing that Sousuke and Rin has reconciled recently. The emerald-eyed teen pushes all other thoughts aside and says, “It’s really nice Sousuke. So give me a tour.” The brunette beams up at the raven-haired teen hoping to make the other feel better.

Sousuke says, “Sure.” The raven-haired teen shows Makoto the kitchen first. The cabinets above the counter are glass cabinets that are framed with dark wood like windows. They are accentuated with silver plated knobs and cabinet lights that make the windows of the cabinet glow. The counters are covered in marbled granite that is accentuated with rectangular black, white, and clear tiles as a back splash. There is a big and deep stainless steel sink, a dishwasher, and a nice gas four-burner range with an oven.

There are three bar stools connected to the kitchen counter. The dining room can be seen beyond the kitchen. There is a wooden oval table with six chairs and a chandelier above the table.

The teal-eyed teen shows the brunette the spacious living room area with a coffee-colored suede couch, two loveseats on either side of the couch, a glass coffee table, and a beautiful glass covered fireplace with a mounted T.V. above it.

Makoto notices that all the windows go from the ceiling to the floor, and the view is gorgeous. There is a glass door that leads to a veranda where they could see the glimmering Tokyo skyline paint the sky.

Sousuke leads Makoto down another hallway and shows the brunette the washroom first. There are two sinks with a large mirror and a toilet. The shower room is separate with a deep tub in the corner, and a shower-head next to it.

The raven-haired teen shows Makoto the room that he will be staying in. There is a westernized queen bed in the middle of the room, with a desk. The windows are the same as in the living room and dining room, with curtains to use for privacy.

Sousuke says, “I’ll be sleeping in my room, which is across from you. We can talk more in the morning or later in the day tomorrow.”

Makoto puts down his duffle bag on the floor next to the desk and his backpack on the desk chair, “Ok. Um…would it be ok if I take a quick shower before heading to bed?”

The teal-eyed teen smiles, “Yeah, let me get you some towels.” Sousuke leaves to get some towels for the brunette.

Makoto unzips his duffle bag, taking out his plaid flannel pants, a pair of green boxer briefs, and a white t-shirt.

Sousuke comes back with a couple of towels for the brunette, placing them on the bed, “I’m going to sleep. See you in the morning.” The raven-haired teen waves as he leaves the room.

Makoto smiles, “Night Sousuke. See you in the morning.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** November 12th, Wednesday, 2:20pm **

Makoto is at Momento Café working his four-hour shift. Currently he is making a soy vanilla latte. The brunette thinks about some of the things that have happened the past couple of days.

Yesterday he received several texts from Takeshi, but the emerald-eyed teen was too scared to respond with anything solid. He texted back Takeshi saying that he needed more time to think about things, but in actuality Makoto was stalling for more time. He was afraid of confronting his boyfriend, he was afraid of the interaction that would take place between them.

Makoto has been trying not to worry Haru and Sousuke, but the brunette knows that he wears his heart on his sleeve. The green-eyed teen spent most of the day with Haru, worried for the navy-haired teen. Haru’s injury is looking better, the swelling isn’t as bad as it used to be, and Makoto is definitely glad that it’s healing. Makoto made sure to text Sousuke his whereabouts, even though the raven-haired teen gave him a key card to his apartment, Makoto just didn’t want to barge in on him.

The brunette walks over to customer number ‘30’ and puts the vanilla latte down at the table making sure she was comfortable before heading back behind the counter in front of the espresso machine.

Haru walks in the door, and Makoto looks over with a smile plastered on his face. Kita takes Haru’s order of a large earl grey tea and a crispy mackerel panini sandwich. Kita hands Haru a number ‘5’ card while he pays for the food.

Makoto watches Haru walk over to the table near the counter by the barista’s side, next to the window. The brunette brews Haru’s tea, setting a timer for the tea to steep. The green-eyed teen notices Watanabe is in the process of making the sandwich for order ‘5.’

When Haru’s order is ready, Makoto tells Watanabe that he will take the order to the customer. The emerald-eyed teen walks over to Haru, placing the large cup of earl grey with a few sugar packets on the saucer, a ceramic milk container, and a plate with the crispy mackerel panini and a side of greens.

Makoto asks with a smile, “How was practice today?”

Haru looks up from reading a textbook, “Hmm. It was good. I wish it was longer.”

The brunette chuckles, “So you can stay in the water longer?”

The free-swimmer looks up at Makoto with innocent eyes, “Mmm. I wanted to swim more.”

The emerald-eyed teen tilts his head and smiles sympathetically, “You will swim again tomorrow. Anyway, do you want an ice pack for your injury? I can grab you one real quick.”

Haru nods at the brunette, “Yeah.”

Makoto gives Haru a gentle pat on the back, “Ok. Give me a few moments. I’ll be back.”

The brunette goes back behind the counter and heads into the door that leads to the break room. He goes over to the mini-fridge in the break room, grabs a blue ice pack and a few paper towels. He heads back through the door, and walks back to Haru handing the ice pack to the navy-haired teen, “Here. Let me know if you need anything else.”

Haru nods before getting back to his deliciously crispy mackerel sandwich filled with light fresh cabbage tossed with lemon mayonnaise.

Makoto goes back behind the counter, getting back to making drinks for customers.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Around 3:15pm, Makoto hears a familiar voice and looks up from making a sweet potato matcha latte and he sees Sousuke wearing a charcoal grey quilted bomber jacket, a forest green wool scarf, and dark grey jeans. The raven-haired teen is in front of the counter ordering a tonkatsu sandwich and a spicy chai.

Makoto chuckles when he hears Sousuke order a chai and smiles at the teal-eyed teen. Sousuke glances over to see Makoto working the espresso machine and gives the brunette a half smirk. After Sousuke pays for his order and is given a number card, he walks over to the side of the counter, close to the emerald-eyed teen working the espresso machine and says, “so, am I finally gonna get your famous chai, Makoto?”

The brunette hands Watanabe the medium sweet potato matcha latte to take out to the customer. He starts working on making a chai for Sousuke and says, “I’m gonna try something different. I looked up some things, so we shall see what you think.”

Sousuke blinks and looks a bit shocked for a moment before he composes himself, looking away from the brunette, “you didn’t have to go through such trouble on my account.”

Makoto giggles, “Stop. I wanted to. Go find a seat Sousuke. I’ll bring your order to you.”

Before Sousuke could say anything more, he hears someone call for him.

Haru says firmly, “Yamazaki. You can sit with me.” The navy-haired teen noticed Yamazaki come through the front door and watched the interaction between Makoto and the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke turns around and sees Nanase sitting down at a table in the corner, by the window. He sighs and trudges over to the empty seat across from Nanase. He puts his messenger bag down on the floor, sits down, placing the number card on the table, “What?”

Haru looks at Yamazaki coolly and says nonchalantly, “Makoto told me that you are taking very good care of him. I wanted to thank you. I can see that you two get along…for the most part.” Haru takes a sip of his second cup of earl grey tea.

Sousuke looks down and crosses his arms, “Well it wouldn’t do me any good if I treated him poorly, would it? Besides he needed…someone and he didn’t want you getting hurt.”

The raven-haired teen looks up and focuses his attention on the bruise on his cheek and knits his eyebrows before looking away, “how is that?”

The sapphire-eyed teen stares at Yamazaki momentarily, thinking about how he should respond to the question. He takes another sip of tea, “It’s healing. Is it bothersome?”

The teal-eyed teen glances over at Nanase, “Not necessarily. I just know that people worry about you, that’s all.”

Haru sighs as he puts his cup down on the saucer, “I know we haven’t been on good terms Yamazaki. Do you want to keep the past in the past? I do. Considering the circumstances.”

Sousuke stares at Nanase contemplating the words he just said, “What do you mean by that? Is this Makoto’s doing or something?”

Haru stares at Yamazaki trying to convey his words with his eyes, and of course the raven-haired teen is unable to read his expression. Haru closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, “No. Makoto is Makoto. He hasn’t done anything. But…I have noticed that you have supported him, and that means something to me. I have been thinking…about you from time to time. Don’t take that the wrong way. You mean a lot to Rin.”

Makoto comes over with Sousuke’s order, gently placing the plate of the tonkatsu sandwich down on the table in front of the raven-haired teen. Slowly the brunette puts the large chai on the table, “Here you go Sousuke. I hope you enjoy. If there is anything else you need, let me know. I will take care of it.”

Makoto notices that Sousuke seems a little tense with how stiff his body is, crossing his arms and clutching his arm a bit. The brunette looks over at Haru and he can detect that the navy-haired teen is nervous, “Um…am I interrupting something?”

Haru looks up at the brunette briefly, looking away and shrugging.

Makoto looks over at Sousuke a little nervously, “Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen looks over at the emerald-eyed teen, sighs and undoes the scarf around his neck a little bit, “No. We’re just talking.”

Makoto presses his lips together, looking away from the pair of teens, “ok. Just making sure. Um…let me know what you think about the chai.”

Sousuke focuses his attention on the large white ceramic cup in front of him. The teal-eyed teen takes the cup by the handle and brings it up to his mouth taking a sip. His senses are hit with a strong flavor of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. Sousuke knits his eyebrows and puts down the cup of chai, “I don’t like cinnamon very much.”

Makoto’s eyes widen as he process the information. Sheepishly, the brunette smiles and laughs embarrassingly, “Oh. I had no idea. I’m sorry. Would you like me to make you another?”

Haru frowns knowing if the raven-haired teen tells Makoto that he doesn’t want it, that the brunette will have to dump it because of the café’s policy. The navy-haired teen noticed the brunette looking up recipes of different kinds of chai on the computer yesterday; the sapphire-eyed teen knows that Makoto has put some effort into making the beverage. Haru says, “If Yamazaki doesn’t want it, I’ll drink it. I don’t mind. If it’s ok with you, Yamazaki.”

Sousuke looks up at Nanase, reciprocating the same blank look he is receiving. He shrugs lightly, “I can’t drink it. If you want it Nanase, go ahead.”

The teal-eyed teen looks up at Makoto and notices a frown on his face. Realizing that the brunette is either disappointed or unhappy makes the raven-haired teen feel a little self-conscious, “Don’t worry about it Makoto. I would like another chai, yes, but no cinnamon this time.”

Makoto nods and heads back behind the counter in front of the espresso machine to make Sousuke another chai, minus the cinnamon. He takes a moment to rack his brain for other ingredients he can substitute cinnamon for. Every recipe he looked up had cinnamon as an ingredient. He decides to take out the cinnamon and see what it’s like with just the cardamom, clove, ginger, and pepper.

Sousuke looks over at Nanase and notices that the navy-haired teen places a paper towel over his cheek. He thinks about what Nanase said before Makoto came by. He asks, “What did you mean by that anyway? About meaning a lot to Rin? And why would you even bother thinking about me?” Sousuke picks up his tonkatsu sandwich and takes a big bite.

The raven-haired teen enjoys the texture of the bread that is soft yet toasty. He relishes in the light and crispy panko breading surrounding the well-seasoned pork, the rich and deep flavors of the homemade tonkatsu sauce along with the fresh, leafy butter lettuce as he waits for Nanase to answer the question.

Haru watches Yamazaki take a bite out of his sandwich, and looks down at his empty plate, pondering how he should respond back to the raven-haired teen. The sapphire-eyed teen had heard quite a bit from the redhead about the teal-eyed teen. Honestly after nationals, Haru wondered how Yamazaki had been doing. The navy-haired teen asked Rin about Yamazaki within the past few months, but the redhead looked uncomfortable and changed the subject. Haru figured that Yamazaki’s shoulder injury was serious if Rin was unable to say much about it.

Haru says as he looks at Sousuke, “You mean a lot to Rin. You are his best friend, just like Makoto is my best friend. That’s all I meant. Don’t read into it. And…I’m glad you were there with Makoto that night. I was worried that Makoto would be…” Before Haru could say more, he sees a certain blond in a white puffy jacket. Haru thinks, _‘Ito…why are you here?’_ Haru glares at Ito as we walks up to the counter.

Sousuke takes another bite of his scrumptious sandwich until he notices that Nanase had stopped mid-sentence. He looks up and notices that Nanase is looking murderous. The teal-eyed teen raises an eyebrow, puts his sandwich down and follows the trail of Nanase’s furious eyes. Sousuke settles his eyes on a tall, blond teen wearing a black beanie, a white down puffy jacket, and dark blue jeans.

Sousuke watches this blond guy order at the counter and notices that the blond guy has a bruise on his cheek, just like Nanase. Sousuke’s eyes widen slightly as realization hits him. That blond guy must be Makoto’s boyfriend. He thinks, ‘ _What the hell is this jerk doing here?’_ Sousuke looks over at Nanase and now understand why the navy-haired teen is glaring at the blond guy.

Makoto finally finishes making Sousuke’s chai, hoping that the teal-eyed teen will like it. Just when he’s about to go and give it to the raven-haired teen, he hears a raspy voice, a familiar raspy voice. Makoto looks over at the counter and his eyes meet coffee colored orbs. Makoto feels his heart beat faster, as he looks away from Takeshi and leaves his station.

Makoto goes over to the Haru and Sousuke’s table and places the chai down on the table, “here you go Sousuke.” The brunette pulls his hand away as his hand shakes.

Haru grasps Makoto’s hand and looks at the brunette, “Don’t. You aren’t ready yet.”

Makoto looks away from Haru, “I know, but I still have a job to do Haru. I can’t ignore a customer. I’ll be fine.” The brunette gently takes Haru’s hand off his, and smiles weakly as he walks over to the espresso machine.

Sousuke watched the interaction between Nanase and Makoto. He knows what Nanase meant, and he’s come to the conclusion that the blond guy is Makoto’s boyfriend. He thinks, _‘How insensitive. That guy should just text Makoto not ambush him at his workplace like this. That jerk knows Makoto won’t ignore him and he’s taking advantage of the situation.’_

The teal-eyed teen observes Nanase as Makoto retreats back to the counter. He can see Nanase’s hand tighten around the ice pack in his hand. Nanase is angry and he’s never seen him so upset before. Sousuke looks at Makoto and says to Nanase, “Don’t do anything stupid Nanase. Let Makoto handle this. Remember he doesn’t want you to get hurt again.”

Haru looks at Sousuke, and the raven-haired teen returns his gaze. Haru huffs as he looks away boring his eyes at Ito, “I won’t. I just want to make sure that ‘he’ doesn’t do anything stupid.”

Sousuke grunts, “that’s reassuring.” He looks over at Makoto and the blond boyfriend, “chill Nanase. Makoto is a big boy now.”

Haru looks over at Sousuke and looks away again, “then why are you staring at them?”

The raven-haired teen clicks his tongue, “just because. Just drink your tea Nanase.”

Takeshi waits right in front of Makoto as the brunette makes his drink. The emerald-eyed teen looks up to see Takeshi staring at him and he would quickly look away, concentrating on making the azuki matcha latte.

Every time Makoto would fumble, the brunette would internally curse himself for being so nervous. When the brunette finally pours the latte into a large to-go paper cup, he looks up and says, “here you go. A large azuki matcha latte for you.”

Makoto puts the cup down on the counter and before he can pull his hand away from the cup, Takeshi places his hand over Makoto’s and says, “Mako. Take a break. Let’s talk right now.”

Makoto’s other hand forms into a fist behind the counter as he stares into those deep brown eyes. The brunette’s eyes wavers before he looks away from Takeshi, “I’m not ready yet. Please…wait just a little longer.”

Takeshi grabs Makoto’s wrist and pulls him closer to him so the blond can whisper into his ear, “Please. I can’t wait anymore. I hate fighting with you, Mako. I want you back, babe.”

Makoto flushes as Takeshi’s warm breath touches his ear. The brunette holds his breath as Takeshi gently squeezes his wrist. Makoto exhales and says in a whisper, “Takeshi, don’t do this to me. Not here. I promise we will talk, I…can’t just yet.”

Kita noticed that Makoto looks flushed and asks the brunette, “Yo, Makoto. You ok?”

Before Makoto could answer, Takeshi says firmly, “Actually, Makoto here needs a break. Would that be ok?”

Makoto looks at Takeshi with shock and says quickly, “Takeshi! You can’t do that.”

Kita raises an eyebrow and says, “Makoto can take a break, sure. But not at your request, sir. I won’t let him off unless he wants to.”

Takeshi narrows his eyes at Kita, “Is that so? Tell him Makoto. Tell him you want a break.”

Makoto looks back and forth between Takeshi and Kita. The brunette takes his hand back from Takeshi and says with his eyes adverted, “Takeshi. No. I don’t want a break right now. I…I’m working. Please understand.”

Kita tells Takeshi, “I’m sorry, sir. But I can’t let Makoto go.” Kita leaves to take care of the pastries.

Takeshi takes his drink from the counter and drinks it right then and there. Makoto looks at Takeshi with a bit of panic, since he just made the drink and it’s hot. The brunette just watches Takeshi drink the beverage all in one go, scared and amazed that the blond could just do that.

Takeshi brings down the cup with a thump and stares at Makoto, “Mako. I can’t wait anymore. We talk right now. I’m not waiting another minute. Let’s do this right now.”

Makoto can see how serious Takeshi is. Before he can tell Kita that he’s taking a break, Haru comes over, stands next to Ito and says, “No. You need to wait for him to come to you.”

Sousuke gets up after Nanase, standing behind him as Takeshi turns around to glare at Haru, “Well…if it isn’t Haru. You need to butt out of my business and let me talk to my boyfriend.”

The raven-haired teen does not like the threatening tone the blond is giving the free-swimmer.

Haru continues to give Ito a piercing gaze, “Makoto is my friend. I won’t let him talk to you.”

Makoto sees the threatening gazes that Haru and Takeshi are giving each other and his heart stops. This can’t happen, not here. Makoto says, “Guys, stop…please.”

Takeshi doesn’t take Makoto’s warning and takes a step closer toward Haru, but is stopped by another man, who steps in front of Haru with his arm out to protect the navy-haired teen.

Sousuke says with an intimidating stare, “Hey. That’s enough. You need to back up.”

Makoto moves between Sousuke and Takeshi, pushing them apart, “Guys. Please stop. I’m taking a break, ok.”

Takeshi glares at the teal-eyed teen wondering who the hell the guy is to step up to him like that. The blond looks over at Makoto and says, “Fine. I’ll wait outside. And tell your little friends that I don’t appreciate their behavior.”

Takeshi glares at Sousuke and Haru before he goes through the front door to wait for Makoto.

Makoto places his hand over his chest and sighs in relief. He looks over at Haru and he can clearly see that the free-swimmer is extremely unhappy, “I’m sorry Haru. Don’t worry. We’ll just talk and I’ll be right back.”

Sousuke grabs Makoto’s forearm and was about to say something but looks away instead, “Uh…nevermind.” The raven-haired teen let’s go of Makoto, “Do what you need to do.”

The teal-eyed teen looks over at Nanase and says, “C’mon Nanase. Let Makoto handle this.”

Haru was about to protest when Sousuke grabs Nanase’s arm and directs him towards their table.

Makoto tells Kita that he is taking a break and will go through the back alley to the break room. The brunette bows slightly at Kita before leaving through the front door, leading the blond towards the back alley.

Sousuke watches Makoto and the blond walk outside until the two figures are out of sight. The raven-haired teen wonders to himself why he cares so much.

Haru says bitterly, “why did you do that? Do you have any idea what that guy is like?”

Sousuke looks at Haru and gives him an indifferent stare, “I did that to protect Rin. You said that I mean a lot to Rin. Well, Rin means a lot to me. I’m not going to give him another reason to worry about you. So, chill. It would have done you no good if you got hurt again because of him. Rin would book the first flight here just to see you, and I won’t allow him to do something like that. Don’t give Rin a reason to be distracted, Nanase.”

Haru sighs and looks away from Yamazaki. He knows that the raven-haired teen is right. Rin would worry about him. Haru doesn’t want to give Yamazaki the satisfaction that he’s right, so he remains quiet, fuming.

Sousuke decides to eat his sandwich in silence, keeping his eye on Nanase until Makoto returns.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

The brunette leads Takeshi to the back alley and just when he got his key into the keyhole of the back door, Takeshi turns Makoto around and pins him against the door. Takeshi has a strong grip around Makoto’s hands that are against the cold metal door, “Mako. Seriously? You want to wait? You know how impatient I can get…”

Makoto frowns at Takeshi and says harshly, “Goddammit Takeshi! What the hell!? You got what you wanted, but you can’t wait until we get inside? You aren’t being fair! You can’t just come here and demand that I bend over backwards for you! That’s not how this…”

Takeshi crashes his lips into Makoto’s, kissing him. Their teeth clashing as Takeshi’s tongue lunges against the brunette’s lips and presses further, invading the brunette’s mouth. Takeshi presses his body against the emerald-eyed teen, wanting more of him.

The back of Makoto’s head hits the hard metal door behind him, and he grunts at the impact, which gives access to Takeshi to deepen the kiss further. The brunette feels the pressure of Takeshi’s body against his. The emerald-eyed teen almost gets taken away by the current situation; he feels the familiar burn of desire in the core of his stomach that travels down to his groin, but the residual pain from being slammed against the door reminds him that he needs to get Takeshi off him.

Makoto tries to push Takeshi away, and struggles to free his hands from Takeshi’s grasp. The brunette knits his eyebrows and tries to move his head away from Takeshi, and when he finally does, Makoto is struggling to fill his lungs with cool air.

Takeshi takes advantage of the brunette, and his lips travel down Makoto’s neck, lightly kissing the flesh tenderly until he reaches the crook between the brunette’s neck and shoulder as Takeshi bites down and sucks on the emerald-eyed teen’s soft skin.

Makoto’s eyes widen when he feels pain stemming from his neck, “Ah…Takeshi. Stop. Please. Not here.”

Takeshi stops when he is satisfied with leaving a mark on his boyfriend and looks up to meet the emerald hazy gaze, “Why not? I want you Mako.”

Makoto flushes in embarrassment, looking away from the heavy-lidded coffee gaze, “Takeshi. I’m working. We can’t do this here. And…I’m mad at you.”

Takeshi rolls his eyes and bores his gaze right at the backstroke swimmer, “You’re mad at me? Did you see what your best friend did to me?”

Makoto trails his eyes downward, looking at the bruise on Takeshi’s cheek. He frowns deeply, “I don’t even know where to start with that Takeshi. You went over to Haru’s. What do you want me to say? You both hit each other, but you…you were the one that went there in the first place!” The brunette struggles to get his hands free.

Takeshi tightens his grip on the brunette as he narrows his eyes, “Are you fucking serious? You’re taking his side?”

Makoto winces as he feels Takeshi grip his wrists harshly, “I don’t want to see either of you hurt! If you can’t accept...Takeshi! Let go! You’re hurting me!”

The blond let’s go of Makoto’s wrists, but he places his elbows against the door, getting right into Makoto’s face, “What? If I can’t accept what?”

Makoto’s eyes widen as he is face to face with Takeshi. He can feel the burn of an intense stare boring into his eyes. Makoto shuts his eyes, collecting his thoughts. He thinks, _‘Shit! This is so intense! I hate this! I hate this! Why can’t we all just get along and screw the confrontations! Ugh!’_

Makoto takes a few deep breaths trying to slow his racing heart. The brunette is scared, he feels his stomach tie up in knots at the tension he feels. Finally he opens his eyes and glares right back at Takeshi, “if you can’t accept my friendship with Haru, then we can’t be together! I will not back down. Either you accept it or we will have to end it!”

Takeshi stares at Makoto in disbelief. He was not expecting that kind of answer, and let’s Makoto go, turning around to face the brick wall as he shoves his hands into his pockets, kicking a rock further down the alleyway, “Fuck me.”

Makoto rubs his wrists, waiting for Takeshi to say more. There is silence between them, and the brunette feels the burden of what he has just said to his boyfriend. He meant what he said, but he didn’t mean for it to come out so angrily. The emerald-eyed teen wonders if he should take it back, anything to take this foreign vibe between them away, “Takeshi…say something…I kno…”

Takeshi turns around and stares at Makoto with a dark scowl, “You’re saying that you are willing to throw everything we worked for down the drain if I don’t accept your weird friendship with Haru.”

Makoto’s eyes start to water, but he takes a deep breath and meets Takeshi’s eyes head on, trying his best not to hesitate or run away, “Yes. That is what I am saying. Haru is very important to me, and anyone I date will have to accept that. I need you to think about that. I don’t want to…to rush into anything. I don’t want to end this right now, I want you to think about that fact. Because if you really can’t stand the idea of me and Haru together…then…yeah.”

Makoto looks down, as he rubs his arm up and down, trying to will away all the negative feelings around him.

Takeshi rubs his temple with his hand and says, “Fuckin’ hell. Do you have any idea how jealous I get when I see you two together? I want to punch his face in every time! He has something…something of you that is way too intimate, it makes me so mad! I really hate the kind of relationship you have with him! Do you guys fuck each other? Cuz that’s what I see!” 

The brunette walks over to Takeshi and gently grasps the blond’s hand away from his face, only to have his hand slapped away from the blond. Takeshi yells, “Do you? Do you guys fuck around when I’m not with you?”

Makoto winces and says firmly, “No. We don’t do that. Haru and I don’t have that kind of relationship. We are just friends. We don’t have sex. We don’t kiss each other on the lips. We aren’t lovers, Takeshi!”

Takeshi looks at Makoto and grabs the collar of his dress shirt and slams the brunette against the door, “Really? How do I know that?”

Makoto groans as his head hits the door again, and he grabs Takeshi’s wrists trying to pry him off. They struggle. Takeshi tries to pin Makoto against the door while Makoto pushes him back in an attempt to get Takeshi off of him.

Finally Makoto pushes him off, flips them around, and pushes Takeshi against the brick wall, “Yes, really! Haru and I are not lovers! Haru has a boyfriend! And I would never, ever get in between Haru and Rin! You are going to have to trust me Takeshi! I trust you, I deserve the same respect!”

Makoto grabs fistfuls of Takeshi’s white puffy jacket and thrusts the blond against the brick wall as the brunette says darkly, “I’ve told you that many times before, and it sounds like you never listen. How many times are we going to go through this, Takeshi? I’m getting quite tired of repeating the same shit over and over. If you don’t trust me, tell me right now. And I’ll walk out of your life forever!”

Takeshi scowls at the brunette as he is being threatened, “God-dammit! Fine, fine! I’ll think about it. Just…get off Mako!”

Makoto bores his dark stare at Takeshi, “No! Not yet! You wanted to talk, and you are going to answer my question. Do you trust me?”

Takeshi looks away from the brunette’s stare, “I want to. I really do. I have a hard time with trust, you know this. I…”

Makoto grasps Takeshi’s jaw between his thumb and forefinger, forcing the blond to look at him, “I know. And I don’t blame you, but our relationship now depends on that. You have my trust, and now I need you to do the same if we are to continue on this road. If you can’t answer right now, that’s fine. I’ll give you time. But I want to make sure you know this…Haru and I are just friends. Yes, we are close. But my relationship with Haru never includes sex. That…is reserved only for you! Understand?”

Makoto releases Takeshi’s jaw and stares at him with a mixture of anger and vulnerability, waiting for the blond to reply.

Takeshi knits his eyebrows as he thinks about what the brunette has just said. The blond takes a deep sigh, “I hear you, Mako. I understand. You and Haru are just friends. Seems I have a lot to think about…about your friendship and about us.”

Makoto takes a step back from Takeshi, releasing him completely from his hold as the green-eyed teen gently rubs the back of his head. He says softly, “Yeah. I think we both do. I’m sorry if I hurt you…I think I got all caught up with all the feelings. I feel like a mess.” The brunette looks down at his feet feeling guilty.

The blond watches the brunette close in on himself and he takes a step forward reaching a hand out to the brunette, but stops midway. Takeshi drops his hand to his side as he says, “Hey. Stop that. I’m at fault too. I’ll go. I’ll think about all this…although I am disappointed. Honestly, I don’t know the answer right now, but I’m still jealous. I can’t help that every time I see Haru’s face…I just want to hurt him. I know that’s not the answer you’re looking for. So, yeah. I need time to sort this out.”

Makoto glances up at Takeshi and whispers, “Yeah. Ok. I’ll come see you in a few days. We can talk more then. I really should head back.”

Takeshi and Makoto stare at each other with uncertainty. The brunette is scared that things will just go sour between them regardless of what they decide to do in the future. If they stay together, this issue will haunt them for a long time. If they break it off, will they be able to salvage some kind of friendship? Makoto really doesn’t want to lose Takeshi as a friend, but the blond may want nothing to do with him if they break it off.

Takeshi puts his hands in his jean pockets as he breaks eye contact with Makoto, “I’ll see you later Mako. Yeah.” The blond walks out of the alleyway without looking back to check on the brunette.

The emerald-eyed teen watches Takeshi walks away slowly. Every step the blond takes away from him, the brunette feels his heart waver. Makoto wants to run into his arms and make him stay. Before the blond turns the corner, the brunette says, “Takeshi…take care of your injury…please.”

The blond stops when he hears his name and moves his head slightly without looking back to listen to Makoto, “Yeah…I will.” Takeshi walks away, leaving Makoto standing alone in the alleyway.

Makoto slowly walks over to the backdoor and turns the key that is still in the keyhole. He closes the door behind him and goes straight into the door that leads to the back of the café, behind the counter and tries to smile at Kita and Watanabe as he takes his position in front of the espresso machine.

Kita quirks an eyebrow and says with concern, “Um, you ok Makoto? You seem a little out of it.”

Makoto rubs his face with his hand, and goes over to the sink to wash his hands, “I’m ok, Kita-san. I can finish. My shift is almost over anyway.”

Watanabe pats the back of Makoto’s arm and fixes the brunette’s dress shirt collar, “you only have like 15 more minutes before your shift is over Tachibana. Finish up and go home.”

Makoto smiles weakly, “thanks Watanabe-san.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Monday, 4:17 pm **

After Makoto’s shift, Haru and Sousuke leave the inside of the café to meet the brunette in the back alleyway. As soon as Makoto comes out of the metal door, Haru stares at Makoto with complete worry.

Makoto covers his mouth with his plaid green scarf and says, “Haru, I’m ok. Please don’t worry. Let’s just go and get something to eat, or something…just anything but staying here.”

Haru pulls on Makoto’s parka sleeve as he stares at Makoto. The brunette sighs, “I know Haru. You don’t have to worry about that. We agreed to talk later. We won’t be spending time with each other for a few days…not until I’m ready to see him again.”

Sousuke looks between both Makoto and Nanase. He wonders about their friendship as they do seem quite close.

Makoto gives Haru a great big bear hug, “I’ll be ok. I’m more worried about you, Haru-chan!”

Haru scrambles to get out of Makoto’s grasp and he fixes his white and blue jacket as he says, “No –‘chan’. Let’s go.”

The brunette giggles at Haru’s antics and he looks up at Sousuke, “Sousuke. Thanks for helping me out back there. I know Haru appreciates it too. But next time, let me handle it.”

Sousuke rolls his eyes, “yeah, sure. Um…maybe I should let you and Nanase catch up. We can talk later Makoto.”

The brunette looks at Sousuke curiously, “Eh? Oh no! Please, Sousuke! You aren’t intruding on anything between Haru and I. Really come wit…”

Haru looks up at Yamazaki and says firmly, “I want to see your place Yamazaki. I’ll cook dinner.”

Both Makoto and Sousuke look over at Haru. Makoto looks at Haru with curiosity, and Sousuke looks at Nanase with surprise.

Yamazaki’s eye twitches slightly as he says, “Excuse me. Did you just suggest my place to cook dinner? Who said I’d let you come over?”

Haru looks away and scratches his cheek lightly, “I did. I want to see how you are taking care of Makoto. He says that you are doing a good job, but I want to see. I won’t know for sure until I see it with my own eyes. We can go grocery shopping. I’ll buy the ingredients. And after dinner, I’ll go.”

Sousuke grunts as he crosses his arms in defiance, “Wait a minute. Who said I’d let you cook anyway? I mean…” The raven-haired teen looks over at the brunette and sees an empty look within his eyes. The teal-eyed teen looks down and says quickly, “fine. Let’s just get out of the cold. There is a grocery store close to where I live, a block and a half away. Let’s go.”

Haru and Makoto follow behind Sousuke to the train station, Haru holding Makoto’s hand throughout the whole way there.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Monday, 5:03 pm **

Sousuke leads Haru and Makoto into a big bustling grocery store. The teal-eyed teen looks over at the two teens behind him and says, “knock yourself out. What are you planning to make anyway?”

Haru grabs a hand basket and says, “Gyuudon and some sautéed vegetables. Unless you have a request.” Haru inwardly wishes that Makoto enjoyed mackerel as much as he did, but decided to make something more meaty and hearty. Haru looks over his shoulder to glance at Sousuke.

The raven-haired teen shakes his head, “No, that’s fine. I haven’t had that in a while anyway.”

Makoto follows the two dark-haired teens as they travel through the grocery store. The brunette vaguely listens to the conversations they say, a lot of arguing about which brands are better, what is over-priced, what is too cheap, and so forth. The emerald-eyed teen can’t help the smile that graces his lips, and makes sure to cover his mouth with his scarf so the two boys don’t see. Makoto thinks about how they bicker between each other, and how the two have such different opinions in regards to the brands they like.

In the end, Haru wins the battles since he’s the one paying for the items in the basket, much to Sousuke’s disapproval. Makoto thinks to himself, ‘ _in some sense…they really are alike in some ways. The way they just argue head on, and then when neither of them budges, they both look away. Even though they argue, there is some strange understanding between them. It’s almost like when little kids fight, and one disagrees with the other, but when the other isn’t looking, they really do affect their thoughts. It’s cute. Haru…I can tell you wanted to try that dashi packet Sousuke mentioned but you stuck to the one you knew instead. I wonder if you will try it later.’_

As the teen heads over to the meat department of the grocery store, Makoto notices the big aquarium they had in the back and moves his body to block it from Haru’s view, “Um…I’ll get the meat Haru. Just thinly sliced beef right? Why don’t you and Sousuke go get some vegetables…yeah.” The brunette laughs nervously. 

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, “Hah? Are you hiding something?”

Haru’s eyes try to look behind Makoto’s tall and broad shoulders to see what the brunette is hiding. Suddenly, the navy-haired teen slips past Makoto, passing the basket over to the emerald-eyed teen as he rushes over to the aquarium.

Makoto barely catches the basket and gasps, “Oh no!” Makoto passes the basket over to Sousuke as Makoto tries to catch up to Haru.

Sousuke almost drops the basket as he curses to himself, “What the…” Sousuke rubs his temples as he walks through the crowd to find Makoto and Nanase.

The raven-haired teen finds Nanase and Makoto in front of the aquarium where the grocery store sells live seafood. The teal-eyed teen walks up to the two teens, a bit upset about how the two boys just ran off leaving him with all groceries.

Sousuke was about to say something when he stands next to Makoto but stops when he hears Makoto say, “Ha~~ru~~! You can’t undress here. I can’t believe you almost got your pants off. Seriously, Haru! Come on. Let’s get the beef. We aren’t having seafood tonight…you said so!”

Makoto tries to push Haru away from the aquarium as the navy-haired teen’s eyes sparkle at the big container of water.

Sousuke’s mouth hangs open as he watches the display. Nanase’s jacket is unzipped, his shirt pulled upwards, and the button of his pants are undone with the zipper halfway down. The raven-haired teen can see the top of some black jammers underneath his pants and he wonders if the free-swimmer always is prepared for a swim.

The teal-eyed teen can see that the brunette is having some trouble getting Nanase away from the aquarium, and he laughs to himself. Sousuke grabs Nanase’s wrist firmly and pulls him along over to the meat section of the grocery store, “C’mon Nanase. We’ve been here long enough. Let’s just get what we need and get out of here. Besides we both know the best meat for gyuudon is rib-eye.”

Haru’s eyes widen and he follows him to begin a debate to discuss which cuts of beef to use for dinner.

Makoto sighs in relief as Sousuke is able to pull Haru away from the aquarium. The brunette smiles embarrassingly at the other customers that witnessed the strange behavior the boys showed them. The brunette rubs the back of his head and feels a dull pain in his wrist.

The emerald-eyed teen looks down at his wrist and touches it gently. Makoto bites his lip as he notices his wrist hurts a bit. He checks his other wrist and it doesn’t hurt as much. Makoto remembers that Takeshi left a hickey on his neck.

The brunette places his hand over the hickey, and feels that the skin is quite tender, and that Takeshi may have broken some skin as it stings a little when he touches it. Makoto sighs as he catches up to the dark haired teens.

The brunette whispers into Haru’s ear, “Please zip up your pants and your jacket Haru.”

Haru’s eyes pout at the request, but does as he’s told.

As Haru looks at the selection of meats, Sousuke stands next to Makoto, leans in to the brunette’s ear and says quietly, “What was that?”

Makoto side glances at Sousuke and says in a whisper, “It’s normal, really. When Haru sees a container of water that will fit his body, he just has to be in it. A couple of months ago, we went to a pet store, and they had many aquariums of fish, Haru was almost successful in getting into one. I wasn’t fast enough to catch him because…” Makoto’s eyes become sad as he remembers Takeshi distracting him by trying to hold his hand throughout the whole trip.

Sousuke notices the brunette’s change in mood and says, “I see.” The raven-haired teen stands up tall and looks over at Nanase, “I guess I better be careful then. I do have a pool at my place. That could be dangerous…I won’t be able to rid of him so easily.”

Makoto chuckles, “Awww! I bet you can make him do lots of things with that pool of yours. It really is a weakness for Haru. I use bodies of water as a way to get him to do things.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, “Ouch. You are cruel, Makoto. Remind me never to let you in on my weaknesses. Why would you share something so personal with me though?”

Makoto blinks and stares at Sousuke. Why did he tell him that? Somehow, the brunette doesn’t think that Sousuke would use Haru’s weakness to his advantage. He never told Takeshi about it, but then again, the blond saw what Haru did at the pet store. Makoto adverts his gaze and smiles nervously, “Um, I guess I feel like you wouldn’t use it to make Haru do serious things, I guess. Would you?”

Sousuke half-smirks at the brunette, “I don’t know. Guess you will have to find out.”

Makoto deadpans, “Wha-what? No. No, you can’t. Seriously…Haru will do whatever you want if you use that against him. Sousu…”

Sousuke says firmly, “Makoto. Chill. I was kidding. I know better than that. Even if it is tempting. Just don’t go around telling people that. Some things are better left unsaid. I was just curious. I didn’t think he would actually get in the aquarium, but now I know to steer clear from large containers of water unless I’m ready for some embarrassment for being acquainted with him.”

Makoto rubs his arm with the palm of his hand, “Ye-yeah.”

Sousuke smiles lightly as he places his hand on the brunette’s shoulder giving him a squeeze, “Don’t worry. I don’t think Nanase and I will be spending that much time together. I won’t use such a thing against him. Promise. C’mon…Nanase is moving on and I don’t want another fiasco.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

After the grocery shopping the teens head over to Sousuke’s apartment. Haru looks at the building in awe and a bit of disbelief as the raven-haired teen opens the front door.

Makoto twines his hand with the navy-haired teen, leading Haru into the building.

Sousuke waves at the concierge as the teen make their way to the elevators. The teal-eyed teen looks over at the brunette with a knowing look.

Makoto smiles at the raven-haired teen as Haru caught the interaction between Yamazaki and his best friend. Haru says, “What was that?”

The brunette looks down to meet Haru’s gaze, “What was what?”

The navy-haired teen frowns, “What was that look you two shared just now? Are you hiding something from me?”

Sousuke clicks his tongue, “It’s nothing Nanase. We just talked about my place at the grocery store. I figured you would be uncomfortable in some sense. That’s all.”

Haru glares lightly at Yamazaki, “What do you mean by that Yamazaki?”

The elevator comes down and Sousuke makes sure that he stands on the side with the buttons as he slides his card through the reader and presses ’15,’ “Just that Makoto was impressed with this place, so I figured you would have the same reaction.”

Makoto squeezes Haru’s hand, “I’m sorry Haru. I didn’t mean anything by it.” Makoto notices that Sousuke is standing right next to the buttons and smiles lightly at the teal-eyed teen. Makoto thinks, _‘if Haru found out about the pool, I don’t think he would ever leave Sousuke’s place. Not sure he would like that…’_

Haru stares blankly at the numbers above the elevator door, “Whatever. I’m not impressed at all.”

Sousuke makes sure to stand close to the buttons without pressing any of them. The last thing the raven-haired teen wants is another situation that would include Nanase taking off clothes just to get into a body of water. He closes his eyes hoping the navy-haired teen doesn’t catch on to what he is truly hiding, the button that is labeled ‘gym/pool.’

Once they reach the 15th floor, Makoto leads Haru over to Sousuke’s apartment as the raven-haired teen follows behind the two best friends.

Sousuke watches Nanase and Makoto holding hands as they walk down the hallway to his apartment. The teal-eyed teen knows that their relationship is platonic, but from a third party perspective, he can see how it can be misinterpreted. Sousuke wonders if Makoto would hold his boyfriend’s hand in public.

Makoto feels a little guilty lying to Haru about the conversation the raven-haired teen and the brunette had at the grocery store. However, Makoto did wonder about Haru’s impression of Sousuke’s place yesterday, and they did briefly talk about it. The emerald-eyed teen did believe that Haru would be a little impressed with the building, considering how tall it is. The brunette also has a feeling that the navy-haired teen doesn’t want to let Sousuke know how impressed he is either.

When they get to the door, Sousuke opens it up since he still had his card out. The boys go in and take off their shoes. Makoto makes sure that everyone’s coat and scarves are hung in the entryway closet.

Haru says quietly, “Please excuse this unexpected intrusion.”

Sousuke shakes his head, “It’s fine. The food better be good though. C’mon, I’ll show you the kitchen Nanase.”

Haru grabs the other plastic bag that the brunette was carrying, and follows Yamazaki to the kitchen.

Makoto closes the closet door, and pulls the plaid shirt's sleeves down to his wrists, making sure the buttons are fastened. The brunette goes down the hallway and peeks over to the kitchen and says, “I’m kinda cold, so I’m gonna change my shirt real quick. Be back in a bit guys.”

The brunette quickly retreats into the bedroom that he is temporarily residing in and closes the door. Makoto goes over to his duffle bag, remembering that he packed a grey turtleneck sweater, and pulls out a tank top undershirt.

Makoto takes off his white and orange plaid shirt, and pulls off his long sleeved yellow t-shirt. As the brunette is folding the clothes he wore, he hears a quiet knock.

As the brunette turns around, the door opens to reveal Sousuke coming in through the door as he says, “Um…Nanase asked me to check on you. Said that you ran off a little too quickly, so here I am check…whoa. Is that a hickey or a bite?”

Makoto covers the tender flesh with his hand and smiles nervously, “Uh...maybe. But, really…I’m ok. I just wanted to change my shirt, I just feel a little cold.”

Sousuke blankly stares at Makoto, knowing that the brunette didn’t want Nanase to know about the bite. Sousuke stands in front of Makoto and gently places his hand over the emerald-eyed teen’s wrist that is covering the mark, “Let me see. I won’t tell Nanase if you really don’t want me too.”

The brunette looks down and frowns sadly, “Ok.”

Sousuke pulls Makoto’s hand away, but notices the brunette furrowing his eyebrows slightly. Sousuke let’s go of Makoto’s wrist and asks, “Is something wrong?”

The brunette rubs his wrist with his other hand, “No. Just my wrists hurt a little.”

The raven-haired teen takes the brunette’s hand in his as Sousuke inspects his wrist, “Did something happen with your wrists? It seems a little tender…might be bruised a bit. Won’t know for sure until tomorrow.” Sousuke looks up and focuses his sights on the bite mark on Makoto’s neck.

The teal-eyed teen lets go of the brunette’s hands and says, “Looks like some broken skin. You better go to the washroom and clean that up. You know, just in case. Didn’t know you were in that kind of thing.”

Makoto blushes lightly and turns away from the raven-haired teen as he picks up his undershirt, “Uh…I don’t know how to answer that question. I am, I guess. But not that hard…it did hurt. Maybe we shouldn’t talk about this, I feel awkward saying this sort of thing.”

Sousuke turns around giving the brunette some privacy, “What you decide to do with your lover is not my business. I can see why Nanase is worried about you though. And…if you uh…want to talk about you know…stuff with your boyfriend, I can listen. I may not be the best at stuff like that, but I can at least give you a different perspective…just…yeah.”

Makoto listens to the raven-haired teen as he puts his undershirt on, picks up his grey turtleneck and puts it on as well, “Maybe we can talk…later. I really don’t want to worry Haru, but I’m sure he’s worried anyway since he sent you in here.”

The brunette turns around and stands next to Sousuke, “Don’t tell Haru about this. It’s not that I want to hide anything from him; it’s just he gets a little possessive when it comes to me. I don’t want him getting involved with this after what Takeshi said.”

Sousuke looks over at the emerald-eyed teen and he can clearly see worry written all over his face. He crosses his arms, “I won’t tell Nanase. Just…like you will eventually need to talk to Nanase about this possessiveness. I get he cares about you and all that, but it can come off the wrong way. I’ve noticed how close you guys are today, and people can misinterpret your behaviors. I think you know all this, just something to think about for the future I guess. Go to the washroom. I’m gonna grab some reading material to keep myself occupied as I spy on Nanase in the kitchen.”

Makoto smiles at Sousuke, “Thanks. You’re the best.”

Sousuke smiles back at Makoto before heading out of the guest room, and walking across to his room, “Yeah, yeah. A saint I am.”

Makoto smiles as he watches Sousuke walk out of the guest room and into the other room.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Monday, 6:46 pm **

****

Sousuke ended up helping Nanase in the kitchen. The two dark-haired teens argued about several things while they were cooking. They had disputes about how to cut vegetables, when to put sauces, meat, and seasonings in.

After finishing up in the washroom and grabbing his history book, Makoto sits on a bar stool by the kitchen island watching Sousuke and Haru work together and argue at the same time. The brunette tried to read some of his homework, but watching Haru and Sousuke work things out and bicker about other things was just entertaining. It kept his mind off his own problems, and he cherishes the time he has with his friends.

Makoto takes his phone that was sitting on the counter in front of him and takes several pictures of Haru and Sousuke. The brunette figures that this moment is quite rare and he doesn’t know when he will see such a sight in the future.

Makoto scrolls through his pictures and decides to send one to Rin. It’s a picture of Haru and Sousuke looking at a bottle of white wine. Haru is holding the bottle and staring at it suspiciously. Sousuke on the other hand has his arms crossed with knitted eyebrows as he explains to the navy-haired teen that his stepsister bought it for him to cook with.

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

Haru and Sousuke…isn’t it precious! ^/////^ Don’t tell them I sent you that, they will kill me, literally. I just wanted to show you something…a sight you never seen. LOL! ]

Makoto puts down his cell phone as he notices Sousuke placing a tall glass of water in front of him.

Sousuke says, “Hopefully you have been drinking enough today, and go sit at the dining table. We’re done cooking.”

Makoto takes the glass, and puts the phone in his pocket, “Thanks. You know, I could have helped you guys.”

Haru sends the brunette a disapproving look and says, “No. Last time you almost cut your finger. You forgot about the cat paw technique I taught you back in high school.”

Makoto groans as he walks over to the dining table, sits down and places his glass of water in front of him, “Geez. I make one mistake and I’m kicked out of the kitchen.”

Haru puts down a giant bowl of gyuudon, sautéed vegetables, and a metal spoon in front of the brunette before he sits down across from the emerald-eyed teen with a smaller bowl, “I still let you peel potatoes, stir the pot, and make rice. But no more cutting vegetables, especially root vegetables while I’m in the kitchen.” Haru hands Makoto a set of wooden chopsticks.

Makoto pouts dramatically as he takes the chopsticks from the navy-haired teen, “No fair, Haru-chan! I only know how to make one thing and that’s onigiri. I would like to expand my cooking, you know.”

Sousuke comes over with a large blue pot of green tea and three ceramic teacups, “Seriously? You only know how to make onigiri?”

Makoto looks down and says dejectedly, “Yeah. I’m not very good in the kitchen.”

Haru pouts with his eyes and says quietly, “No –‘chan’, Makoto.”

Sousuke comes back with two glasses of water; he places one in front of Nanase and puts the other next to the brunette, “Is that so? Well, if that’s the case…at least you won’t starve.” Sousuke leaves again to grab his own bowl of gyuudon before settling himself right next to Makoto.

The brunette stares at Sousuke until he is seated comfortably, “That’s only if there is rice available. But I love meat…I’d like to make something with meat, like nikujyaga.”

Haru says after taking a sip of water, “at least you can peel the potatoes.”

Sousuke chuckles at Haru’s comment, but suddenly clears his throat as he reaches for the pot of tea.

Makoto puts his hand over Sousuke’s outstretched hand and says, “You guys are mean! Sousuke…I’ll get the tea. You guys have done so much already.”

Sousuke shrugs and retracts his hands back and allows the brunette to pour the tea and distribute the teacups to everyone.

Sousuke ponders about the brunette not knowing how to cut properly, “Wait a minute. How did you get your job if you can’t cook?”

Haru takes his teacup and takes a sip, “Makoto doesn’t deal with the food. He just makes the drinks. Isn’t that right?”

Makoto nods, “Yeah. I don’t cook anything there, but I do know how things are prepared. Kita-san is in culinary school so he’s shown me some things, but not while I’m working. He thinks I don’t have a great affinity with the kitchen because I try too hard or was it that I think too hard. Anyway, I just make the drinks.”

Sousuke nods, “I see. I thought you would have to make some of the sandwiches at least or something.”

Makoto smiles, “I can make the cold sandwiches. Everything is pre-cut, so all I have to do is just put it together.”

Haru and Sousuke stare at Makoto. Haru smiles with his eyes knowing the brunette is pleased with himself about that fact. Sousuke can’t bring himself to say anything after that comment, and keeps his thoughts to himself.

Makoto continues beaming and says, “Let’s eat! Thanks for the meal guys!” The emerald-eyed teen digs in right away.

The brunette takes a bite of the thinly sliced beef, glass noodles, and rice and is instantly hit with a sophisticated salty-sweet flavor with a little tanginess and very slight bitterness from the spices used. Makoto eats more and more of the yummy goodness that is in front of him.

Sousuke takes a bite of the gyuudon and is pleasantly surprised with the outcome of the dish. Nanase was right about adding sesame oil, and a couple of spices to the dish, and it had a complex, yet delightful flavor profile. Sousuke eats in complete silence, enjoying his meal, and not giving the navy-haired teen the satisfaction that he was right about some things in the kitchen.

Haru eats his meal with a blank expression. He doesn’t want to admit that Yamazaki’s idea of adding the white wine would balance the flavors well once the alcohol burned off, and that a few spices would make the meal more pleasurable. Haru continues to eat in complete contentment.

Makoto is the first to finish eating, and quickly goes back to the kitchen to retrieve more food. The brunette takes a little bit of everything before sitting back down with the other teens, “Oh my god, you guys! This is absolutely amazing! This is so good. This recipe is better than my mom’s. I don’t know what you guys did, but it’s magic!” Makoto continues eating his meal with a beaming face.

Sousuke watches the brunette eat and is astounded by the amount he is able to pack away, “slow down, Makoto. The food isn’t going anywhere.”

Haru says nonchalantly, “Makoto has always been a good eater.”

Sousuke looks over at Haru, “I can see that.” The raven-haired teen remembers one time when Kisumi dragged him to some bakery, and Makoto and Nanase were dragged into the situation as well. He recalls Makoto eating quite a bit of chocolate cake that day, but he just thought he had a sweet tooth, and that it didn’t apply to all food.

Makoto slows down a little and smiles, “You two cook so well together. If this is the result every time you cook together, I would pair you up all the time just so I can eat your food.”

Haru coughs lightly, takes long gulps of tea.

Sousuke looks at Makoto incredulously, “I don’t think so. I think this is just a one-time deal. Nanase and I bicker way too much in the kitchen.”

Makoto pouts, “Oh. But you two made a beautiful meal together. Even though you bicker a lot, you two still managed to find a way to work together. Really! I can’t get enough of this gyuudon!”

Haru gets up after finishing his tea, “I’ll go clean up since I’m finished here.”

Makoto looks down at Haru’s lack of response to cooking again with Sousuke, “Oh! Not you too Haru-chan!”

Haru stares blankly at the brunette and says softly, “No –‘chan’.” The navy-haired teen picks up his dishes and walks over to the kitchen to start cleaning up.

Sousuke gets up picking up dishes, “Wait up Nanase. Use the dishwasher.” The raven-haired teen walks over to the kitchen to show Nanase how to use the dishwasher appropriately.

Makoto sighs as he is left alone. He eats the rest of the wonderful food by himself, savoring each and every bite. The brunette doesn’t know when the two dark-haired teens will make a meal together again, and it makes the rest of the food seem a little bittersweet.

The brunette finishes his food, gets up and heads to the kitchen with his dishes. Sousuke takes the emerald-eyed teen’s dirty dishes as Haru washes the pans, and rice cooker insert.

Makoto feels a vibration in his pants, and fishes out his phone.

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

O_O Whoa! No way! Sousuke and Haru!?!? Doing something together!?!? I’m gonna download that pic and make a wallpaper. Damn, talk about a sight I’ve never seen before! You should have taken a vid, man! ]

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

O_o No way! That would have been way too obvious! And even though they argued throughout the whole cooking experience, the gyuudon they made was absolutely delicious. It was an orgasm in my mouth, honestly. I had to have a second bowl! ]

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

X_X It’s times like these that I wish I was in Japan with you guys. You lucky bastard! Now I have a hankering for some gyuudon! Hey, I have an idea. I’m gonna Skype you right now. Bring your laptop over and let me check them out real quick. ]

[To: Rin

From: Makoto

LOL! Ok! ^_^ ]

Makoto gets up, heads to his room and brings over his laptop, sitting on a bar stool by the kitchen island, waiting for Rin’s call. When Rin calls just a minute later, Makoto answers and places his pointer finger over his mouth to indicate to Rin not to say anything.

Rin smiles and winks as he gets the message. The brunette mouths, “I’m going to turn the laptop around.”

Makoto turns the laptop around to show Rin the two dark-haired teens with dishtowels and spray bottles as they clean the kitchen counters.

Rin smile turns into a shark-like grin as he watches Haru spray down the counter in front of him and Sousuke’s back as the raven-haired teen is cleaning the range.

Haru finishes up cleaning the counters and looks up to see Rin on a laptop screen. The navy-haired teen’s eyes widen and glisten as he stares at Rin’s toothy grin.

Rin waves at Haru as the redhead places his chin on the palm of his hand, propping his elbow on his desk.

Haru blinks slowly as his cheeks burn a slight shade of pink. The navy-haired teen puts down the dishtowel and spray bottle to wash his hands.

Sousuke says, “Ok, I’m done. Nanase, how are you doing?” The raven-haired teen turns around and puts down the spray bottle. He looks up and sees an image of Rin as his mouth hangs open.

The redhead says with a gentle smile, “Yo. Nice to see you man. You look good Sousuke. How you been?”

Sousuke can’t help but smile genuinely, “Rin! Long time no see. You’re looking good too. I’m ok.” The teal-eyed teen was not expecting to see Rin on a laptop screen, and he rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed for looking like an idiot a moment before.

Makoto watched both Haru and Sousuke’s reactions to Rin. The brunette could tell that both were really surprised to see the redhead. He expected Haru’s reaction, but the smile Sousuke had was quite surprising for the emerald-eyed teen. Sousuke’s true smile is rare it seems, as it was the first time he really saw such a whimsical, free, and beautiful smile grace the raven-haired teen’s face. The brunette shakes his head as he rationalizes the wonderful moment as a smile for his best friend that Sousuke hasn’t seen in a long time.

Rin chuckles, “I’m glad to hear that, but I have to say…seeing you is a lot better. And Haru…why haven’t you said anything to me yet?”

Sousuke looks away and frowns.

Haru looks up and stares at Rin, “I…you surprised me.”

Rin laughs, “Yeah, I loved the look on your face, bab…”

Sousuke’s face darkens.

Haru’s eyes widen, “Rin! Not…here. Please. We will talk later tonight. I’m going home now anyway. You should talk to Yamazaki.”

Rin rubs the back of his neck, “Eh? What do you mean, Haru?”

Makoto notices Sousuke’s dark expression, gets off the bar stool and walks over to the kitchen, facing Rin, “I think Haru’s right. I’ll walk Haru down so you and Sousuke can talk, okay Rin? You said that you haven’t seen him in awhile, so you guys should talk face-to-face, I think that’s what Haru means.”

Haru says, “Rin, I’ll see you later. Makoto will walk me out.”

Rin sighs, “Ok. I’ll talk to you later Haru.” Rin looks over at Sousuke, “Dude, you ok?”

Sousuke looks over at Rin with a look of indifference, “Hmm? I’m ok.”

Rin raises an eyebrow, “Alright. Well, let’s talk. Just you and me until Makoto comes back.”

Makoto takes Haru’s hand and walks over to the entryway, “Do you want me to walk you to the train station at least?”

Haru let’s go of Makoto’s hand and starts putting on his shoes, “Mmm.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Monday, 8:07 pm **

After Makoto walked over to the train station that was two blocks away, the brunette takes his time walking back to Sousuke’s apartment complex.

The emerald-eyed teen thinks about some of the events that took place during the day. Classes were ok, work was somewhat ok, meeting with Takeshi was unexpected, Sousuke doesn’t like cinnamon, Haru and Sousuke talked and made dinner.

Makoto digs his hands deeper into his parka jacket’s pockets as he thinks about his argument with Takeshi in the back alley of Momento Café. Haru had asked about what they argued about, and if Takeshi had hurt him. The brunette exhales slowly. He couldn’t tell Haru that his boyfriend pinned him against a wall and gave him a bite mark. The emerald-eyed teen mentioned that they yelled at each other, but not about the fact that Takeshi thought he was screwing around with Haru.

Makoto wonders if he had somehow made Takeshi feel insecure, but the blond is quick to get angry at times. The brunette feels that Takeshi just won’t accept his relationship with Haru, and the thought depresses him.

When the brunette gets to the front of Sousuke’s apartment building, he looks up at the tall grey structure. His thoughts move on to the raven-haired teen. Sousuke came to the café earlier today. Makoto smiles gently, remembering how happy he was to see him, just like when Haru came to see him earlier. It reminds him of the days when the brunette spent time with his friends in Iwatobi. Even though Rin, Nagisa, Rei, Kisumi, and Gou weren’t there, it reminded him of home a little bit.

Makoto walks over to the front door, opens it, smiles and bows slightly at the concierge. The brunette remembers Oda, but his shift must start later.

The brunette walks over to the elevator and pushes the ‘up’ button. Makoto thinks about Sousuke’s beautiful smile. He tries to recall if he ever seen such a smile on the teal-eyed teen’s face. Sousuke has shown him half-smirks, and other smiles, but nothing as genuine as the one he gave Rin.

When the elevator opens, he walks in hitting the button of Sousuke’s floor. He remembers the dark expression the tall male had on his face before the brunette got off his seat. He wonders what Sousuke was thinking that would make him so upset. Was it Haru and Rin’s relationship? It couldn’t have just been Haru, otherwise he would have seen it earlier, right? And it couldn’t have been Rin, the smile Sousuke had on his face when he first saw Rin proved otherwise.

The elevator doors open, and the brunette slowly walks over to Sousuke’s apartment continuing to ponder about what the teal-eyed teen could have been upset about. The emerald-eyed teen knows Rin has a tendency to call Haru, ‘babe,’ and the redhead was about to say just that. Haru stopped him, and Sousuke’s face changed sometime afterward. The free-swimmer was quick to leave the apartment too.

As Makoto reaches the door, he comes to the conclusion that Sousuke may have some concerns about Haru and Rin dating. What else could it be? But if that’s the case, why would Sousuke be so quiet about it? The raven-haired teen doesn’t seem like the type to hold on to something like that, he would have told Rin about that kind of thing already. Makoto knows he’s missing some important piece in the puzzle, but decides to let it go as he opens the door quietly, just in case Sousuke is still talking to Rin.

Makoto takes his shoes off, opens the closet door to put his jacket and scarf away. He goes down the hallway, peers over into the kitchen, as he sees Sousuke sitting down by the island on a bar stool talking to Rin through Skype.

The brunette was going to announce his presence, but decides to watch Sousuke talking to Rin. He can hear them talking about Nitori and Mikoshiba. Makoto watches Sousuke’s expressions, and sees the teal-eyed teen has a relaxed atmosphere when talking to Rin, and suddenly the dark-haired teen laughs at something the redhead said.

Makoto smiles as he hears Sousuke’s laugh, it sounds wholesome, cheery, deep, and cute. The brunette can see that Sousuke and Rin are very good friends, he wonders why the teal-eyed teen didn’t talk to the redhead for a month or so.

Makoto starts to feel a little guilty listening in on Sousuke’s conversation and starts to walk over to him.

The teal-eyed teen sees movement from the corner of his eye, and looks up, “Yo, Makoto. I’m assuming that you walked Nanase to the train station since you were gone so long.”

Makoto takes a seat next to Sousuke by the island, “yeah. I thought you and Rin needed some time to talk, and I can tell Haru wanted to make sure that I was ok.” Makoto looks over to his laptop and waves to Rin, “Hi Rin! Hope you had a good talk with Sousuke while I was gone.”

Rin laughs, “Yeah. We were just talking about some good times back at Samezuka. How are you doing, Makoto?”

Makoto rubs his arm and smiles nervously, “I’ll be ok, Rin. I just have a lot to think about. Just that…I have this really bad feeling in my gut, that’s all. Rin, please don’t lecture me about my boyfriend.”

Rin sighs softly, “Man, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I did apologize the last time we Skyped at Haru’s right? Look, whatever you decide to do, I’ll be there for you. I just don’t like seeing you so…hurt.”

Makoto nods and a lump in his throat starts to form. He swallows hard, knitting his eyebrows as he closes his eyes, willing the tears not to come down his face. The brunette really doesn’t want to cry, and he smiles at Rin as he says shakily, “I know. You did apologize. I…I can give you and Sousuke more time to talk if that’s wha…”

Sousuke puts his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and says, “Makoto. Do you need some time alone? You know…to think about some of the things that happened today, or other stuff?”

Rin remains quiet as he tilts his head as he watches Sousuke and Makoto’s interaction.

Makoto looks over at the teal-eyed teen and stares at him for a moment. He can see that Sousuke’s eyes look softer, and concern within those blue orbs. Makoto looks down and says, “I don’t know. I’ll be ok…I think.”

Sousuke knits his brow lightly, “Do you want some tea? I don’t mind making you some.”

Rin says with a hand on his chin as he thinks out loud, “You know guys…I think I should let you two talk. Sounds like something happened today that I don’t know about. Since Sousuke seems to know about it, I think you should talk to him Makoto.”

Makoto looks over at Rin and says, “Wait. Don’t you want to talk to Sousuke some more?”

Sousuke squeezes Makoto’s shoulder, making the brunette look at the raven-haired teen, “We did. And I promise to talk to Rin more regularly, ok? And maybe I’ll consider Skype.”

Rin grins, “That’s the spirit! I’ll be looking forward to the next time we talk, Sousuke. And Makoto, take care of yourself. If you need anything man, I’m here for you.” Rin winks at Makoto with his shark-like smile.

Makoto chuckles lightly at the redhead’s response, “Don’t forget that I’m here for you too, Rin.” The brunette waves a good-bye to his redheaded friend.

Sousuke nods at Rin, “Later, dude.”

Rin smiles, “Later.” Rin hangs up, and Makoto closes the screen of his laptop once the redhead is gone.

Sousuke gently squeezes the brunette’s shoulder as he asks again, “So, do you want some tea?”

Makoto looks over at the teal-eyed teen and smiles, “Maybe just some hot water.”

The raven-haired teen gets off the bar stool and walks over to the kitchen, grabbing a white mug from the cabinet and pouring some hot water from the water heater, “how about some honey lemon with your hot water?”

The brunette giggles, “Ok, I’ll have some honey lemon.”

Sousuke grabs a small cutting board, a lemon, and a knife as he says, “you said you wanted to talk later, so, let’s talk now.”

Makoto sighs as he runs his hands through his hair, “where do I start?” The brunette remembers being thrown against the metal door a couple times, and gently rubs the back of his head and feels a tender spot that sizzles in a dull pain. Makoto thinks, _‘Ah…that hurts a bit. Damn, there’s a bump back here. That was rougher than I thought it was…’_

Sousuke turns around and puts the mug of honey lemon in front of the brunette. He notices that Makoto is rubbing the back of his head, and that he’s making a face, “You ok? Did you hurt your head?”

Makoto looks up and stares at Sousuke and sheepishly laughs, “something like that. It’s just a little tender, nothing to worry about.”

Sousuke takes a deep breath, heads to the freezer to grab some blue ice, wraps it around a clean dishtowel and walks over to the brunette as he takes a seat next to him on the kitchen island, “did he throw you against a wall or something?” He gets up again, goes over to one of the cupboards, picks up a bottle of over-the-counter pain medication and hands him two pills with a glass of water. Sousuke sits down next to the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto takes the pills and then picks up the blue ice wrapped in a white dishtowel and presses it against the back of his head, “yeah…a couple of times. I know it sounds bad, but I did the same to him too. We are both at fault in some sense.” The brunette takes the mug of honey lemon, and blows on it gently before taking a sip, “Mmm. This is really good. What kind of honey is this?”

Sousuke rests his chin on the palm of his hand while propping his elbow on the kitchen island watching the brunette. The raven-haired teen can tell that Makoto wants to talk, but is hesitant. He remembers the venomous glare Nanase gave the blond at the café, and the teal-eyed teen has never seen such a face from the free-swimmer. Even when Nanase got really angry with him when they were young, he remembers the navy-haired teen giving him angry faces, but nothing compared to the one he saw earlier today.

Sousuke says softly, “It’s orange blossom. You mentioned that you didn’t want Nanase to get involved because of what your boyfriend said. What did he say?”

Makoto puts down the blue ice on the kitchen island, frowns as he stares at his mug, “He said that…every time he sees Haru, he wants to punch him. He thought Haru and I were…messing around. I told him so many times that Haru and I don’t have that kind of relationship. I don’t know if he can accept my friendship with Haru. He said he would think about it, but we have been arguing about this for a long time now. Haru and I have been together forever, and this is the first time we are sorta apart in a sense. I know I’m having a hard time with it, but we are managing. I know Takeshi doesn’t understand our friendship, but I can’t keep doing this…”

Sousuke picks up the blue ice that the brunette put down and gently presses it against the back of Makoto’s head, “Doing what? What are you doing that is making things difficult for you?”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke to meet his gaze, “it’s like I have to divide my time, my days with Takeshi and Haru. But whenever I spend time with Haru, Takeshi gets angry. Haru didn’t know about Takeshi, and I kept tell him different things as to why we couldn’t hang out. I can tell Haru thinks that Takeshi is a bad influence on me, and I don’t blame him for that.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, “Nanase’s opinion means a lot to you. Do you have to have his approval?”

Makoto thinks about the question for a moment and says, “Yeah, I guess I do need Haru’s approval. Well, maybe approval isn't the right word, maybe…acceptance. As long as Haru is somewhat okay with whom I’m with. Just not anything that leads to ill feelings.”

Sousuke nods, “Ok, that fair. So, you’re not okay with splitting your time like you have been?”

Makoto gently lifts his hand up to take the blue ice from Sousuke, “I got it Sousuke. I guess I would be fine splitting my time between them if I didn’t have to lie about it, or feel like I’m lying about it. I don’t know…I just feel like Takeshi and I will have to break up eventually. And knowing that makes me sad. Takeshi may tell me he is okay with Haru, and we will continue our relationship, but I know this is something that will haunt my relationship with him. Or we break up.” 

Makoto shifts in his seat, slumps forward, resting his elbows on the kitchen island as he places both hands on the blue ice behind his head, “I’m really upset about all this.”

Sousuke gets up from his seat and goes to the kitchen to put the cleaners under the sink before he says, “It makes sense for you to be upset, Makoto. I can’t say I know how you feel and all that. Take time to sort out your thoughts and feelings. I do hear something in all this that is quite clear. Nanase is important to you, and it seems that you want your boyfriend to acknowledge and accept that. Otherwise you won’t be able to move on without compromising yourself.”

The raven-haired teen looks up at the brunette, who is still slumped over the kitchen island before he picks up the dirty dishtowels, walks out of the kitchen to the small laundry area to put the towels in the hamper before coming back to Makoto’s side.

Makoto feels Sousuke’s presence and looks over to the side, putting down the blue ice, “You really do have a different perspective, Sousuke.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen temporarily before he looks away, rubbing the back of his neck, “Uh…yeah. I guess so.”

Makoto smiles at the teal-eyed teen’s reaction. He thinks, _‘he’s embarrassed, isn’t he?’_ The brunette says, “I should study. Finals are coming up soon, and history isn’t my strongest subject.”

Sousuke half-smirks, “Ah. Yeah…history is one of my least favorite subjects. Well, I better call Yumiko back. She called me while I was talking to Rin. You sure you’re going to be ok?”

Makoto gets off the bar stool and says, “Yeah. After all, I have you looking after me.” The brunette winks as he takes his blue ice and mug of honey lemon with him to the guest room that he’s residing in.

Sousuke huffs as he grabs Makoto’s laptop and follows the brunette into the guest room, “What’s that suppose to mean?”

Makoto takes a seat by the desk, putting down his mug, “Haru thinks you are doing a good job taking care of me…and he wanted me to say, ‘thanks.’ When he is ready to tell you that himself, I’m sure it will carry more meaning for you.”

The teal-eyed teen puts the brunette’s laptop down on the desk and scoffs, “Yeah right. Whatever. It’s not like I care about what he’s thinking or anything.”

Sousuke trots out of the guest room and heads into his room, closing the door.

Makoto chuckles to himself as he drinks more of the honey lemon Sousuke made him and relishes in the warmth.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

****

** November 14th, Friday, 9:58 pm **

Makoto takes out his key card to open the door to Sousuke’s apartment. Quietly the brunette closes the door, takes his shoes off, and places his parka jacket, scarf, and gloves in the entryway closet. He can hear the raven-haired teen talking to someone. Makoto picks up his backpack off the floor and slowly walks down the hallway, as he tries to figure out who the other voice is.

The emerald-eyed teen walks over to the dining room and sees the back of Sousuke head, and a laptop in front of the raven-haired teen with Rin on the screen. The brunette can’t help but smile at the scene. He thinks, ‘ _I know Sousuke said he would think about using Skype, I didn’t think he would use it so soon.’_

Rin sees the brunette walking up behind Sousuke and smiles at him, “Yo, Makoto! Long time no see!”

Sousuke turns around and says, “Yo. You want to talk to Rin?”

Makoto smiles at the redhead and the raven-haired teen, “Sure, just for a little bit. There is something I would like to try in the kitchen, if that’s ok with you Sousuke.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow, “I thought Haru banned you from the kitchen?”

Makoto takes a seat next to Sousuke, putting his backpack down on the floor, “Hey! Don’t start Rin. Besides, it’s only when Haru is in the kitchen. It doesn’t mean that Sousuke will treat me the same.”

Sousuke positions the laptop between himself and Makoto, “Depends on what you are trying to make, Makoto.”

Makoto pouts, “Well it’s not food. I just need to use the stove. I won’t be cutting anything, well maybe a couple of things, but I won’t be using a knife really. I want to try making a drink, would that be ok?”

Sousuke looks at Rin, and then stares at the brunette, “Alright. You can make whatever it is you want, but if you hurt yourself in the kitchen, don’t blame me.”

Makoto smiles at Sousuke, “Thanks.” The brunette looks over at Rin and says, “I wonder if you could tell me something about Sousuke, Rin? Why is it that Sousuke doesn’t like cinnamon?”

The teal-eyed teen quickly turns to look at Makoto, “What? Why is that so important?”

Rin laughs wholeheartedly, holding his stomach.

Makoto tilts his head at Rin’s reaction before looking over at the raven-haired teen, “I’m curious. When you came to the café on Wednesday, you said you didn’t like cinnamon. That’s why I had to make you another one, remember?”

Sousuke crosses his arms in defiance and says, “I remember. But the first one you made had a strong cinnamon flavor, and I didn’t like it. Although it was spicy, so in that sense it was good. The second one was fair, and I drank all of it.”

Rin finally stops laughing and wipes a tear away from his eyes as he says, “Makoto, what did you make for him?”

Makoto looks over at Rin and says, “A spicy chai. When we first met at the café, Sousuke was drinking a chai. He told me it was a little too sweet, and I told him if he came by when I was working that I would make him a spicy one. I just didn’t know Sousuke didn’t like cinnamon.”

Rin looks over at Sousuke who is shaking his head and frowning. The redhead smirks, “I have to say, it’s partly my fault that Sousuke doesn’t like cinnamon. You see, Sousuke’s mom likes to give out cinnamon candies during holidays, so we would try to see how many cinnamon candies we could shove in our mouths without feeling sick. I always won, so Sousuke would buy me something for winning. And…we even tried that cinnamon challenge too. That was really a stupid idea.” Rin shakes his head as he remembers trying the cinnamon challenge.

Makoto takes out his phone and looks up ‘cinnamon challenge’ since he doesn’t know what that is.

Sousuke sighs and says, “That was really a stupid idea. We shouldn’t have tried that one. Anyway, I just don’t like cinnamon flavored things.”

Makoto reads about the cinnamon challenge and frowns, “Seriously? You guys put a spoonful of ground cinnamon in your mouths and tried to swallow without drinking anything? That sounds painful and dangerous.”

Sousuke scoffs, “Yeah. It wasn’t a fun experience.”

Rin smiles sheepishly, “Yeah, that is not something that I will ever try again.”

Makoto sighs, “Ok. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked. I didn’t know that asking would have resulted in remembering unpleasant experiences.”

Rin shakes his head and says, “Naw, it’s really ok. Sousuke can handle stuff like this. Ever since we were kids, Sousuke never really cared for cinnamon. His mom loves cinnamon flavored things, like cinnamon flavored gum, cinnamon toothpaste, and cinnamon rolls.”

Sousuke groans as he face palms, “Ugh…don’t remind me.”

Makoto smiles sympathetically, “I see. Well, I’m going to try making you a chai. Just I have to be honest, I have been looking at several recipes and every single one calls for cinnamon as an ingredient. So, I’m gonna try an experiment with you.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow, “Oh? You have been doing some research, eh? Gee, such service Makoto. Maybe I should request something from you.”

Makoto looks over at Rin nervously, “Eh? I-I…I’m not doing anything strange, or anything. I just wanted to make Sousuke something special, that’s all. And, what could you want from me, Rin?”

Sousuke glances over at Makoto and wonders just how much research Makoto has been doing. He can’t imagine anyone really going through too much effort on his behalf, not for something as small as a beverage.

Rin looks between Sousuke and Makoto. Rin smiles, “I’m just kidding. But, I’ll think about it. I do want to try some coffee from your workplace. Haru tells me that your coffee is pretty good.”

Makoto laughs, “Ok. How about this, I’ll get you some coffee beans for Christmas. Oh! That reminds me! I meant to text you yesterday. I already asked Haru…anyway…Nagisa, Rei, and Gou-kun are planning to come up to Nagoya, to my uncle’s place during Christmas with my family. My mom told me that I could bring as many friends over as I’d like. Haru is coming, and I was wondering if you would like to come too.”

Makoto gently grasps the back Sousuke’s upper arm and says, “You too. I mean, I would love to have you come too. Gou-kun told me that you always spend Christmas with her and Rin. She said she would feel bad if you didn’t come. And I told her I would ask you first.”

Rin looks puzzled, “Whoa, wait a minute. I thought I was booking a flight down to Tokyo and then Iwatobi…”

Makoto looks nervous and fidgets with his hands, “Yeah, I know. Haru told me that you would be booking your flights, please tell me you haven’t done so already.”

Sousuke thinks about Makoto’s request. It is true that he spends the Christmas holidays with Rin and Gou, and he was planning on making a trip down to Iwatobi for the holidays. Sousuke says, “I might go if Rin goes.”

Makoto beams at Sousuke, giving him his most angelic smile before he turns to Rin with hopeful eyes, “Please say you’ll come, Rin. Just for a few days. And then you can go down to Iwatobi for New Years. I couldn’t ask you guys to stay for New Years too, I know you have plans with family.”

Rin can’t say no to Makoto. He knows that the brunette probably asked everyone yesterday to make sure this could happen. Rin smiles, “Alright, alright. I’ll go. But just for a few days. I’ll double check with Gou and my mom about this. If Gou already said yes, then I can probably swing it. My birthday present to you, how does that sound?”

Makoto giggles and smiles beautifully, “The best birthday present ever! I couldn’t ask for anything more than seeing you in person, Rin.”

Both Rin and Sousuke look at Makoto with surprise. Rin blushes slightly at the authentic response. Makoto just has this ability to make people feel cared for, and this was one of those times.

Sousuke smiles gently at the brunette, feeling a bit of warmth in his chest. Even though the comment wasn’t directed at him, it was quite the sight to behold. Makoto just has this childish maturity about him, as silly as that sounds.

Rin rubs the back of his neck and says after a moment, “Uh, you don’t have to go that far, Makoto. And I already got you a birthday present, just I wanted to see you open it.”

Makoto covers his ears, knowing that his ears are burning a bit, “Ah, you didn’t have to get me anything, Rin. I really would have accepted your visit to Nagoya as a birthday present.”

Rin gives Makoto his signature shark-like grin, “When I saw this…thing in the city, I knew I just had to get you some. Really, I want to see you open it. I think you will like it a lot. But, it will have to wait until I see you next month.”

Makoto feels his phone vibrate and checks his phone. It’s a text from Nagisa and Rei out at a new bakery shop in Iwatobi, eating a humongous strawberry sundae together. Makoto forwards the message to Rin and says, “Ok. Then I will accept your gift Rin. Also, I just forwarded you something from Nagisa.”

Makoto shows Sousuke the picture he received from Nagisa by thrusting his phone towards the raven-haired teen and leaning in to him, “Look at this Sousuke. It’s a new bakery in Iwatobi. They sell some huge sundaes! Doesn’t it look good?”

Rin checks his phone and says, “Whoa! I don’t think those two could eat all that. That’s crazy.”

Sousuke looks at the picture and says, “It would take at least 4 or 5 people to eat all that.”

Makoto laughs, “Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, why don’t I leave you two to talk while I try to make my experimental chai.” The brunette gets up, leaving his cell phone on the dining table as the backstroke swimmer picks up his backpack and walks into the kitchen to make some chai.

Sousuke watches Makoto head into the kitchen, looking for a pot before he looks at Rin and says softly, “Birthday?”

Rin smiles, “Oh? Curious?” Rin takes his bottle of water that is on his desk and lifts it up to his lips before taking a drink.

Sousuke frowns and says quietly, “No. I’m not curious. What did you get him?”

Rin puts down his water bottle and grins at the raven-haired teen, “I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell Makoto. I got him a couple of chocolate bars with bacon inside. I’ve tried some, and it’s pretty good. Not too sweet at all. I thought it would be strange, but it’s really good for chocolate covered things. I want to see him try this.”

Sousuke smiles at Rin, “He really does like chocolate. So, when’s his birthday?”

Rin chortles and winks, “Not at all curious, huh? The 17th, so in just a few days. Are you gonna get him something?”

Sousuke crosses his arms and looks away. He watches the back of the brunette’s head in the kitchen while Makoto is over the stove, “Of course not. Why would I do that?”

Rin shrugs as he sits back in his chair, “Suit yourself. But if you want my opinion, take him to one of those cat cafés. That’s what I would do.”

Sousuke continues watching the back of the brunette’s head and huffs lightly, “Maybe Nanase will take him to one of those.”

Rin shakes his head and says, “Nope. I know what Haru got him, and he’s not taking him out somewhere. He got him something for the cold weather.”

Sousuke looks back at Rin and says, “I’ll think about it.”

Rin chuckles as he playfully leans forward resting his chin on the palm of his hand, “Yeah, I know what that means. So, when you said that you might go to Makoto uncle’s place for Christmas, did you mean that? Cuz I would have to hunt you down and drag you with me if you back out.”

The raven-haired blankly stares at Rin and sighs, “We could rock-paper-scissors if you want.” Sousuke grins at his redheaded friend.

Rin quirks an eyebrow, “Ha? You serious? Dude, you are so gonna lose.” Rin sits up and gets ready for the challenge the teal-eyed teen has presented him, bringing his hands up.

Sousuke throws his head back and laughs, “You are on, man! I’m not gonna lose this time.” The raven-haired teen shifts in his seat, meeting the redheaded teen’s challenging stare, raising his hands up.

Rin lifts his eyebrow momentarily, “Ready Sousuke!”

Sousuke nods, “I’ve been ready! Let’s do this.”

Together they say, “rock-paper-scissors,” bobbing their fists in the air, up and down until they reveal their weapons of choice.

Rin choose scissors. Sousuke choose paper.

Rin raises his hands in the air, “I win! HA! Can’t back out now, Sousuke! You have to come!”

Sousuke grimaces and clicks his tongue, “Che. Yeah, yeah.” The raven-haired teen glances over at Makoto who has turned around looking back at Sousuke. The brunette smiles at the teal-eyed teen before returning his attention to pouring the liquid from the pot into a tall black ceramic mug.

Sousuke looks back at Rin who is completely stoked about winning, and smiles at how happy his best friend is. After all, the raven-haired teen let him win that time, yeah, he totally let him win that one. The teal-eyed teen laughs with Rin and says, “Alright, stop rubbing it in. I’ll go, I promise.”

Makoto walks over putting the mug down in front of Sousuke before taking a seat next to him, “What did I miss?” Makoto looks between Sousuke and Rin.

Rin smiles as he places his pointer finger over his mouth and says, “That is between Sousuke and I.” The redhead brings down his hand and grabs his water bottle, “do we have to bring sleeping bags or something to your uncle’s place?”

Makoto shakes his head, “don’t worry about stuff like that. I worked out most of those kinds of details with my mom. If anything comes up, I’ll let you know.”

The brunette looks over at Sousuke with a shy smile, “Um…are you going to try it?”

Rin looks over at the raven-haired teen with a questioning look on his face.

Sousuke looks between Makoto and Rin, before reaching for the handle of the mug, bringing it up to his mouth, and gently blowing on the hot creamy liquid.

Makoto bites his lower lip as anxiety fills him. He starts to worry that Sousuke may not like it and wonders if he should have made anything in the first place. Makoto promised the raven-haired teen that he would make a spicy chai, and this is the third attempt. The first one was the one that had a lot of cinnamon, before the brunette knew about Sousuke’s dislike of the spice. The second was the one he made after the first, to correct the first attempt.

Makoto tried looking for a recipe that contained no cinnamon, but that proved to be fruitless. He looked up recipes online, and books from his university and the public library, but didn’t find any without cinnamon.

Earlier today, he went to a store that specialized in spices to get a more personalized opinion. The sales clerk had a hard time figuring out what could be a good substitute for cinnamon.

The sales clerk was so kind by going through the spices with Makoto to try and find something that could possibly work as a substitute. Makoto tried some of the chai before pouring the beverage into a mug, it’s spicy in his opinion, but it does seem a bit unbalanced.

Sousuke take a whiff of the steamy beverage before him and he can sniff out a strong spicy essence with softer flavor notes of sweetness. The teal-eyed teen takes a sip of the beverage, allowing the liquid to dance on his taste buds. He can feel the spicy notes from the chai, but there is also a citrusy, licorice, and zesty flavor. The raven-haired teen feels the warm creamy liquid go down, and his mouth has a nice hot-warmish feel to it that makes him lifts his eyebrows momentarily.

Sousuke puts down the mug and says, “Wow. That definitely has a bit of a kick to it. It’s pretty good, but it lacks depth.” He looks over at Makoto who slumps in his chair after hearing his explanation.

Rin sighs, “Better luck next time Makoto.”

Sousuke puts his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and says, “Hey, I didn’t say it was bad, and you really didn’t have to go out of your way to make something specifically for my taste. Even though it lacks depth, it is spicy. I’m gonna finish this, and if there’s more in the kitchen, I’ll drink that too.”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke, “I’m just a bit disappointed. Honestly, I thought it was a bit unbalanced, so I was afraid you would say something like that.”

Rin asks, now curious as to what Makoto used to make the chai, “what ingredients did you use anyway?”

Makoto looks over at Rin and says, “Well, let’s see. I used cardamom, ginger, cloves, peppercorns, nutmeg, star anise, milk, Darjeeling tea, and some of the orange blossom honey Sousuke had for sweetness. I have a feeling the cinnamon is what gives the chai a more balanced flavor profile.”

Sousuke takes his hand off Makoto’s shoulder, picks up the mug and drinks the chai that was made for him. After hearing the list of ingredients, the raven-haired teen tries to identify the flavors that dance on his tongue to the list of ingredients that Makoto pointed out. Sousuke can pinpoint the cloves, ginger, and peppercorns as the ingredients that give the beverage that spicy, and warm feeling; the cardamom also gives the beverage that spiciness, but also the slight citrusy flavor; and the star anise must be the licorice flavor.

Sousuke continues drinking the beverage, relishing in the different flavors in the drink, “if this just had more depth, this would be perfect for me.”

Makoto smiles at Sousuke, “really? That gives me motivation to keep trying.”

Rin laughs, “Whoa. Looks like you’re close, Makoto. Now I want to try this. Can you make it for me when I come and visit?”

Makoto shakes his head, “nope. Since I’m close to getting this right, you will have to wait until I get Sousuke’s approval.”

Rin’s mouth hangs open in complete disbelief.

Sousuke laughs, throwing his head back as his deep voice fills the room.

Makoto watches the raven-haired teen laugh. The brunette watches him in awe as Sousuke’s eyes are closed, his face pointed towards the ceiling, his mouth smiling stunningly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, his body shaking rhythmically with the sound of his voice.

Once Sousuke composes himself, he looks over at Makoto and smiles warmly with slightly pink stained cheeks, “I didn’t know that you need my approval.”

Makoto stares at Sousuke with astonishment, and his eyes glisten with this overwhelming feeling. The brunette has never seen such a warm, inviting expression on Sousuke’s face before, at least not while the teal-eyed teen is looking at him. The emerald-eyed teen’s ears start to turn crimson as he continues to look at Sousuke, he really is at a loss for words.

Rin chuckles, “Sousuke, your face…dude, you’re blushing!” Rin laughs in his chair trying to contain his laughter, but failing miserably as he falls out of his chair.

Sousuke looks over at Rin with a frown, giving the redhead a disapproving stare until the ruby-eyed teen falls out of his chair. Sousuke’s face turns to one of concern, “Oi! Oi! Rin! Stop laughing like that. Are you ok? Don’t hurt yourself. C’mon!”

Makoto continues to watch Sousuke, noticing how the raven-haired teen’s facial expressions change. He thinks, _‘Wow…he’s so expressive. I’ve never noticed that before. I wonder…if Rin brings out this part of you Sousuke. He went from laughing so much that his face looked so handsome with a blush on his cheeks to a grimace on his face, to worry…all in a short period of time. Can anyone else bring out this side of you, Sousuke?’_ The brunette rubs his ears, feeling the hot flesh on his fingertips.

Rin finally appears on the screen, his elbows on the desk top, covering his face with his hands. It’s clear that Rin is completely red in the face. When the redhead can finally speak, he says, “Ok. Ok. Sorry. Wow. That was awesome! I better go though. It’s getting late over here, and I need to get up early, for a practice competition. Plus I need to call Haru.” 

Sousuke gives Rin a serious expression as he crosses his arms, “You should have said that earlier. Go to bed soon, Rin. We’ll talk later.”

Rin groans, “Man, don’t be such a downer. I will go to bed soon. Bye you guys.” Rin waves at the two teens in front of him.

Makoto waves back and gives the redhead his trademark smile, “Good night Rin, and good luck tomorrow.”

Rin grins toothily before ending the call. Sousuke closes his laptop and sighs, “Rin really should be more careful with his time.”

Makoto giggles at the teal-eyed teen’s response. He thinks, _‘He really cares about Rin, it’s so cute! But there is no way I’m telling him that.’_

Sousuke looks at Makoto with bewilderment, “What’s so funny?”

Makoto raises his hands up in defense, “Nothing. I’m gonna go put the chai in a container and put it in the fridge. We can drink it tomorrow.” Makoto quickly gets up and heads to the kitchen to clean up.

Sousuke picks up his black mug of chai as he watches the brunette clean up in the kitchen. He lifts the mug to his lips as he relaxes in his chair. The raven-haired teen closes his eyes and delightfully drinks the spicy chai that was given to him. He wonders to himself when the last time someone made him something, anything that was just for him. For some reason, even though the chai lacks depth, it just feels perfect in this moment as he continues to enjoy the spiciness of the beverage in his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody! Happy Holidays! I'm so sorry for the delay on this chapter, but it's pretty long at least. I've had a lot of family issues to deal with and there was also a death in the family so it's been pretty stressful. Thank you all so much for your support. 
> 
> Also I was a little bummed when I found out that Sousuke does not like cinnamon, but I was able to work around it.
> 
> Let me know what you think ^_^ Take care!


	7. Chapter 7

** November 15th, Saturday, 12:41pm **

Makoto is in Sousuke’s guest bedroom with his orange headphones listening to some classical music while he’s studying. The brunette is sitting by the desk, with his books splayed out, his notebook filled with Makoto’s handwriting. He has a history paper that’s due in three weeks, and he’s in the process of writing an outline for his paper.

Usually the brunette doesn’t prepare his outlines this far ahead, but since the holidays are fast approaching, he wants to make sure that he gives himself enough time to complete his assignment.

The brunette stretches his back in his seat, lifting both his hands up as he moves some of his stiff muscles. He moves his neck to the side and feels his neck crack. Makoto rubs his neck, and looks out the window as he listens to a violin concerto on his headphones.

It’s lightly raining outside, and he can only imagine the pitter-patter sounds of the rain hitting the widows and the building’s structure. Makoto ponders about the events that took place that morning.

Usually he goes to Haru’s place around 10:00am and helps the navy-haired teen get out of the tub, and then head to the gym. However, Haru called Makoto before he had a chance to brush his teeth to cancel their workout session. Haru said that he was up late the previous night talking to Rin.

Makoto smiles to himself as he taps the pencil he’s holding on his notebook. When the brunette asked Haru about his conversation with Rin, Haru’s voice became embarrassed. That could only mean one thing, the redhead and the navy-haired teen probably did some naughty things last night. That’s why the green-eyed teen did not push the topic further and instead told Haru to rest up and that they could workout tomorrow.

Since he was up at 8:30 in the morning, he decided to use the treadmill downstairs and check out the gym facilities. He saw the pool while he was walking towards the gym and was tempted to take a swim. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring his jammers with him to Sousuke’s apartment, so the brunette left the pool with a disappointed sigh. After using the treadmill and a few of the machines, he returned to the condo and took a shower before heading to the kitchen for a bite to eat.

By the time Makoto was done with his shower, Sousuke was in the kitchen making omelets. Makoto inhaled deeply and could smell a delicious fragrance coming from the kitchen. The brunette’s tummy rumbled and he couldn’t help himself from walking to the kitchen with a blue towel around his hips to watch Sousuke cook.

Sousuke was wearing black lightweight cotton sweatpants and a ribbed white and blue camouflage tank top as he lifted the pan off the flame to shake the pan lightly.

Makoto asked Sousuke what he was making, and the raven-haired teen stiffened a bit before looking over at the brunette. The emerald-eyed teen tilted his head to the side a bit bewildered by Sousuke’s blank expression as the teal-eyed teen eyed him up and down.

Sousuke focused his attention back on the pan and said, “Go get dressed. I won’t feed you when you look like that.” 

The brunette pouted and retreated into the guest bedroom to get changed in a pair of dark washed blue jeans and a cream colored polo shirt with one big green stripe across the chest.

They ate together, talking about random things such as the gym facility at the complex, the weather, their daily routines, and upcoming plans. Makoto talked about how he needs to prepare an outline for his history paper, and Sousuke mentioned that he doesn’t have any papers to write for the rest of trimester, but tests to study for.

The raven-haired teen mentioned that Yumiko was coming to visit after her doctor’s appointment at 10:15 am and that they will be going to a fancy family dinner that requires the teal-eyed teen to dress up in a suit.

Makoto remembers choking a little on his omelet, staring at Sousuke with surprise and Sousuke rubbed the back of his neck looking away from him. Makoto wondered what kind of suit Sousuke has hiding in his closet, and decided to wait patiently to find out later.

The brunette shakes his head going back to reading about history.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Saturday, 1:19 pm **

Sousuke is in the dinning room reading and highlighting important parts of his nutrition book. He takes a post-it note and scribbles a note to himself to look up more information in regards to the chemical compounds of certain foods. As he sticks it in the book, he hears a knock at the door.

Sousuke puts down the book and leaves it open as he trots over to the front door opening it widely, “Why didn’t you text me before you came up the elevator?”

Yumiko looks up at her stepbrother and smiles softly, “Sou-chan!” She jumps up and wraps her arms around his neck.

Sousuke sighs as he leans down and pats his sister’s back, “Okay. Uh…that’s enough of that.”

Yumiko let’s go of the raven-haired teen and pouts, “Awww! You’re no fun! We haven’t seen each other for a while now, and that’s what you have to say to me, Sou?!”

Sousuke motions for Yumiko to come into the apartment, “Get in here. You’re too loud.”

Yumiko walks in and huffs as she puffs out her cheeks, “humph. You’re so mean!” Yumiko places her wet, translucent umbrella in the bin and takes off her knee-high heeled black boots by unzipping the sides of them.

Sousuke leans against the wall with his arms crossed as his sister takes her shoes off and puts her plaid coffee colored trench coat on one of the hooks by the entryway. He notices that she is wearing black leggings with a dark red ribbed sweater dress with a scoop turtleneck, and a silver pendant on a long black cord chain. Her long dark-brown hair is twisted up and clipped with a silver pelican clip, with the tips of her hair hanging off to the side and sticking up in all directions.

Sousuke frowns, “It’s raining outside and you’re wearing a dress? Why did you dress up like that to see the doctor?”

Yumiko turns around and quirks an eyebrow at her stepbrother, “Huh? What do you mean? I just felt like wearing a dress today. Why? You don’t like it? Or is it that you think I would be cold wearing a dress?”

The raven-haired teen sighs, “No. It looks nice on you. And, yeah. I just thought wearing pants would be more comfortable, since you probably will be wearing a dress later tonight too.”

Yumiko giggles, “Awww, so cute! Maybe I should get you a dress and you can tell me if its comfortable or not.”

Sousuke face palms, “No. That’s alright. I’ll just take your word for it. Sometimes I wonder about you, Yumiko.”

Yumiko smiles as she picks up her purse from the floor, “Wonder if I picture you in a dress?”

Sousuke groans, “Stop that. I don’t think I have your legs, it wouldn’t look good on me. C’mon, let’s sit down and stop talking about this.”

Sousuke and Yumiko walk down the hallway. Sousuke turns into the kitchen and says, “sit down by the dining table and I’ll make you some tea.”

Yumiko moves towards the dining table and notices that the teal-eyed teen was studying, “Oh, am I interrupting your studying time?” Yumiko puts her purse down on the table and fishes for her phone.

Sousuke takes out a pot, and some loose-leaf green tea leaves, “Don’t worry about it. I was just looking over some stuff. Do you want something to eat?”

Yumiko scrolls through her phone, checking her email, “No. I got hungry after my appointment and ate in the medical office’s café. I just want some of your delicious tea.”

Sousuke rolls his eyes as he pushes the button on the hot water heater for the liquid to dispense, “I see. Everything ok?”

Yumiko stops looking through her phone and says, “Yeah. Just routine procedures, nothing out of the ordinary. I didn’t know I worried you so much, Sou-chan.”

Sousuke grabs a small tea tray and places two teacups on the tray with the teapot. He scoffs, “No. Of course I don’t worry. I was just curious.”

Sousuke walks over to the dining room, puts the tea tray down next to Yumiko while he moves his books, notebooks, and writing utensils farther down the table before sitting down.

Yumiko puts down her phone on the table and asks, “Worried about dinner tonight?”

Sousuke pulls out the tea basket from the teapot, and then pours the tea into each cup. He places a cup in front of Yumiko and sighs, “maybe. Having these dinners at some fancy restaurant twice a month is bothersome. I wouldn’t mind if we just ate at the house, but getting dressed up all nice is just a pain.”

Yumiko smiles sympathetically, “I know. But I will say, you look excellent in a suit, even though you don’t like it.”

Sousuke frowns, “It’s a pain. I take it you enjoy playing dress up.”

Yumiko giggles as she covers her mouth, “Of course I love playing dress up. Gives me a reason to go shopping every now and then. You know, if you are ever free to go shopping with me, I would love to have your help carrying my bags!”

Sousuke shakes his head, “You spend less money when I’m not around. I think your wallet would prefer it if I don’t hang around you during a shopping spree. You just use me as free muscle. Ask your date to take you out shopping.”

Yumiko pouts, “Such a spoiled sport! I ask your opinion on things. And…I’ve done that once. It wasn’t a really good date.”

Sousuke scoffs, “Not when you ask me things like, ‘does this look sexy.’ I don’t want to be around giving you opinions on things like that. And seriously? That’s unfortunate.” 

Yumiko rolls her eyes, “That was just one time, and the department store was having a sale on blouses and I wanted something really nice for a possible date. As for the guy I dated that one time…at the moment it sounded like it was ok, but after a while, yeah…it was not so good.” Yumiko picks up her cup of tea and takes a sip. 

They both become silent, drinking the tea from their teacups.

Sousuke stares at the hot liquid in his cup as the silence continues. Sousuke’s defenses go up; something feels strange about the situation. He looks up and finds Yumiko’s face has a serious expression on her soft facial features as she seems lost in her thoughts.

The raven-haired teen doesn’t like this, he can feel the atmosphere in the room become tense, and his muscles stiffen as he waits for Yumiko to speak. Something must have happened, and he prepares himself for bad news as he drinks his green tea.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Makoto takes down his earphones off his ears, and places them around his neck. He turns off his music, gets up, and stretches his body. After a minute of stretching, he decides to go to the kitchen to get something to drink.

The brunette’s door was partly open and he opens the door and walks down the hallway towards the kitchen until he hears a woman’s voice speak up. The brunette stops dead in his tracks as he is taken aback.

Yumiko sighs and says firmly as she puts her cup down on the table, “Sousuke. I ran into Yukimura-sensei after my appointment and I asked him some questions about your health and shoulder. How come you didn’t tell me you swam when you went back to Iwatobi? Why didn’t you tell me?” Yumiko’s voice slowly becomes angry as she speaks, her grip on her cup tightens.

Sousuke looks up at Yumiko with a look of indifference. The raven-haired teen holds her gaze without breaking his cold exterior. He’s quiet for a minute before he says coldly, “It doesn’t matter. It’s a long time ago.”

Yumiko’s eyes darken when she hears his answer and she raises her voice as she throws a fist down on the table, “doesn’t matter!? You promised me that if you went back to Iwatobi for that last year of high school that you wouldn’t swim! You broke your promise to me! That was the only thing I asked of you, and you didn’t bother to tell me!? I fought with mom and dad for you! I made that whole situation happen for you! And what about your dream, Sousuke!? Didn’t you want to become an Olympic swimmer!? All those doctors appointments, second opinions, physical therapy was for what? For you to just throw it away!? You had a 50% chance of walking down that road to your dream, Sousuke!”

Makoto was about to walk back to the guest room but stopped when he heard the woman in the dining room talk with anger. The brunette’s eyes widen as the words sink in. He thinks, _‘Wait a minute…Sousuke wasn’t suppose to swim!? Oh my god! How come he didn’t say anything!’_ Makoto leans against the wall stunned.

Sousuke throws his fist down on the table with a loud thud and says with more venom than he intended to, “I said it doesn’t matter! It’s in the past! I didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t understand! It was important! More important than becoming an international competitive swimmer! And just because one doctor said I had a 50% chance doesn’t mean that I would have been able to achieve that dream! What about the doctors that said I had less than that, huh? You don’t think I thought it through! You’re wrong, Yumiko!”

Yumiko stands up, balls her hands into fists and thrusts them downward as she angrily looks down at Sousuke, “You re-damaged your shoulder when you swam in Iwatobi, Sousuke! You weren’t supposed to swim! You promised me that! That was the one condition I gave you if I helped you convince mom and dad to let you go back for your last year of high school! Why? Why would you do that to yourself? Why did you lie to me?”

Sousuke’s face darkens as Yumiko scolds him. He crosses his arms and yells, “Stop it! I told you! You won’t understand! I had something important to do! I wasn’t going to swim, and I intended to keep my promise when I left Tokyo, but things changed when I got to Iwatobi!”

The raven-haired teen shakes his head angrily and yells, “I found a new dream that was more important than swimming! It was worth it then, and it’s still worth it now! I found something worth more than being on an Olympic stage in the future! That path closed the moment I fucked my shoulder up, and there is nothing I can do to change that!”

Yumiko’s taken aback by Sousuke’s words. She takes a step back, as her hand goes over her chest, tightening her fist around the silver locket around her chest. She says with disbelief, “Sousuke…you had a chance to take hold of your dream. A dream you worked so hard for. I don’t care if it was 30 percent, 15 percent, or even 5 percent, I would have fought with you, for you. But you lied to me, Sousuke! I called you so many times while you were in Iwatobi because I was worried! You broke your promise to me!”

Yumiko turns away, tears going down her cheek, her shoulders slightly shaking as she tries to stop herself from crying.

Sousuke watches Yumiko’s back shake, and the sobs that come from his stepsister brew a strong wave of guilt in the pit of his stomach. Sousuke tightens his grip on his bicep, feeling his strong hand painfully grip his muscle. Sousuke says softly, “I fucked up. I meant to keep my promise when I made it to you, Yumiko. But I can’t tell you why.”

Yumiko digs in her purse and grabs some tissues to wipe her face before turning around to face Sousuke. She balls up the wet tissues in her hand and sighs deeply before saying with a broken voice, “for as long as we’ve known each other, you’ve kept your word with me. This is the first time you have kept something like this from me. I trusted you, Sou-chan. Please tell me that the other times you made promises to me weren’t lies…”

Sousuke’s head shoots up to look at Yumiko, and he gets up reaching a hand out to grasp her shoulder, but stops midway. His hand comes down as he looks away, balling his hand into a fist by his side, “I never lied to you in the past, Yumiko. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I did, didn’t I? I’m…I’m sorry.”

Yumiko stares at Sousuke’s profile, and see’s a pang of sadness in his teal-eye. The young woman doesn’t know why he would throw everything away. She asks delicately as she continues to gaze at the tall teen in front of her, “Why? If you really are sorry, tell me why. I deserve some kind of explanation.”

Sousuke turns his head to gaze into Yumiko’s caramel eyes with a pained look. He sighs as he looks down shamefully, “You deserve an explanation. I won’t tell you. Really, you won’t understand even if I tried to explain. I’m not dismissing you or anything, I just know you won’t get it.”

The young woman’s caramel eyes widen in shock as she hears the raven-haired teen’s response. She can observe Sousuke’s body language that says that he truly is sorry by the way he hangs his head down, like a child getting caught for doing a bad deed in front of their parent. She looks away, placing a hand over her mouth as she says softly, “will you please try to tell me? Even if I don’t understand, I want to know the reason.”

Sousuke closes his eyes sorrowfully, “Again, I’m sorry Yumiko. I won’t tell you. You won’t understand.”

Yumiko turns her head to look at Sousuke. She sees him standing in front of her with eyes shut closed, his head hung low, and his hands balled up on his sides. She can see that he is upset about all this. She takes a few deep breaths trying to collect her thoughts.

All of a sudden, they hear something coming from the hallway where the bedrooms are. Yumiko and Sousuke look over to the hallway.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Makoto scrambles to dig in his jean pocket to turn off the sound of his phone. One of his classmates had called him, but the brunette didn’t find it an appropriate time to answer the call. As soon as he turned off the sound, he realizes that the other two people in the other room must have heard his phone.

Slowly Makoto comes out of the hallway, bowing at the two figures in the dining room. The emerald-eyed teen rubs the back of his head and says nervously, “Uh…I’m sorry. I…I didn’t mean to…um…interrupt. I just, um….wanted a drink. And, yeah. Sorry.” Makoto looks away with worry gracing his features.

Yumiko looks over at the tall brunette, taking in his whole presence. The young woman has never seen Sousuke with friends before, and this tall teen who is just a little shorter than the raven-haired teen must be a friend of his. She stares at the emerald-eyed teen in shock.

Sousuke grimaces when he sees Makoto come out of the hallway. He wonders how long the brunette was standing there listening to his conversation with his stepsister. He stares at the brunette, giving off an intimidating presence.

Makoto notices the young woman’s surprised look, and glances over at Sousuke who is looking at him with a fiercely threatening gaze. The brunette looks away rubbing his arm with his hand to soothe himself.

Yumiko turns around, grabs her phone, and plops it into her purse before she walks past Makoto. She stops a few steps away from the brunette before turning around and looking straight into Makoto’s green orbs saying, “maybe Sousuke will tell you why. He needs to tell someone why he gave up his dream.”

The caramel-eyed woman looks over at Sousuke and says sadly, “I’m leaving Sou-chan. I…I need to clear my head. I’ll be back all dressed up for our family dinner. I’ll see you later.” She storms off, putting on her shoes quickly and grabbing her coat and umbrella before closing the door.

Makoto watches the dark-haired woman leave. The brunette lets out an exhale, not realizing that he was holding his breath since the caramel-eyed woman looked at him, telling him how Sousuke needs to tell someone about his dream.

The brunette takes a shaky step toward the kitchen, and slowly walks in while feeling a sharp gaze following his every move. The emerald-eyed teen grabs two tall glasses from the cupboard, opens the refrigerator to pull out a pitcher of water, and pours the clear liquid into the glasses before putting the pitcher back into the ice box.

The brunette’s back faces the raven-haired teen, and he takes his time taking a few deep breaths trying to calm his racing heart from the tension he feels in the air.

Finally the emerald-eyed teen grabs the two glasses and walks over to the dining room, placing one glass on the table, as he brings up the other glass to his lips. He closes his eyes and downs the glass of cool refreshing liquid.

Makoto puts down the glass, and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

Sousuke asks with a chilly indifferent tone, “How much did you hear, Makoto?”

The brunette looks up and presses his lips together as he holds Sousuke’s harsh gaze. He clears his throat, takes a breath, and says shakily, “Enough.”

The raven-haired teen scoffs and takes a few steps toward Makoto, leaving only a couple of inches of space between their bodies. The teal-eyed teen’s gaze is icy, eyebrows furrow as he looks down at Makoto.

Makoto’s eyes waver under the painfully cold gaze, he swallows, gazing back up at the raven-haired teen, not wanting to back down, not wanting to leave Sousuke gazing through this alone. The brunette feels his throat run dry under those cold-teal eyes.

They stare at each other for what feels like an eternity, but realistically it has been several minutes until Makoto finds the strength to use his voice again. Makoto softly says, “Sousuke…let’s talk.”

Sousuke breaks eye contact first, looking away as he runs his hand through his hair slowly, “There’s nothing to talk about. It’s none of your business.”

Makoto looks down toward the dining table, picks up the glass of water, and stares at the crystal clear liquid in the glass. He can see that the raven-haired teen is trying to push him away. He takes in a shaky breath, swallowing the fear of uncertainty as he puts down the glass of water and gazes back up at Sousuke, “You’re right. It’s not my business. Are we friends, Sousuke?”

The teal-eyed teen blinks when he hears the question and directs his eyes down to look into the emerald orbs staring back at him. The question was unexpected. He continues to stare at those clear green eyes, and he sees an image of himself staring back at him. The raven-haired teen looks away and says with an unexpectedly small voice, “yeah. Aren’t we?”

The brunette says in a soft whisper, “Please, look at me and answer the question. I want to see the answer too.”

Sousuke looks back at the emerald-eyed teen. He blinks a couple times, seeing a bit of fear in those clear earthy eyes, but there was something grounding for him when he gazes at how open and honest the green eyes appeared. The teal-eyed teen swallows slowly and says quietly, “yes. I think so.”

Makoto’s lips slightly upturn into a small smile and says vulnerably, “me too. I think we are friends too. So, listen Sousuke. This is important. When we see our friends and family hurt, crying, struggling, conflicted, overwhelmed, excited, happy…and other things…we, meaning…me, Rin, and Yumiko want to stand right here with you. So…the burden of these things don’t consume you. So that we can share your happiness too. You have shown me this, Sousuke. You gave me a shoulder to cry on when I thought I was alone. You saw me struggle and worked it through with me. You offered an ear when I was conflicted. You gave me space to work out my thoughts and feelings when I was overwhelmed. We shared laughs and smiles together. So, now I ask you…may I come in and support you Sousuke?”

Sousuke can’t seem to tear his gaze away from the brunette. His words sounded so authentic and pure that he just let the words sink into his ears, his body, and it touched his heart. He looks down and says in a whisper, “fine. I’ll let you in. Ask me.”

Makoto grabs the glass of water with one hand, and gently caresses Sousuke’s hand, grasping it carefully, and leads the bewildered raven-haired teen to the living room. He puts down the glass of water on the glass coffee table in front of the suede coffee colored couch, releases his hold on the teal-eyed teen’s hand and sits down on the couch looking up at Sousuke.

Sousuke watches the brunette and slowly sits down next to the emerald-eyed teen, leaning back into the soft cushions.

Makoto pushes the coffee table away from them a bit so there is a little more legroom for both teens. The brunette leans back into the couch, their knees and shoulders touching.

Sousuke finally lets his head gently fall into the sofa, resting his right arm over his eyes, waiting for Makoto ask him questions about the conversation the brunette overheard.

The brunette clears his throat and says softly, “I want to hear about your first dream.”

The raven-haired teen furrows his eyebrows under the pressure of his forearm on his eyes and laughs bitterly, “ok. My dream…was to stand on the Olympic stage with Rin. To compete with him for as long as any competitive swimming career could last. I wanted…to give him a reason to compete, a reason to fight for the gold. Rivals.”

Makoto’s eyes widen as he hears Sousuke’s dream. It sounds so familiar because he has heard a similar dream from a certain redhead, but with a different rival. The brunette looks over at Sousuke as the silence fills the room momentarily.

The brunette looks down at his lap and says quietly, “I want to hear about your other dream.”

Sousuke clicks his tongue and says, “Che. I wanted to swim in a relay with Rin, to see why the relay meant so much to him. I believed for a long time that competitive swimming was a solitary sport. Rin and I argued about what swimming really means a long time ago. He was angry with me for not taking one of the relays seriously, we just disagreed, but it bothered me. Since then I just swam, but without Rin there, it felt empty. I wanted to see, I wanted to experience Rin’s way of swimming. So, I decided to swim last year, and it was worth it. I finally saw what it truly meant to swim in a relay. It wasn’t just swimming with a team of individual people, it was swimming as one single unit, together, relying on your teammates to carry your aspirations and ambitions.”

The brunette listens wholeheartedly and knows what Sousuke means about swimming with the team. Makoto says in a whisper, “it’s beautiful.”

Sousuke sighs and says with a breaking voice, “no, it’s not.”

Makoto looks over at the raven-haired teen and is about to say something, but notices a lone tear stream down his cheek. The brunette looks down and notices Sousuke’s right hand resting on his thigh. The emerald-eyed teen gently strokes the back of the teal-eyed teen’s hand, and finally laces his fingers over Sousuke’s knuckles, holding his hand firmly, “your dream ‘is’ beautiful, meaningful, without a doubt…it is worth it. It is worth it Sousuke.”

Sousuke takes a sharp inhale of breath as he feels Makoto’s fingers glide across the back of his hand gingerly, and once those fingers claimed his hand, the raven-haired teen tightens his hold around those fingers, exhaling slowly as more tears fall from his eyes behind his forearm.

The emerald-eyed teen listens to Sousuke quietly sniffle and cry right next to him. The brunette thinks, _‘Rin changed your views of swimming. He changed the way you swim. Oh, Sousuke…both your dreams are beautiful. How I wish you didn’t need to give up one for the other. To give up swimming competitively with Rin to swimming with Rin in a relay…to…wa…’_ Makoto takes a moment to think about his last thought, something clicked for the brunette, he finally understood something about the raven-haired teen.

Makoto tightens his hold on Sousuke as he continues to piece together the things he knows about Rin, about the swimming competitions, about what he just heard. He thinks, _‘Rin let you swim in the competitions. He didn’t know about your shoulder, otherwise Rin would never have let you swim. Sousuke, did you really mean to hold that information, or was it that once you saw Rin, you couldn’t tell him that your dream was gone. That’s why it was so important that we swam our best that day…Haru…you knew about Sousuke’s shoulder that day. Otherwise you wouldn’t have made a point to make a speech as we walked up to the starting platforms of the pool…oh Haru. Rin must have found out then too. Rin didn’t know how much you suffered alone, Sousuke, but Yumiko did. Sousuke…you’re not alone anymore.’_

The brunette looks over at Sousuke and sees that the raven-haired teen’s cheeks are stained with tears. Makoto slowly gets up and releases the teal-eyed teen’s hand, turns towards Sousuke, and hold his hand again. This time their palms are facing each other in a complete embrace as Makoto places his right knee on the couch and leans against the top of the couch, taking Sousuke’s hand with him.

Makoto gently grasps Sousuke’s forearm with his left hand and pulls his arm off his face. The brunette can see the raven-haired teen’s face, and all he can see is relief in his features. The emerald-eyed teen smiles as he lets go of Sousuke’s hand and gently places both palms of his hands around Sousuke’s cheeks, wiping tears away from Sousuke’s relieved face.

The brunette says delicately, “You’re amazing. Please open your eyes.”

Sousuke allows the brunette to wipe his tears, something about the act makes him feel warm inside, cared for. The raven-haired teen furrows his eyebrows lightly as Makoto’s words sink in. He doesn’t want to open his eyes and have reality hit him hard. However, Makoto is the one asking him to open his eyes.

Slowly, Sousuke opens his eyes. At first the light is too bright for him, but as his eyes focus over time, he can see a sweet face staring down at him with care. Sousuke wonders when was the last time someone looked at him so…lovingly? No that can’t be right, the brunette doesn’t love him, care for him, yes, that’s clear.

Makoto smiles down at Sousuke with affection. The brunette continues to rub Sousuke’s cheeks with his thumb as he says kindly, “Sousuke, you are amazing.”

Sousuke’s eyes waver as he continues to stare up at Makoto. He thinks, _‘how can he say that so easily? I’m amazing…I think you are amazing. How do you do that? You just…you just…filled me with something. I don’t know what, but it feels so good.’_

Makoto blushes lightly as he laughs at himself, “saying it the second time was embarrassing.”

Sousuke laughs at the brunette’s admission. He feels like some strange weight was lifted. He laughs with lightness in his chest.

The brunette let’s go of Sousuke’s face and watches the sight before him. The raven-haired teen looks mirthful, and Makoto smiles warmly at the scene before him. He wants to engrave this moment in his memory, knowing that he made Sousuke laugh so wonderfully.

Sousuke finally settles down from his laughing fit, feeling his stomach muscles tire out, and he wipes his face with his hands. He looks up to see Makoto staring at him with wonder. The raven-haired teen looks away and says, “Ok. Um…thanks Makoto. You are really something…I can’t put my finger on it yet, but when I figure it out you will be the first to know.”

Makoto giggles, as he places a hand on Sousuke’s shoulder, “I guess I’ll have to wait and see what that means.” The brunette looks down and he holds his breath for a moment, before looking away and setting his sights on the overcast clouds outside.

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow and says softly, “Makoto? What’s on your mind?”

Makoto closes his eyes, squeezes Sousuke’s shoulder gently and says a little nervously, “Can I…ask you something?”

The teal-eyed teen looks up curiously, “Ask me.”

The brunette gazes into Sousuke’s teal blue eyes for a moment before asking calmly, “How long have you been in love with Rin?”

The teal eyes below Makoto blink and widen in absolute shock. Sousuke’s face slowly becomes red. The brunette notices how his neck started to become pink, to red, and travel up to his cheeks.

Before Sousuke can say anything, the brunette continues delicately, “I can tell, Sousuke. Please, don’t deny your feelings. I noticed the way you looked…upset when Haru and Rin talked a few nights ago. I noticed the way you light up when you talk to Rin, you smile more when you see him. Rin is in your dreams, Sousuke. It’s beautiful…and I can’t help but wonder if I ruined it.” Makoto’s eyes fall downward, with a sad frown on his face.

The teal-eyed teen quickly takes notice of Makoto’s sadness, and feels a twinge of sorrow, “hey. I…” Sousuke sighs, “I won’t lie to you. I did blame you from time to time, but really…it’s not your fault Makoto. You…notice things about Nanase, and you wanted to know what happened on the trip to Australia. Rin wouldn’t tell me, so when you asked that night, I felt anxious about the answer. But I didn’t expect that. I don’t blame you. They just…have something, I guess.”

Makoto closes his eyes, turns to sit on the couch next to Sousuke with a plop. The brunette flings his head back as he covers his face with his hands, “did you hate me?”

Sousuke is silent for a moment, taking all this information in. He shifts his weight, looking over to the glass coffee table and grabbing the tissue box. Sousuke puts the tissue box next to him as he grabs a few tissues and rubs off the remaining tearstains from his face, and lightly rubs his nose, “I don’t hate you, Makoto. It’s not your fault. But…just so we are clear, I don’t…um…’you know’…him.”

Makoto feels relieved after hearing that the raven-haired teen doesn’t hate him. The brunette drops his hands to his thighs, looks over at Sousuke, raising an eyebrow, “Oh? So, why did you blush?"

Sousuke blinks and looks at the brunette, “No, I didn’t.” The teal-eyed teen gets up and puts the used tissues in his pocket.

Makoto gets up and faces the raven-haired teen, gently grasping Sousuke’s biceps, “please, don’t deny your feelings. If I’m truly wrong, I’ll accept it. Do you? Or don’t you?”

Sousuke looks away and closes his eyes, “it doesn’t matter.”

The brunette squeezes the teal-eyed teen’s biceps and says quickly, “it matters to me. I’m worried. I invited you to come with me to my uncle’s place for Christmas. Rin and Haru will be there. I want to make sure you are comfortable, and if you really have feelings for Rin…”

Makoto let’s go of Sousuke’s arms and hugs himself, “I don’t want you to feel like you are forced to put on a happy face to hide your true feelings. I want you to be comfortable and enjoy yourself. Not miserable, jealous, or upset.”

Sousuke glances at the brunette, and sees the emerald-eyed teen holding himself. He places a hand over his eyes and sighs, “Ok. Alright, yes. I…have feelings for…him…Rin. I don’t know how long, just that I noticed one day that I had fallen for him when I was at Tokitsu. It was before I came back to Iwatobi. I’ll be fine, Makoto. I can take care of myself.”

The brunette gently grabs Sousuke’s hands, and moves them down to their sides as the emerald-eyed teen meets teal blue eyes, “That’s what I’m worried about. You are so good at taking care of yourself…that I worry you will shut the rest of us out. I want to enjoy things with you, not have your physical presence there, but your spirit or mind elsewhere. You’ve been hurting for too long, Sousuke…”

There is silence between them as they stare at each other. Makoto looks down, closing his eyes. Sousuke looks away and opens his mouth to say something, but the brunette says, “Last year, I thought I was in love with Haru. Every time I saw Haru and Rin talk, especially during the competitions, and practices, I felt this twinge of jealousy. I didn’t understand it at first, I thought I was just being a protective friend…but then I got confused. Haru and Rin are both my friends, why would I be jealous? Haru and Rin have a bond, just like we all have bonds to our friends, and for the longest time I wanted to believe that is was equal among all of us. But, last year I saw something different, and that jealousy got stronger, as I noticed that bond was theirs…it didn’t include me. I competed with Haru in the 200-meter freestyle race. I wanted to see if I could have the same bond. I couldn’t…there was no way I could ever have that bond.”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke with sad eyes, “I hated myself for a moment. I cried after that race…and I smiled. My best friend is incredible. I knew I could never have that bond he shared with Rin. I may understand Haru the most out of all our friends, but I don’t hold any romantic stuff for him. I struggled with that…I thought I was in love with him, but I don’t think I was. I love him like family. I think I wanted to be in love with him because we know each other so well, and we do so many things together. I had to let that desire go. I couldn’t come here…to Tokyo…feeling that desire without possibly ruining our friendship. I can’t live without him, so I let my desire go. But, to feel so strongly for someone, it hurts sometimes. I can only imagine how you feel.”

Sousuke holds Makoto’s gaze. He can hear the struggle, pain, the need for transition, and distress. The teal-eyed teen’s features soften after hearing the brunette’s past. He had no idea Makoto had so many conflicts last year. The emerald-eyed teen always smiled and took care of his team, like a good captain should. He thinks, _‘you’re the one that puts on a happy face, don’t you Makoto. I know I get defensive about things, and hide my feelings. But you…you take it to a whole other level. You make others believe that everything is okay, but the ones that know you best…those are the ones that can see through your mask. I never noticed how much you observe things. Seems that I have shown you things I didn’t want you to know. And here you are exposing yourself to me. What are you trying to show me?’_

The raven-haired teen looks away, gently gets out of Makoto’s grasp on his wrist, lifting his arm up to rub the back of his neck, “you really are something. I guess I can’t really shut up about my feelings when you just poured all this personal stuff to me. Really, you didn’t have to go that far, Makoto. You have a lot on your plate already. Why bother with me?”

Makoto tilts his head a bit confused and says, “Um…why bother with me?”

Sousuke’s eyes drift over to Makoto, “huh? Why do I spend time with you? I thought we were friends.”

The brunette smiles, “Exactly. You just answered your own question. You are important to me. Because you are important to me, I care about your thoughts, your feelings, your worries, your pains, and your gains. Even if I have a lot on my plate, I have no qualms piling your stuff on top of my plate too.”

Sousuke smiles at first, and then face palms, “Wow. You went from corny to worrisome. That kind of thing will get you in trouble if you aren’t careful.”

Makoto chuckles, “Maybe.” He let’s go of Sousuke’s other wrist, “Sorry if I over-shared stuff. But there are a few more things I want to say as a friend.”

Sousuke goes over to the coffee table, picks up the glass of water, and sits down on the couch again, “Ok. I’m listening.” Sousuke raises the glass to his lips and takes a long sip.

Makoto smiles as the teal-eyed teen drinks the water he got for him, “Ok. One. When Yumiko-san comes back, consider apologizing to her in a way that allows her to accept your choice. I know you said she wouldn’t understand why you let go of your first dream, and maybe now is not the time to tell her, but she needs something from you that tells her that you still care. Two. Consider what you want to do with your feelings about Rin. If you need to vent, talk, or just need someone, you can always come to me about it. Three. Now this is important. If you really don’t want to come with me to Nagoya, please let me know. As much as I would love to have you there with me, my family, and my friends…your feelings matter to me. Um…that’s all. I hope that wasn’t too much.”

The brunette sits down next to Sousuke, a little anxious about what he would say.

Sousuke leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees, the glass still in the raven-haired teen’s hand between his legs. He listens to the brunette and takes a few deep breaths. The first two things the brunette mentions hit him as things he really should consider. The third thing, the teal-eyed teen smiles and thinks, ‘ _whoa. Still worried about that, hmm? I’ll think about it. But I still think I’ll be ok.’_

The raven-haired teen brings the glass back up to his lips and takes another long sip finishing off the contents of the cup, “Ok. I will figure out a way to apologize to Yumiko. The second thing, I will consider. What I have to say about the third is…you worry too much. If things really get weird, I will let you know, how’s that?”

Makoto sighs in relief and nods with a smile on his face, “Ok. I’ll take it. You want some more water?”

Sousuke smiles at the brunette, “Yeah, I’d like that. Wanna play a game with me on the playstation? Just for a little bit.”

The brunette beams at the raven-haired teen, “I’d love to! Ok! I’ll go get some more water for the both of us while you set up the playstation. I should warn you, I am pretty good with videogames.”

Makoto gets up, takes Sousuke’s glass from him, and trots over to the dining room to grab his glass before heading into the kitchen.

The teal-eyed teen watches the brunette walk away, noticing that Makoto has a little bounce in his step. Sousuke quietly chuckles to himself, as he gets up and plugs the HDMI cable into the T.V. for the PS4.

As the raven-haired teen turns on the PS4, and grabs two controllers, he realizes that the brunette has become quite close to him. He walks back to the couch, and sits down, placing one controller on the seat, and goes through the menu with the controller in his hands. After everything that happened today, Makoto had stood up to him when he was angry, got him to talk when he didn’t want to, and made him feel warm, embarrassingly warm.

Sousuke’s clears his throat as he clicks the confirm button to load the game. The teal-eyed teen rubs his face with one hand, trying to suppress this warm feeling in his chest. He was vulnerable with him, the only other person to see him so moved was Rin. He can no longer say that he’s doing things for the brunette in Rin’s place…no. The emerald-eyed teen deserves so much more than that. For the first time in a long while, he has opened up to someone new. Regardless of how it happened, Makoto has become a true friend.

The screen loads for the game ‘ _Guilty Gear Xrd Sign_ ,’ and Sousuke just lets the animation go. He sits back in the couch, waiting for the brunette to join him, but in the meantime the raven-haired teen thinks about how this day has changed him for the better.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------

** Saturday, 6:19 pm **

****

Makoto is in the kitchen washing dishes. After playing a couple rounds of ‘ _Guilty Gear,’_ the teens decided to order a pizza for lunch and have it delivered. They ate and played until 5:45 pm. That’s when Sousuke grimaced at the clock, reminding the brunette that Yumiko should be coming to the apartment around 6:15 pm. The raven-haired teen sauntered over to his bedroom to plan his outfit out and is currently taking a shower.

The brunette remembers that there was a teapot and teacups on the dinning table and walks over to wash them. As the emerald-eyed teen is about to turn the water back on, Sousuke comes out of the shower room with a green towel around his hips.

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow at the brunette, “She’s not here yet?”

Makoto stares at the raven-haired teen. He can see small rivulets of water dribble from the tips of Sousuke’s black hair, shimmering droplets on his chiseled chest, and a sprinkling of water on his toned biceps. He shakes his head, focusing his attention on the teacups in the sink, “Um, no. Not yet. You should dry off properly. It looks like you just wrapped a towel around your waist.”

Sousuke gives the brunette a knowing look, “yeah, I know. I thought she would be here…”

Before Sousuke could finish his sentence, the teens hear a loud knock on the door.

Sousuke turns around and quickly heads into his bedroom, closing the door.

Makoto giggles as the teal-eyed teen left in a hurry. He dries his hands on a dishtowel and briskly walks over to the entryway, opening the door.

The brunette is instantly stunned. In front of him stands Yumiko all dressed up, carrying a black trench coat by the collar with a grey knitted scarf, and a clear umbrella. Her dark chocolate colored hair is pulled back with her bangs neatly pulled to the side with a crystal encrusted silver clip. Her ears are adorned with smoky quartz and hematite dangle teardrop earrings, around her neck is a lacy black choker necklace, and her wrists are adorned with several silver bangle bracelets. She’s wearing a strapless black fitted dress that is a few inches above her knees with a sparkly black lacy overlay that is sleeveless, creates a boat-neck line, and goes down to her knees. The dress hugs her body beautifully. She’s wearing black sheer stockings and black kitten heeled dress shoes. 

Yumiko looks up, and tilts her head, a little confused, “Eh? Sousuke’s friend?”

Makoto smiles sheepishly and says, “Wow. You look lovely. Um…yes. Please come in, Yumiko-san.” Makoto moves out of the way to allow the young woman entrance. Nervously, the brunette says softly, “I’m sorry. Sousuke refers to you as Yumiko, and I made an assumption to call you Yumiko-san. Would you prefer if I call you Yamazaki-san instead?”

Yumiko smiles as Makoto closes the door. She places her clear umbrella in the bin with Sousuke’s black umbrella, “Thank you. Yumiko is fine. Please, don’t be so formal. It’s nice to see Sou-chan with a friend. I’m afraid I never caught your name.”

The brunette gives the young woman space to take off her shoes and he extends his hand to Yumiko, “Ah. I’m Makoto Tachibana. Please, let me take your coat, Yumiko-san.”

Yumiko giggles and gives her coat and scarf to the brunette. She takes off her shoes easily and watches Makoto place her coat on the entryway hook, “So, shall I call you Tachibana-san or Makoto-san?”

The brunette glances over at Yumiko and says with a nervous laugh, “Makoto, please. It truly is a pleasure to meet you.” Makoto bows, “please come in and I’ll make you some tea.” The brunette moves to the side to allow Yumiko to move past him.

The caramel-eyed woman smiles at the emerald-eyed teen and bows, “It’s nice to meet you too, Makoto-san.” She walks past the brunette, walking over to the dining room as she gently sits down, crossing her legs as she places her small black clutch on the table, "how long have you two known each other?”

Makoto follows Yumiko down the hallway, and turns left into the kitchen to grab a teacup from the cupboard. Her soft feminine voice stops him from continuing the process of making her a cup of tea as he takes a moment to think about the question, “Well, Sousuke and I have known each other for a long time now. If I recall correctly, we met at swimming club when we were in elementary school. Sousuke and I didn’t go to the same school, and we didn’t really start talking until more recently.”

The brunette grabs a tea basket and places it over the teacup. He picks up a tin container filled with genmai-cha and places a small spoonful of tea leaves into the tea basket. The emerald-eyed teen closes up the genmai-cha container and walks over to the water heater, pouring the hot liquid over the tealeaves.

Yumiko is in deep thought about what the brunette had disclosed to her, “Did you guys go to the same high school? Tokiya or Samezuka?”

Makoto grabs a small dish for the tea basket to be placed in when the tea is done brewing. He places the teacup on a small tray and carries it over to the dinning room, “No, we didn’t go to the same high school. We went to different high schools, but we did see quite a bit of each other during competitions.” The brunette internally winces. He thinks, _‘whoops. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that last part.’_

Yumiko leans over the dining table, placing her elbow on the hard surface and resting her chin on the palm of her hand, “I see.”

The brunette laughs nervously as he places the tray on the table, grabs the teacup and places it in front of the young woman. He gently lifts the tea basket from the teacup, and places it in the little white dish that’s on the tray before he sits down diagonally from the caramel-eyed woman. Makoto looks down at the table feeling too nervous to say anything else.

The young woman watches Makoto sit in silence, shifting in his seat nervously, “I’m curious. What are your thoughts about what happened earlier?”

Makoto’s eyes shoot up and he stares at her with surprise. He quickly looks away and says, “Yumiko-san…I don’t want to get in between you and Sousuke. I just hope that you two can resolve the concerns you both have.”

Yumiko raises an eyebrow before she places her hands around the cup of her tea, “Where is Sou-chan? Is he still changing?” She lifts the cup to her lips and takes a sip.

Makoto nods and says, “Yes. Sousuke is in his room changing at the moment. The brunette gets up suddenly, “Would you like me to check on him? I don’t mind.”

The brunette takes a few steps over to the hallway where the bedrooms are until he hears Yumiko say, “please wait. No, that’s ok.”

The brunette turns around and finds the young woman had got up to stop him, but she was a couple steps behind him.

Yumiko sighs, “Makoto-san…did he tell you? Did he tell you why he gave up his dream?”

The brunette looks away rubbing his arm, “I…I’m sorry Yumiko-san.”

The caramel-eyed woman blinks for a moment and says, “maybe I should go talk to him. We need to settle this.” She starts to walk past Makoto.

The emerald-eyed teen says quickly, “Yumiko-san. I don’t know if that’s a good idea. Please.”

Yumiko stops and she looks to the side and upwards to stare at the brunette’s face with puzzlement.

Makoto faces the young woman and holds her questioning gaze. He takes a deep breath and says, “This may be rude of me to say, and I know I just said that I didn’t want to get in between you and Sousuke…but please, Yumiko-san. I beg you. Please let him come to you about this concern. You have every right to be upset. Please give him some time to come to you about this.” Makoto bows at a 45-degree angle.

Yumiko takes a step back when the tall brunette bows in front of her. Her mouth hangs open and she covers it with her hand. She watches the brunette continue to bow in front of her, but then looks down the bedroom hallway, “I know you mean well Makoto-san, but I don’t think I can wait any longer. Settling this issue would benefit the both of us.”

The brunette frowns at Yumiko’s response. He understands her stance of wanting to resolve the issue right away, but Sousuke said he would consider apologizing to Yumiko. If she went to see him now, would he be ready to apologize to her? Makoto bows at a 90-degree angle and says, “Yumiko-san. I beg you. Please wait for Sousuke to come to you about this. I understand you have deep feelings about what happened. I don’t dismiss your stance, Yumiko-san…please.”

Yumiko is flabbergasted by the emerald-eyed teen’s deep bow. She can see that the brunette is being serious about his request, but she can’t just let this issue go. She says with a gentle voice, “Makoto-san. I appreciate what you are trying to do for Sou-chan. You seem to be a good friend to Sou-chan…but I need to know. I need to know why he gave it all up, Makoto-san. Please understand.”

Makoto sighs deeply, feeling disheartened. There is only one more thing he knows he can try.

\-------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke puts on his suit jacket as he checks himself out in the mirror. He’s wearing a sleek and shiny graphite tone-on-tone pinstripe dress pants and suit jacket. The suit jacket has a black satin lining on the lapels, giving the suit a more expensive feeling. Underneath the jacket, Sousuke is wearing a matching grey pinstripe vest with a soft, crisp white dress shirt. He wears a solid satin blue tie that is done up perfectly.

The raven-haired teen sighs and undoes his tie a little, offsetting the tie to the side. He knows how his stepsister doesn’t like it when something looks off. He figures it could be his way to somehow apologize to her.

After he looks himself over, he goes over to his desk and puts his wallet, phone, and keys in his pocket. He walks out of his bedroom and sees Yumiko and Makoto at the end of the hallway.

Slowly he walks over to them until he sees Makoto move.

Makoto gets down on his knees, sitting in seiza, leans forward as far as he can resting the palms of his hands on the floor by his head and says, “Please Yumiko-san. I beg you. Let Sousuke be the one to come to you about this. Please.”

Yumiko panics when she sees Makoto bow all the way down to the floor, “Oh my gosh. Makoto-san! What are you doing!? No one does that anymore, this is just so…” Yumiko frets in front of the brunette.

Makoto says firmly, “I’m sorry Yumiko-san. Please understand that I’m doing this to protect both you and Sousuke. Yumiko-san, I beg you please…let Sousuke come to you about this.”

Sousuke watches the interaction between Yumiko and Makoto. His eyes widen at the sight as he stops in his tracks, a couple feet away from the two in front of him. He can clearly see Yumiko in a frenzy of what to do with Makoto bowing deeply in front of her.

The raven-haired teen is stunned. He heard what the brunette had to say, and figures that it has to do with Yumiko’s line of questioning in the afternoon. The teal-eyed teen inhales slowly as he places a hand over his mouth as he continues watching the scene before him. He thinks, _‘Makoto! You didn’t have to go that far. But…no one has ever done something like that for me. It’s sweet. You really go all out for your friends.’_

Yumiko kneels down and places her hand over Makoto’s hands, “Please get up Makoto-san! This is embarrassing. I…I won’t ask him anything, ok. Just…please get back up.”

Makoto’s head slowly comes up to look at Yumiko, “really? You mean that, Yumiko-san?”

Yumiko cheeks flush at the sincere and innocent smile that graces the emerald-eyed teen’s features. She smiles and says calmly, “Yes, I mean it, Makoto-san. I am blown away in regards to your loyalty to Sou-chan. He must have told you about his dreams. You really are a good friend…to do this for him.”

Yumiko chortles, “Makoto-san, please…get up.”

Makoto wildly blushes in complete embarrassment as he grasps Yumiko’s hands, getting up and lifting her up, “Ah, thank you Yumiko-san. I am sorry for the trouble I may have caused…truly. I…um…this is very awkward. It wasn’t my intention to go that far, but I…just felt it was needed. I hope…”

Yumiko squeezes Makoto’s hands as she interrupts, “No, don’t apologize.” She looks over to the hallway and notices Sousuke standing there watching them. Yumiko gasps, raising her hands over her chest, clutching her hands together, “Sou-chan!?!?”

Makoto looks over to the hallway, and he sees the raven-haired teen standing there. At first the brunette’s heart skips a beat as he drinks in the image of Sousuke in such a beautiful suit. The suit fits the teal-eyed teen perfectly, and is snug in all the right places. Makoto breath hitches, and as soon as he hears his own reaction, he turns away trying to calm his racing heart while covering his ears with hands.

The emerald-eyed teen thinks, _‘Oh my god! I am literally shaking. Whoa…Sousuke looks like a sexy model from a magazine standing there with one hand in his pocket and covering his mouth his large hand…oh god! Yes, Sousuke is physically attractive, but I have a boyfriend! I can’t have thoughts like this. Sousuke is my friend who just happens to look really good in a suit…damn. Calm down. Deep breaths.’_ Makoto hugs himself taking deep breaths.

Sousuke eyes widen when he hears the brunette make a noise, and suddenly the emerald-eyed teen is looking away. He thinks, _‘Crap! I did it again. I embarrassed him again. But this time I didn’t say anything…but I’m sure he didn’t expect me to see that whole bowing scene.’_

The raven-haired teen walks over to Yumiko as he glances over at Makoto, wondering if he will be ok. He looks at his stepsister and says, “Yo, Yumiko. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to see…what just happened. I did tell Makoto about my dreams. Don’t take that the wrong way. He just knows because he swims too. When I’m ready, I will tell you why I broke my promise to you.”

Yumiko gazes into Sousuke’s teal blue eyes, listening to the words that come out of his mouth. She tightens her hold on her hand as he apologizes in his own way. She raises her hand and pats the raven-haired teen on the shoulder, when she focuses her attention on Sousuke’s tie. Yumiko giggles as she readjusts his tie so that it’s straight.

Sousuke allows his stepsister to fix his tie. He closely watches her facial features as she moves the tie back and forth and then upwards towards his throat.

Yumiko’s hands suddenly still as her eyes drift upwards toward Sousuke’s face. Her mouth slightly parts as surprise and realization hits her. Usually when she notices that Sousuke’s tie or bow tie is not quite right, she would try and fix it, only to have her hand gently slapped away or the raven-haired teen would turn away and fix it himself. This time, Sousuke allowed her to fix his tie.

Yumiko smiles genuinely, “Sou-chan…thank you. I needed that so much, Sou-chan! You have no idea how much that means to me.” Yumiko slightly jumps, wrapping her arms around Sousuke’s neck embracing him.

Makoto listens to the dialogue that took place behind him, and smiles. He forgets his own embarrassment, grateful that the two siblings have repaired their relationship. Slowly he turns around to find Sousuke leaning downwards hugging Yumiko, and the caramel-eyed woman on her tip toes hugging her brother. The brunette is touched to see such a sight. It’s almost like watching an ending of a vintage foreign film when the girl hugs the guy and the film ends with some happily ever after.

Sousuke looks over to check on Makoto while he’s hugging Yumiko and finds the brunette watching them with a sunny smile. He quirks his eyebrows at the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto inwardly giggles and makes a heart shape with his hands, looking through the heart with one eye.

Sousuke’s facial features change to one of surprise. He thinks, _‘is he…teasing me? Makoto…teasing…why that little…’_ Sousuke gently let’s go of his sister and says, “I’m sorry Yumiko. But…Makoto…you little devil…” Sousuke walks over to Makoto quickly.

The brunette feels a little scared with the raven-haired walking towards him and takes a few quick steps back, “Sousuke…ack!” Makoto turns and runs around the dining table, keeping his eye on the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke’s eyes narrow playfully as he stalks his prey, “get back here! I can’t believe you! You were teasing me!” Sousuke goes around the table chasing the brunette.

Makoto shrieks as the teal-eyed teen indeed chases him, “So-sousuke…you don’t…ack! Stop! You don’t have time for this!”

Yumiko watches the teens run around the table, as Sousuke tries to catch Makoto. She giggles at the teens that are acting like children, but when the brunette mentions the time, she looks at the clock and says, “Sou-chan! Makoto-san is right. You don’t have time for this. We better head downstairs, our driver will be downstairs in 10 minutes.”

Sousuke stops in his tracks, and looks at the clock in the dining room. He curses inwardly, “Yeah. You’re right. We better go downstairs.” He half-smirks at the brunette and says, “seems like you got off easy. I’ll get you when I come back home. Beware Makoto.”

Makoto’s eyes glisten at the playful threat directed at him, says with a little nervousness and impishly, “Uh…ahaha. I guess I lucked out this time. I do have some time on my hands. Maybe I will prepare myself for a attack from you later.” The brunette sticks out his tongue, and laughs at himself for being so childish.

Yumiko laughs at the two teens and walks over to Sousuke grasping his hand and dragging him towards the entryway hallway, “C’mon, Sou-chan! We better leave. You have time during the car ride and dinner to plan your attack on Makoto-san.” The young woman winks at the brunette.

The brunette’s jaw drops as Yumiko joined in on their little childish game. He rubs the back of his head as he walks over to the entryway hallway, behind the two Yamazaki stepsiblings, “Um…have a good night. Hope you enjoy yourselves.”

Sousuke says with a sigh, “Ugh…this is such a pain.” He looks over his shoulder and says to the brunette, “Naw. Just sit tight until I come back. See you later, Makoto.”

Makoto bows and waves at Sousuke and Yumiko as they leave through the door.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

As Yumiko and Sousuke wait for the elevator, Yumiko looks up at her stepbrother and asks, “So…is Makoto-san staying with you for awhile? It seems like we just left him at your apartment.”

Sousuke nods and says, “Yeah. He’s having some trouble with a friend, so he’s staying with me for a week. I just…didn’t want him staying at his apartment knowing that he could be harassed by a friend of his.”

Yumiko giggles as she readjusts her trench coat, “I see. Seems he’s not the only one being a good friend. I have to say, I’m really glad to see you with him. I can tell that he’s looking out for your best interest. So, is he a good friend just like Rin-san is?”

Sousuke smiles slightly, but quickly wipes the smile off his face before his stepsister notices, “Yeah. He is. Why the 20 questions?”

The elevator dings and the two stepsiblings enter the elevator. Yumiko leans against the elevator railing on the side and says, “He’s the first friend I’ve ever seen you with. So, I’m a little curious why you’ve been hiding him.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows and huffs, “I haven’t been hiding him. Yumiko, no more questions.”

Yumiko giggles and says, “Alright, alright grumpy-pants.”

The two are quiet until the elevator doors open. Yumiko says as she walks past Sousuke, “Keep him. Even though I just met him, I really like him.”

Sousuke was about to walk out with her, but stops momentarily as his stepsister’s words sink in. He huffs and follows behind her.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** Saturday 7:15 pm  **

After Sousuke and Yumiko left, Makoto cleaned up in the kitchen, dining room and living room before heading to the guest bedroom to organize the mess on the desk.

Makoto checks his phone that is charging on the desk, and replies back to Nagisa, Kisumi, and his dad’s texts. He sends a message to Haru, reminding him that he will meet him tomorrow morning at 10:00 am.

After texting his friends and family, the brunette walks over to the window and gazes at all the sparkling city lights that he can see from the room. It’s lightly raining outside and he closes his eyes enjoying the sounds of the rain hitting the window and he instantly is reminded of the pool downstairs. He opens his eyes, and feels a deep desire to go swimming in that large clear blue pool. He wants to feel the cool liquid over his body as he pushes forward carving his own path through the water.

Makoto sighs as he remembers that he doesn’t have his jammers. He really wants to swim tonight, since he hasn’t gone to the pool at his university at all this week. Makoto walks over to the desk, picks up his backpack off the floor, and empties the contents onto the desk making a neat pile of books and notebooks.

He makes sure that he has his phone, wallet, keys, and the key card in his pocket and backpack before walking out of the room and turning off the light. Makoto makes sure that all the lights and appliances are off before heading towards the entryway hallway and opening the closet. The brunette grabs his parka jacket, and his knitted blue scarf before putting on his sneakers.

Makoto puts on his jacket and scarf before grabbing his umbrella from the bin next to the door, and walks out making sure the door is firmly closed. As the brunette walks down the hallway, he texts Sousuke.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

Just letting you know that I’m heading to my apartment real quick to pick up something. Don’t worry. I’ll come back and wait for your attack. ^_~ ]

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The emerald-eyed teen takes the train to his apartment. Mr. Bean, the cute fluffy black cat was lying down in front of his apartment, resting. The brunette laughs at the cuteness of Mr. Bean, picks him up gently and pets him.

Makoto smiles and says, “Silly Mr. Bean! Did you miss me? Let’s get you home to Yamada-san, sweetie.” The brunette walks over to Yamada’s apartment and kindly hands over the big fluffy cat.

Once the brunette is in his apartment, he heads into the bedroom and grabs his jammers from his closet, putting them in his backpack. He decides to look around to make sure he doesn’t have any dirty dishes around, however he finds two dirty cups to his dismay. The brunette brings the cups into the kitchen to wash, dry, and put away.

The emerald-eyed teen looks around the kitchen and remembers the Friday night that Takeshi came to his apartment. He sighs heavily remembering that they argued because Haru had called him. Makoto leans against the kitchen counter and calls his boyfriend. It rings and then goes to voicemail. The brunette tries again, and it goes to voicemail. He decides to text Takeshi.

[To: Takeshi

From: Mako

I tried calling you a couple times. I know you have been contacting me. I think I’m ready to talk now. So, I’ll come over. Be there soon. ]

After the brunette hits the send button, he stares at his message and re-reads it a couple times. He can feel anxiety fill his stomach, so he takes a few moments to calm down. The emerald-eyed teen knows what he needs to do, but the fear of confrontation overwhelms him. They already had one confrontation this week, is he really ready to take on another?

The brunette remembers what he told Sousuke. He told the raven-haired teen that he can’t live without Haru. If Takeshi can’t accept Haru, can’t accept his friendship with the navy-haired teen, then there is only one answer for the emerald-eyed teen. He can’t continue to worry his friends, and he has to do what’s right for himself. 

With conviction, Makoto picks up his backpack, puts on his shoes, coat, and scarf before turning off the lights. He makes sure to grab an umbrella before locking the door and heading towards the train station to see his boyfriend.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke is sitting down at an expensive restaurant on the top floor of some building. His father is sitting across from him, checking his schedule on his phone. The raven-haired teen feels a vibration in his pocket. He slides his hand into his pocket and pulls out his phone checking the message.

He reads the text Makoto had left for him, and he lightly grimaces at it. He inwardly sighs and thinks, _‘Makoto…you really shouldn’t go there by yourself. What ever he left behind better be important.’_

He puts the phone back into his pocket, picks up his glass of water to take a sip. For some reason a knot forms in the core of his belly. Maybe it was something he ate earlier that didn’t agree with him. Sousuke glances to the side and gazes out the window, looking at the night sky. He hopes it has nothing to do with the text he received by a certain emerald-eyed teen.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Saturday, 8:45 pm **

After taking the train and walking 8 blocks to get to Takeshi’s apartment, he finally is standing in front of the staircase with his umbrella open. Makoto looks up at the building and takes a deep breath through his nose. He thinks, _‘It’s now or nothing. I hope he’s doing ok. Just breathe. I…I need to know if he’s thought about accepting my friendship with Haru. If he needs more time, I can give him more time, but…I need to ask him now.'_

Makoto closes the umbrella, climbs up to the second floor, walks down three apartment doors before he’s met with the brown door that reads ‘204.’

The brunette takes a few deep breaths in front of the door before he knocks. He waits a minute before knocking on the door again.

Just when he’s about to knock a third time, he hears someone stumbling and then hit the door. Makoto jumps back wondering what’s happening on the other side of the door. Before any other thoughts could bombard the brunette, the door flings open quickly revealing a young woman in a black form-fitted mini skirt and a sheer black blouse with most of her buttons undone, revealing a lacy red and black bra underneath.

The young woman was laughing a moment ago and said, “That was fast, Kei-cha…” The young woman’s eyes widen as she is met with a tall brunette, and she stands there dumbstruck. She exhales loudly and says in an almost whisper, “Tachibana-kun…what are you doing here?”

Makoto was not expecting this. He was not expecting to see Sugawara in Takeshi’s apartment in such a revealing manner. The brunette’s grip on his umbrella weakens, and it falls to the floor.

The emerald-eyed teen finally finds his voice and says tightly, “I’m here to see Takeshi, Sugawara-kun. Let me in.” Makoto’s hands shake, and he tightly balls his hands into fists as he stares into Sugawara’s dark-brown eyes.

Sugawara looks down at her blouse and gasps. Her hands quickly trying to button up the black fabric as she says, “Tachibana-kun, I don’t think this is a good…”

Makoto takes a few steps forward, forcing the young woman to walk backwards until the brunette is able to go through the door, and he closes it behind him. He says, “It wasn’t a request, Sugawara-kun. It was a demand.” He slips out of his shoes and is about to walk past the young woman, but she blocks his way.

Sugawara looks up at the brunette and sees dark, dull, green eyes instead of his usual cheery smile. She shakes her head and says, “Tachibana…really. This is a bad time.”

The emerald-eyed teen looks down at the young woman and bores an empty, dark gaze into dark-brown orbs, “I don’t care, Sugawara. Get out of my way, or I will make you.”

The young woman jumps back a little with the dark look in Tachibana’s eyes. She takes a step back, and moves out of the way.

Makoto exhales deeply, and walks down the hallway. He passes the kitchen, seeing nothing of interest in there. He walks into the living room and sees a mess of bottles, cans, and take-out boxes littering the coffee table, and eating area. He looks around, but doesn’t find Takeshi, until he hears someone laughing. Makoto leaves the living room, making a b-line to Takeshi’s bedroom.

Before he’s able to get through the door, Sugawara tries to grasp the brunette’s arm, only to have her attempts slapped away by the emerald-eyed teen. Finally, he walks into the open doorway of Takeshi’s bedroom.

Makoto stands a few steps in front of the doorway, his eyes angry and surprised at the scene before him.

Takeshi’s desk chair is pulled far away from the desk, and he’s sitting on the chair shirtless with an amethyst-haired teen, slowly thrusting his hips up at the blond. Takeshi has his hand on the amethyst-haired teen’s jeans, trailing his hand over the ass of the one giving the blond a lap dance.

Makoto swallows hard at the scene. There are so many feelings bubbling inside of him, that he just stands there watching the blond enjoy the sexual presence of another man.

Sugawara sneaks past the brunette, and grabs the remote of the ipod player on the bed, turning off the trance music.

Takeshi frowns as the mood was broken, looks over, and stares at Makoto. He pushes the other boy off him, and gets up.

Before Takeshi can say anything, Makoto lifts his hand up to stop him from coming closer to him and says bitterly, “what the fuck is this, Takeshi?”

Takeshi looks away, buttoning his jeans and says, “what does it look like?”

The brunette scowls and yells, “you two! Get out! Right now! Go to the other room! Him and I need to fucking talk…Now!”

Sugawara jumps up and runs out of the room quickly, not wanting to anger the brunette further. The amethyst-haired teen grabs his shirt and trots out of the room, hitting the brunette’s shoulder as he passes him.

Makoto looks back and meets an angry lavender-eyed gaze before leaving and closing the door.

Takeshi takes the opportunity to walk over to Makoto and grabs his wrist.

The brunette feels hot at the touch of Takeshi’s hand on his skin and shoves the hand away. He glares at the blond and says darkly, “Do you really want me to tell you what I saw? I came here to see you, and I have the unfortunate circumstance to find myself greeted by Sugawara practically half-naked, and some guy giving you a lap dance! You have the audacity to ask me if Haru and I are fucking when you are doing this behind my back!?”

Takeshi glowers at Makoto, taking a step forward. Their chests clash momentarily as the blond says, “Behind your back? Who wanted a fucking break!? You did, Mako! I…”

Makoto eyes narrow, with a tremendous wave of anger, the brunette pushes Takeshi with both hands. The blond loses his balance, and stumbles backwards, falling ungracefully onto the queen bed. The emerald-eyed teen yells, “Fuck you, Takeshi! Don’t you dare call me that! I can’t believe that you would stand there and blame me! I did not ask you to go sleep around with our classmates, or whoever the hell you bring here! I wanted a break, yes! That doesn’t mean I gave you my blessing to go fuck other people!”

Takeshi gets back up and tries to slap the brunette. Makoto grabs his wrist, but Takeshi knees the green-eyed teen in the stomach. The brunette grunts, grabs Takeshi’s other wrist, pushing the blond back down on the bed and pinning the coffee-eyed teen’s hands above his head. He jumps up on the bed and sits on Takeshi’s stomach as he yells, “I am so angry at you, Takeshi! I asked you to think about my relationship with Haru, and this is the answer you give me! You asked me if I was willing to throw everything away! Who the hell is throwing everything away, Takeshi!? How long has this been going on!? Answer me!!”

The blond struggles to get out of Makoto’s iron grip to no avail. His ears ring with Makoto screaming in his face. Takeshi gets all red in the face with anger and continues to struggle.

Makoto watches the coffee-eyed teen struggle beneath him, and he knows if he lets him go now, he will attack him. So the brunette continues to use his strength to pin him down to the mattress below, waiting for the blond to stop struggling or answer his question.

After several minutes of Takeshi struggling to get out of Makoto’s grasp, he finally gives up, breathing heavily with all the energy he has expended.

The emerald-eyed teen waits for Takeshi to say something as he continues to use his strength to keep the blond down on the mattress.

Takeshi breaths out, “I hate you, Makoto. I hate you so much. There is no way you and fuckin’ Haru are not screwing around. There is no fucking way you two are NOT fucking! You expect me to believe you!? I’ve seen you two together! I’ve seen you hug him, kiss his forehead, fucking hold his hand in public when you won’t let me do those things to you! You want me to think about that!? NO!”

The brunette’s eyes widen, and his grip loosens as a tear falls down his face. Makoto looks away, feeling the anger he once had dissipate as he realizes that Takeshi doesn’t believe his words, doesn’t trust him.

The blond takes the opportunity to flip their positions, and pins Makoto on the bed, straddling him.

Makoto is stunned by the move, and struggles to get out of Takeshi’s grip. The brunette starts to sob terribly as he says, “Let me go! Let me go Takeshi! Get off, you bastard! Ho…how can you do this to me! I trusted you! I gave you so many things, and it’s never enough for you! I’m not enough! I won’t give up Haru! He is my family!! NO! Get off, bastard! It’s OVER! I can’t be in a relationship like this! No more…” The brunette stops struggling as he cries horribly. 

The blond gets off of the brunette, taking a few steps back as he watches Makoto sob in absolute anguish.

Makoto covers his face with his hands as he cries, lying on the bed. The brunette feels terrible aches in his chest, in his stomach, and in his head. He tries to calm his fast beating heart, he tries to control his breaking heart from shattering.

The blond frowns as he tears his eyes away from the brunette and says firmly and with emptiness, “get out Tachibana. I don’t want to see you.”

Makoto stills at the blond’s demand. The brunette gets up, sitting on the bed, rubs his eyes to look at Takeshi. The coffee-eyed teen refuses to meet his gaze, and anger bubbles up in him again as he bolts off the bed and thrusts the blond against the wall.

The two teens stare at each other with venomous glares. The brunette says with a broken voice, “look at me and tell me what you want, Takeshi. I will only accept your demands when I see them.”

The blond grabs Makoto’s wrists and squeezes hard as he says acidly, “ I said, leave. It’s over. That’s what you said. I don’t want to see you. Get out. Get the fuck out of my apartment, asshole.”

The brunette let’s go and his face turns to one of agony. He steps back and tears his eyes away from Takeshi’s. The emerald-eyed teen has never seen such a wrathful expression on the blond’s face before, and it was directed at him.

Without saying anything, the brunette bolts out of the room, haphazardly puts his shoes on, sprints out of the apartment door, and fumbles down the stairs.

Makoto misses the last step to the street, and falls on his side. It’s raining heavily, as the brunette groans in pain from the impact of the fall. He picks himself off the floor and runs to the train station, not caring about traffic lights, stop signs, and pedestrians.

The brunette relies on his rote memory as he wanders through the train station, gets off his stop, and heads to his own apartment. When he opens the door to his own apartment, he finally remembers that he shouldn’t be there.

Slowly, the emerald-eyed teen walks out of his apartment, locking the door, and heads to the train station again. This time he takes the train to get him to the raven-haired teen’s apartment.

He slowly walks down the street towards Sousuke’s apartment. It’s still raining heavily, but the brunette doesn’t care. Makoto is completely drenched with water from the heavens. He walks through the double doors of the apartment complex and the concierge sees the brunette.

“Tachibana-san…are you okay?” Oda walks over to Makoto and places his hands on his shoulders. “Tachibana-san? Please, answer me,” Oda pleads as worry graces his features.

Makoto head was bowed downwards, and he looks up with a completely empty expression, “hmm…”

Oda places his hand on the brunette’s forehead worried that he may have come down with something because the emerald-eyed teen’s cheeks are stained pink, and his eyes are puffy and red. Oda says gently as he looks at the brunette, “Tachibana-san…would you like me to take you up to your residence?”

Makoto shakes his head, feeling droplets of water run down the back of his neck. He says softly, “I want to swim…” His eyes look less empty as he looks at Oda.

“Oda-san. I’m ok. I’m just going to the pool to swim,” Makoto says weakly.

The brunette moves to the side and slowly walks past Oda.

The dark-haired man watches Makoto leave and head into the elevator. Worried, he walks over to his station and calls Yamazaki-san.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Saturday 9:50 pm **

****

Sousuke is in his father’s company car by himself. The driver dropped his stepsister off first, and they are now heading to his apartment. The teal-eyed teen looks out the window watching the city lights and the raindrops that hit the window next to him. 

The raven-haired teen hears his phone vibrate in his pocket, pulls it out, recognizes the number, and answers.

“Oda-san. Is something wrong?” Sousuke asks curiously.

Oda sighs in relief and says with concern, “I am concerned about your friend, Tachibana-san. He just came in soaking wet, and I offered to help him back to your residence, Yamazaki-san. However, he left stating that he is going to the pool. I wanted to let you know, as his appearance was worrisome in my opinion, sir.”

Sousuke frowns as he hears Oda’s explanation, “I see. Did he say anything else?”

Oda states firmly, “Unfortunately, no sir. Would you like me to check on him, Yamazaki-san?”

The raven-haired teen thinks about that question and looks out the window, he notices that he is getting close to the local grocery store, “No. I will be there soon, Oda-san. Thank you for calling me about this.”

Oda says respectfully, “Yes, Yamazaki-san. If anything else comes up tonight, please let me know.”

Sousuke says, “thanks, Oda-san.” The raven-haired teen hangs up, anxiously waiting in the car.

After about five minutes of driving, the driver finally drops off the raven-haired teen in front of his apartment complex. The driver opens the door and while Sousuke gets out, the shorter man hands the teal-eyed teen the umbrella. The driver then bows and closes the passenger door to the car.

Sousuke quickly walks to the entrance of the apartment building, closing the umbrella as he walks in. The teal-eyed teen trots over to Oda and says, “I’m going to go to the pool. Do you think I can borrow some towels for Tachibana? I would run upstairs, but…”

Oda gets up before Sousuke could finish his sentence, nods, and says, “Wait here, Yamazaki-san.” Oda leaves to retrieve some towels for the raven-haired teen.

The teal-eyed teen leans on the counter waiting for Oda to come back. After a few minutes, Oda comes back with a couple big fluffy white towels, neatly folded and hands them over to Sousuke as Oda says, “Yamazaki-san, here are some towels.”

Sousuke takes the towels and bows, “thanks, Oda-san. I will return them.” The raven-haired teen quickly walks over to the elevators and heads up to the pool.

When the elevator doors open, the raven-haired teen sighs as he walks down the hallway. Before opening the glass door to the pool, he looks through the glass and sees some scattered clothes, an opened backpack, and a brunette in the pool.

Sousuke opens the door, walks over to one of the benches, plopping the towels on it. He walks over to the edge of the pool and observes the brunette swimming.

The raven-haired teen crosses his arms and frowns. He can see the emerald-eyed teen swimming furiously through the water in freestyle, but what bothers him the most is the fact that the brunette is sloppy in his form. He thinks, _‘Makoto…this isn’t like you at all. Your form is terrible. Ugh, that turn was careless! Wait…you probably didn’t even stretch properly before I got here! Dammit! Makoto! You’re gonna hurt yourself if you continue swimming like that. Don’t be stupid!’_

Sousuke yells, “Makoto. That’s enough.”

The brunette continues swimming. Sousuke starts to worry as he takes his shoes and socks off. He yells again, “Makoto. Stop.”

Makoto continues swimming, and he wonders if the brunette can’t hear him. The raven-haired teen quickly undoes his suit jacket, throwing it off quickly, undoes the vest, tie, dress shirt, and pants as he thinks, _‘Goddammit! One way or another, you are going to stop! Even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming. I’m not letting you fuck up like I did!’_

As soon as Sousuke is down to his indigo boxers, he dives into the pool and swims closer to the brunette.

Makoto feels his lungs burn, and his muscles scream at him to stop as he approaches the end of the pool. He reaches for the cool tile, but feels something grab his forearm. The brunette stops, placing his feet on the bottom of the pool, and thrusting his head back as he pulls off his green goggles and says angrily without noticing who grabbed him, “Don’t touch me!” The brunette desperately fills his lungs with air and coughs as he tries to fill his body with much needed oxygen.

The raven-haired teen can see the brunette’s muscles tense and stiffen as Makoto stands in front of him, trying to fill his body with air. The emerald-eyed teen’s voice is hard and dark, and it catches the teal-eyed teen off guard. Sousuke swallows as he takes in the sight of an angry Makoto before him. He’s never seen the brunette so upset before and he says gently, “Makoto. Look at me.”

Makoto shakes his head. His head is pounding, he can feel his heartbeat in his ears and throughout his body, and he feels hot. The brunette is breathing heavily, he closes his eyes and the memory of Takeshi’s hateful gaze burns him. He slaps away the hand that grabbed him and says ferociously, “No, Takeshi. No. Leave me alone!” The brunette takes one step back, covering his face, not wanting to see ‘his’ face.

The raven-haired teen is flabbergasted when the brunette harshly slaps his hand away, but frowns at Makoto when he hears what he has to say. Anger bubbles inside of the teal-eyed teen, anger towards this ungrateful boyfriend. He thinks, _‘Shit. He saw him! What the fuck did he do!? If he hurt you, Makoto, I will kill him! That damn bastard!’_

Sousuke steps forward and pulls the brunette in a hug, embracing Makoto with his strong arms. He leans down to his ear and says tenderly, “Makoto. It’s me Sousuke. I’m Sousuke, Makoto. No one else is here. It’s just you and me.”

When the brunette first feels the embrace, he stops breathing, his back muscles tighten, and his eyes widen in shock. As soon as Makoto hears the raven-haired teen’s soft tone and deep voice, the emerald-eyed teen’s eyes start to water. He exhales sharply as he wraps his arms around Sousuke’s lower back, holding him tightly. In a bare whisper, the brunette says, “Sou…Sousuke…”

The raven-haired teen raises his hand, and slips his fingers through wet chocolate locks, massaging Makoto’s scalp gently, “yes. It’s me…Sousuke. I’m here, Makoto. I’m here with you…”

As the raven-haired teen continues to massage the brunette’s scalp, Makoto’s tense muscles relax, and tears start to stream down his face. The emerald-eyed teen’s breath becomes steady, his muscles feels exhausted, his shoulder and stomach feel achy. Makoto whimpers, “why are you here? What about your dinner?”

Sousuke stops massaging Makoto’s scalp and just holds his head comfortingly, “the dinner ended, and I came back. Oda-san told me you were here. Makoto, let’s go upstairs now. It’s late. You need a shower, and so do I.”

The brunette sighs as his loosens his hold on the raven-haired teen. Makoto closes his eyes briefly as he finally feels the pounding that he felt earlier dissipate, but now he has a headache instead. The emerald-eyed teen realizes how close he is to Sousuke. He can feel the teal-eyed teen’s skin against his and he slowly pulls himself away from Sousuke, grasping the raven-haired teen’s elbows as he looks up at him.

The brunette stares into Sousuke’s teal orbs and facial features, and only sees kindness and worry. Makoto says softly, “I’m sorry.”

Sousuke stares at the brunette, and sees misery, woe, perplexity, and fear. The raven-haired teen moves his hands to cup the brunette’s face as he wipes his tears away with the palm of his hands, “Let’s go upstairs. I’ll accept your apology if we leave now.”

Makoto eyes waver, and he finally nods in agreement. Sousuke takes the brunette’s hand in his as the raven-haired teen leads them to the ladder to get out of the pool.

Sousuke gets out of the pool first, turns around to make sure the brunette follows.

Makoto slowly pulls himself out of the pool, feeling his tired muscles constrict and contract. When he has both feet planted to the pool’s edge, his legs waver, feeling the full impact of his weight outside of the water, it feels heavy. 

Sousuke firmly grabs the brunette’s arms, steadying the emerald-eyed teen, “Makoto…”

The brunette feels the raven-haired teen’s strong hands around the back of his upper arm, but keeps his head down as he hears his name, “Sorry…my legs are a little wobbly. I’ll be ok, Sousuke. I need a little time to…adjust myself.”

Makoto closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths. He stands there with Sousuke, trying to center himself from all the craziness earlier, trying to stay in the present moment without being carried away by his thoughts or past experiences. The brunette struggles to find his core, some sense of balance, because as he continues to ground himself to the present, the aches and pains in his body and his heart overwhelm him.

The brunette’s breaths become shaky, and he lifts his head and opens his eyes. Makoto sees teal eyes staring down at him, but he can’t seem to figure out what those eyes hold beneath his gaze. Those teal eyes hold him somehow, hold him in the present, and he smiles weakly, “I…umm…tell me something Sousuke...anyth…”

The raven-haired teen watches Makoto breathing, trying to do something internally. He stands there, continuing to firmly hold the brunette in place as he observes the teen in front of him. He can hear the emerald-eyed teen’s breathing start off calm and collected, but somewhere down the road the brunette’s breathing becomes a little faster, and strained.

When the brunette looks up at the teal-eyed teen, Sousuke sees Makoto’s sorrowful eyes. Sousuke doesn’t know what to do, so he just stands there, staring at him. As the raven-haired teen continues staring, the emerald orbs below him change somehow, they don’t look as sorrowful as they did a minute ago. What was that?

Sousuke sees a glimmer in the brunette’s green eyes, something that moves his heart. He stares at the brunette, trying to figure out what it is, until Makoto speaks with a small smile. Without thinking his thoughts through, the raven-haired teen says softly, “An angel. You are resilient…wondrous.”

Sousuke swallows, as realization of his own words sink in for the teal-eyed teen. His eyes glisten with shock, as pinkness fills his cheeks. He looks away, silence filling the atmosphere between the teens by the poolside. Sousuke starts to say, “uh...we…”

Makoto mouth opens slightly, he inhales slowly, taking in Sousuke’s words as he stares into his eyes. The words lingering in the air, stupefy the brunette. He was not expecting such benevolent words to come out of the raven-haired teen’s lips. Such strong words directed at the brunette, strong and meaningful words. The brunette flushes immediately as the realization of those remarkable words settle around him, crimson staining his cheeks, ears, and neck.

Makoto is overwhelmed with lightness that he laughs tenderly, feeling all that negativity he had experienced wash away, feeling more like himself now that alleviation fills him.

Makoto embeds this moment in his heart, not wanting to forget this novel feeling of being complimented with such significance, it moves his whole being. He says in a calm tone, smiling, “Sousuke…thank you.”

The raven-haired teen moves his eyes to glance at Makoto, the sight of such an innocent smile on the brunette, he turns his head completely to take in the image of the emerald-eyed teen. He thinks, _‘amazing. You are amazing. You went through all of these emotions, yet somehow you are able to smile. Even if it’s only a small one…you still have hope. How do you do that?’_ Sousuke returns the brunette’s innocent smile with a tranquil one.

Makoto’s gaze travels down to Sousuke’s chest, noticing rivulets of water on his pristine chiseled muscles. The brunette’s eyes somehow move to Sousuke’s right shoulder, and concern haunts him as he recalls the raven-haired teen’s injury. The emerald-eyed teen raises his hand up to lightly graze the skin of Sousuke’s right shoulder with his fingertips. He gently goes over the raised scar on his shoulder. The brunette wonders if the scar is the incision of when he had to have surgery, or some procedure. He says with compassion, “Is your shoulder ok? You came in to get me…does this hurt? I’ve…been worried about this part of you Sousuke…”

The teal-eyed teen watches Makoto lightly touch his injured shoulder and takes in a sharp inhale. He continues to watch the brunette touch him so delicately with feather light fingers as Makoto asks him about his shoulder. He says in a trance like state, “It’s ok. I’ve taken care of…”

Sousuke looks away remembering that he wasn’t supposed to swim, he hasn’t had clearance from his doctor or his physical therapist to go swimming yet.

Makoto looks up and sees Sousuke’s face in melancholy, and retracts his hand from outlining the scar on his shoulder. The brunette says softly, “It’s too soon. I just wanted to make sure that…”

The raven-haired teen sighs and says with surrender, “I had surgery on my shoulder during the end of April. It’s the reason why I left Iwatobi so suddenly. I tore my rotator cuff way before I went to Samezuka. I never originally intended to swim, but I did. Swimming during my senior year…I wasn’t suppose to, so my injury got worse. I saw the doctor in Iwatobi, to check on the damage, but it became clear to me that there was no way I could avoid the surgery. I’ve had physical therapy, rehabilitation, and all that after my procedure. I’m pretty much recovered, but I haven’t had clearance to swim by my doctor or my physical therapist yet. Now…I know I wasn’t suppose to swim Makoto, but I was really concerned when I saw your form. I thought…you were going to hurt yourself. I…didn’t want you to become like me.”

The brunette listens to Sousuke’s words. He hears shame, remorse, and sadness when he talks about his shoulder, and concern about the emerald-eyed teen hurting himself. Makoto winces, shrinking into himself for being so careless.

The raven-haired teen is right, he wasn’t taking care of himself. As soon as Makoto got to the pool, he stripped out of his clothes, put on his jammers and just went straight into the water without stretching his muscles first. Going directly into the pool without proper preparation is a big no-no. The brunette had overlooked such a vital step in swimming, guilt starts to eat at him. The emerald-eyed teen slumps his shoulders, feeling ashamed, and whispers, “sorry.”

Sousuke glances down and takes his hands off the brunette, turning around to walk over to the bench to pick up the fluffy white towels, “we all make mistakes, Makoto. Just…learn from yours so you don’t make the same ones all over again. Not like me.” The raven-haired teen comes back and hands the brunette one of the fluffy towels with a modest smile.

The emerald-eyed teen takes the towel and rubs his hair gently. He wants to say something, but can’t find the proper words. Instead he continues to dry himself, and he notices that the raven-haired teen is doing the same.

Once the brunette is done drying himself, he places the towel around his shoulders. He decides to stuff his clothes, into his backpack. He picks up his wet parka jacket with one hand, and carries his backpack with the other.

Sousuke rubs his hair with the towel, before tying the soft towel around his hips. He picks up the pieces of his suit, umbrella, and his shoes and socks. The raven-haired teen digs in his suit jacket, looking for the keycard so they can head back upstairs.

Makoto turns around to stare at the teal-eyed teen. He watches Sousuke pick up parts of his suit and he wonders how desperate the raven-haired teen was to grab his attention. The brunette doesn’t remember hearing anyone calling for him when he was in the pool. He sighs, wondering what he looked like from Sousuke’s perspective. The brunette must have scared the raven-haired teen, considering what he knows in regards to Sousuke’s past.

Sousuke looks up to see that the brunette is watching him. Makoto looks away and heads to the glass door. The raven-haired teen follows behind the brunette, catching up to him easily.

The two teens head to the elevator in complete silence. When the elevator opens, both teens head in, leaning on opposite sides of the elevator. Sousuke hits the button to his floor, and the elevator doors close.

The brunette looks up at the numbers above the elevator as he watches the lights illuminate from number to number. Makoto breaks the silence as he says softly, “I’m sorry, for bringing up painful memories for you, Sousuke. I lost sight of myself because I was angry and upset after seeing Takeshi. I told you I was going to my apartment, and I did, but…when I was looking around my place…I remembered my argument with him. I tried calling him. I texted him before I headed over to his place. I was not expecting to see the scene I saw…I was not expecting to see him with others, not like that. I broke it off with him. Still, I shouldn’t have been so careless. I made you feel like I was hurting myself when I was lost in my emotions. I will be more careful in the future. Forgive me.”

Sousuke listens to the brunette as he is looking down at the suit hanging off his arm. The elevator rings as they reach their floor. He says, “the next time I set up my physical therapy appointment, why don’t you come with me. Then I will forgive you.” Sousuke heads out of the elevator, walking down the hallway to his apartment.

Makoto looked over at the raven-haired teen, shock gracing his facial features. He watches Sousuke walk out of the elevator. The brunette quickly jogs up to catch up with the teal-eyed teen, quiet as he thinks about what Sousuke said.

When they get inside the apartment, Makoto puts his wet parka jacket on the hook by the entryway while Sousuke takes the brunette’s backpack from him saying, “I’m going to do some laundry, so I’ll put your clothes in.”

Makoto says, “Wait! Why don’t you take a shower first? I’ll do the laundry. And…what did you mean by having me come with you during your appointment? And then forgiving me?”

Sousuke looks over at the brunette and sighs, “fine. You might as well take my boxers that I’m wearing too. As for your other questions, I’ll explain after we both take showers. I’m more concerned about you getting sick, so I’ll take a quick one.”

They both walk over to the shower room, and Sousuke hands over the backpack that he took from Makoto. The raven-haired teen says, “wait here, I’m going to grab my towel and sweatpants.”

Before the brunette could say anything, the raven-haired teen trots over to his bedroom and disappears. Makoto takes a moment to feel his stomach. He remembers being kneed in the gut back at Takeshi’s apartment. As he places his hand over his belly, lightly pressing his muscles to see if there is any pain. He winces and hisses a bit, as his hands go over a tender spot on his right side.

Makoto leans against the wall just in case his knees falters and he falls over. He takes a deep breath, realizing that his left shoulder is hurting too. He remembers falling on the floor when he raced out of his ex-boyfriend’s apartment too. He thinks, _‘what a mess. I’m physically hurting, and I feel like crap. My head hurts too…I better take some pain killers.’_

Before he can ponder further, he hears Sousuke coming out of his bedroom, and sees him with a laundry bag. Makoto takes the laundry bag as Sousuke says, “you ok?”

Makoto nods and says, “I’ll go do the laundry now. Let me know when you are done.” He walks over to the kitchen to start the laundry.

Sousuke watches Makoto walk away, and settles his eyes on the brunette’s jammers. He notices that the brunette’s jammers are black with two green squiggly lines that run up and down the length of the his legs. His eyebrows knit together as he thinks, _‘I thought he wore ones with some white lines too…maybe I’m wrong.’_ The raven-haired teen shakes his head as goes into the shower room.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Saturday, 11:23 pm **

Makoto is lying down on the queen-sized bed in the guest room as Sousuke is dealing with the laundry. The brunette had taken pain-killers, and he took a shower, but he hasn’t had a chance to talk to Sousuke about his condition for forgiving him.

The brunette tries to get up, but he just doesn’t have the energy to lift himself. He gets a text from Haru.

[To: Makoto

From: Haru

I haven’t heard from you all day. Are you ok? Are we still on for working out tomorrow? ]

The brunette reads the message, but his eyes start to close. He starts writing a message to Haru, but his eyes become heavy and he begins to doze off.

Sousuke finishes putting away his clothes, and the towels. He has a pile of Makoto’s clothes and heads to his room. As soon as he enters, he notices Makoto lying down on his back, with his phone on his chest. The raven-haired teen puts the folded laundry on the desk and walks over to the brunette, sitting next to him on the bed.

The teal-eyed teen gently pries Makoto’s phone out of the brunette’s hand.

As Sousuke gets up to charge Makoto’s phone by the desk, the phone rings.

The raven-haired teen sees that Nanase is calling and decides to answer the call as he heads out of the bedroom, into the hallway.

Sousuke says, “Nanase.”

Haru blinks on the other end of the line as he hears Yamazaki’s voice rather than Makoto’s voice. He says nonchalantly, “Yamazaki. Why are you answering Makoto’s phone?”

Sousuke sighs as he walks over to his bedroom, closing the door part way and plops himself on the desk chair, “actually, it’s a good thing we are talking, since I don’t have your number. Anyway, I think you should come by tomorrow morning.”

Haru knits his eyebrows on the other end, “huh? What do you mean? I thought Makoto and I are working out tomorrow morning.”

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, “if you want to work out so bad you can do it here. Makoto isn’t going anywhere tomorrow. He’s sleeping right now.”

Haru scoffs and says, “what makes you think I would listen to you anyway?”

Sousuke tries to think of something that would get the navy-haired teen to just agree to come over. Suddenly, he remembers what the brunette told him at the grocery store, “if you come over tomorrow, you can use the pool.”

Haru’s eyes sparkle on the other end at the mention of a pool. His eyes smile and glisten in admiration at the mention of his beloved water, “wha…what makes you think that I would go just because you have…” Haru pauses for a moment before saying, “how big is it?”

Sousuke grins on the other end, “it’s big enough for you, Nanase. So, are you coming or not?”

Haru looks to the side, contemplating what he should do. He really doesn’t want to comply with Yamazaki’s request, but…it’s the water. Haru knows that his love for the water will win this internal argument. He says, “Ok. I’ll come tomorrow. What time?”

The raven-haired teen thinks for a moment, and says, “How about 10:30 am?”

Haru says, “ok. I’ll contact you.”

The two teens exchange contact information before hanging up. Sousuke gets up off his desk chair and heads back to Makoto’s room to charge the brunette’s phone.

Makoto opens his eyes and notices Sousuke doing something by the desk. He gets up, sitting on the bed and says, “Sousuke…what are you doing?”

The raven-haired teen turns around and says, “I have your laundry right here, and I’m charging your phone.”

The brunette rubs his face, “oh. Wait…I need to text Haru.”

Sousuke sits down next to the brunette and says, “I talked to Nanase. I cancelled your workout session tomorrow morning. He’s coming over here instead.”

Makoto looks over at the teal-eyed teen and tilts his head to the side, “oh? Did you text him back?”

The teal-eyed teen rubs his neck and says, “no. He called while you were sleeping, and I answered the phone. Look, I usually don’t answer other people’s cell phones, but since Nanase called, I figured I should talk to him. I’m sorry if that was rude.”

The brunette was about to lean his head on Sousuke’s right shoulder, but stops. Instead he gets up and sits down on Sousuke’s left side, leaning his head on his shoulder, “I don’t mind.” 

The raven-haired watched the brunette get up, wondering where he was going. However, when the brunette sat next to him on the other side, the emerald-eyed teen leaning his head on his left shoulder, Sousuke watched this action in confusion.

Sousuke’s back stiffens a bit by the physical closeness. No one really comes up to him and leans on him, not even Rin does that anymore. The teal-eyed teen’s heart beats a little faster as he looks down at the brunette leaning on his left shoulder. He notices Makoto’s brown eyelashes that flutter open when he blinks, and he can faintly smell the citrusy shampoo that the brunette used in the shower. He takes a deep breath as he tries to rationalize Makoto’s behavior.

The raven-haired teen looks down and realizes that he must have gotten up because he wanted to lean on him, but moved because of his shoulder. Sousuke feeling a little uneasy about their position, says gently, “you should go back to sleep, Makoto. We can talk tomorrow.”

The brunette frowns and says childishly, “no. I want to talk now. You said we could talk when we were done with our showers. Well…we are done with our showers and you dealt with most of the laundry.” 

Sousuke face palms lightly, and chuckles, “you sound like a kid. Fine.” The raven-haired teen closes his eyes as he lifts his head up toward the ceiling, “Just I have been working so hard to deal with my injury. I think you should see what I had to go through…well, still have to go through. It sucks. I didn’t think I was doing anything wrong when I noticed my muscles being all weird back in Tokistu. All that working out, swimming, and all that…I overworked my body. I had good results, so I pushed everything else aside.”

Makoto looks up at the raven-haired teen and sees a pained expression on his visage. The brunette feels his words, feels the difficulty of admitting something that has such heavy consequences. The emerald-eyed teen takes a deep breath, and places his hand on Sousuke’s knee, gently squeezing, “Sousuke…you aren’t alone anymore. I understand now, how important this is to you. I will go. Let me give you my general schedule, that way you can just make the appointment around my schedule too. And…if you want me to come more than just this one time, I’ll go. That’s what friends do for each other. I know you would do the same for me.” 

The raven-haired teen smiles and looks down at Makoto, and their eyes meet. Sousuke places his hand over the brunette’s as he says, “you are so willing. I’m not used to that. And…I don’t usually tell people about myself.”

The brunette leans his head back down on Sousuke’s shoulder, gently snuggling into him as he giggles, “I mean it though. Really, if you need me…I’ll be there. You are so self-sufficient, Sousuke. I feel really comfortable around you, but I guess there is a down side to everything. Since you rely so much on yourself, I can see how hard it is for you to open up. It makes me happy that you trust me with all this. I wish I could be more like you. I get so lonely being by myself, it makes me depressed sometimes.” Makoto yawns as he continues to lean against the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke watches the brunette on his shoulder, and he can clearly see that the brunette is trying so hard to stay awake as his eyes would open and close. He says, “Makoto…I think it’s time to go to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow. Nanase will be here early, and don’t worry. I’ll bring him up and all that. I just want you to rest up. It’s been a really long day.”

Makoto sighs and gets up to lie down. He sits on the bed carefully and says, “ok. It has been a long day.” The brunette yawns as sleep seems to make his body feel heavier, “but…I enjoyed my time with you. We had some good things happen today…just…”

Sousuke gets up and gently pushes Makoto on the bed, watching the brunette sink into the pillow and shift his body to get into a comfortable position. The raven-haired teen notices Makoto’s face twist into winces every now and then. He makes a note to himself to ask about what happened with his now ex-boyfriend at another time; for now, the emerald-eyed teen needs sleep.

The raven-haired teen grabs a few blankets from the closet and places it over the brunette. After tucking Makoto into bed, he stands there and watches him sleep for a few moments.

The teal-eyed teen thinks back on the events that took place earlier today. Makoto mentioned that he worked out at the gym downstairs, they shared a late breakfast together, Makoto overheard his conversation with Yumiko, they talked about his dreams, they played videogames until he had to get ready for his family dinner, he came back to find Makoto in the pool upset, and then they talked again.

During the week that Makoto stayed with Sousuke, the raven-haired teen remembers telling the brunette that he got used to living by himself. It’s been about a week. He recalls telling the emerald-eyed teen that he could stay with him for a week. Sousuke turns around and walks out of the guest bedroom, turning off the light and closing the door. The teal-eyed teen walks into his bedroom, and plops himself on the bed as he places his hands behind his head, relaxing.

He thinks, _‘Makoto…you really warmed this place up. I used to think this place was cold. I got used to you being here with me. I wonder…how things will be when you go back to your apartment, I doubt you want to stay here. But…I think I will miss having you around. Ugh…no…I won’t let him leave yet. He’s still not feeling well. Yeah._ ’

With those thoughts, Sousuke gets under the covers, and goes to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone had a great holiday. Happy New Years to all of you! ^_^ Thank you so much for all your comments! I will reply to them soon, I apologize for not getting back to you all sooner. ^^;; 
> 
> I appreciate all the support. Let me know what you think about this chapter. ^.^


	8. Chapter 8

** November 16th, Sunday, 10:10 am **

****

Sousuke looks at the heavy, thick layer of fog outside of the window and wonders how he was able to get up when his cozy pillows and blankets were beckoning him to return to bed. He felt grateful for central heating, but still shivers as he looks out at the veranda. He yawns and takes a sip of hot coffee with milk relishing in the warmth and the slight rush of caffeine helping him wake up.

After washing his favorite black mug, Sousuke knocks on the guest bedroom door before opening it to check on the brunette. The teal-eyed teen walks in and sees Makoto’s sleeping on his side, with his back to him. Sousuke quietly closes the door and thinks, ‘ _he must be exhausted after yesterday’s events…what a long night.’_

The raven-haired decides to let the brunette sleep and turns up the thermostat slightly so that the brunette won’t feel cold when he eventually gets up. As he’s heading to the kitchen to get some cola, his phone vibrates and rings in his pocket.

Sousuke fishes the phone out of his hoodie and checks the caller ID before answering, “Nanase. What’s up?” The teal-eyed teen can hear the sounds of bustling city streets and people talking as they pass by.

Haru answers quickly, “Yamazaki. I’m a few blocks away.”

Sousuke walks over to the living room and checks the time on the wall, “uh, you’re early Nanase.”

Haru says nonchalantly, “does it matter?”

The teal-eyed teen sighs, “alright, alright. Let me just grab a few things, and I’ll meet you downstairs in the lobby. You know where the concierge is right?”

Haru says firmly, “mm. I’ll meet you there then.” The navy-haired teen hangs up.

Sousuke puts the phone in the center pocket of his black and blue pullover hoodie. The teal-eyed teen goes back to his room, saunters over to his desk, picking up his key card and wallet. He places them in his black jean pockets as he walks out of his bedroom.

The raven-haired teen stops midway through the bedroom hallway, and looks back towards the guest bedroom. He thinks, _‘I better leave Makoto a note or something. Knowing him, he may worry if he wakes up and doesn’t find me or Nanase.’_

Without thinking much further, Sousuke heads back into the guest room and opens the top drawer of the desk, pulling out a pen and post-it note. He scribbles some words on the yellow pad. The raven-haired teen pulls off the piece of paper then places the pad and pen back in the desk. He walks over to the white door, gently presses the paper onto the hard surface, and quietly closes the door.

Sousuke briskly walks over to the entryway, puts on some sneakers, and heads out the door, walking to the elevator. As the teal-eyed teen waits for the elevator, he thinks about the events that took place yesterday.

The raven-haired teen crosses his arms and thinks about the fact that yesterday extracted lots of emotions out of him, and Makoto. He meant everything he said yesterday, and it still holds true today as well. However, the teal-eyed teen is not used to exposing himself to another person so readily, and a feeling of uncertainty embraces him.

The elevator door opens, and Sousuke walks in, pushing the ‘L’ button. The teal-eyed teen leans against the rail, crosses his arms, and thinks about Nanase. The raven-haired teen has never done anything with the free-swimmer since they were kids, and now that he’s actually heading downstairs to meet him, anxiety fills his core.

Sousuke sighs as he reminds himself that the reason he asked Nanase to come over at all is because Makoto is going to need his best friend after what happened last night. He hopes that somehow the navy-haired teen will not push too many of his buttons today.

The elevator door opens and Sousuke’s eyes widen as Nanase looks directly at him. The navy-haired teen is wearing heather grey jeans, a cerulean blue pullover hoodie, and a backpack slung over his shoulder.

The raven-haired teen clicks his tongue and says, “Che. I thought I told you to wait by the concierge’s desk, not the elevator.”

Nanase walks into the elevator, passing Yamazaki as he leans on he railing in the very back of the elevator. He shrugs lightly, looking away from the raven-haired teen, “I figured it made more sense to wait by the elevator. Besides…you would have to walk back in here. Why not make it easier for the both of us?”

Sousuke shakes his head as he furrows his eyebrows as he slides the keycard into the slot and hitting the button, ‘gym/pool.’ The raven-haired teen turns to face the free-swimmer, “I didn’t realize you were such a rebel, Nanase.”

Haru looks up at Sousuke with an unimpressed stare, “how is Makoto? You cancelled our plans.”

The teal-eyed teen looks away and crosses his arms, “I think it’s better if he tells you himself. But, Makoto had a bad evening…that’s all I can tell you. He’s still sleeping, and I don’t think he would be up to working out today anyway.”

The elevator rings and the door opens. Both teens walk out of the elevator, and Haru reaches over and grabs Sousuke’s forearm, halting the teal-eyed teen from moving forward. Haru asks, “did he see Ito? Is that was this is about?”

Sousuke looks back and stares at the sapphire-eyed teen behind him. The teal-eyed teen says cooly, “I wasn’t here. All I’ll say is that Makoto texted me last night saying that he was going to his apartment to pick something up. I was at a family dinner. When I came back…Makoto was upset. We talked briefly…I didn’t want to push him.”

Haru frowns, “why did he go back to his apartment?”

Sousuke shrugs, “he said that he forgot something important. Look, do you want to swim or not?”

Haru’s eyes gleam at the mention of his beloved water, he looks down, and nods slowly.

The raven-haired teen raises an eyebrow at Nanase’s behavior and says, “ok. C’mon. Let’s go.”

The two continue walking down the hallway in compete silence, until they reach the door to the pool. As soon as Haru saw the pool, he darts through the glass door, dropping his backpack, and toeing out of his shoes, throws his pullover hoodie and shirt off his body, and somehow shimmies out of his pants and socks as he dives right into the pool.

Sousuke didn’t even have a minute to process everything that happened before him as the navy-haired teen just stripped out of his clothing and immediately dove into the pool. The teal-eyed teen’s eyes are wide with shock, and awe. He has never seen anyone strip so fast, and shed every article of clothing so relentlessly before.

The raven-haired teen stands in front of the glass door to the pool, dumbstruck by Nanase’s actions. He looks down at all the littered articles of clothing, and picks them all up as he walks into the room. He watches Nanase just float in the water with a look of absolute contentment.

Sousuke turns around and plops all of Nanase’s stuff on the bench as he sits down and thinks, ‘ _what the hell was that? Don’t tell me he does that every time he sees a pool? I mean…shit…he can strip clothes faster than anyone I’ve ever witnessed before, it’s crazy!’_ The raven-haired teen sits there watching Nanase float in the water.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Makoto stirs in his sleep as he hears something far away. It sounds like music. The brunette opens his eyes as he tries to figure out what he is hearing. Suddenly the music stops.

Makoto turns around, wincing and holding his stomach in the process. The pain medication must have worn off. He yawns, covering his mouth with his other hand. Slowly, he sits up on the bed, with his feet planted on the floor. He tries to stretch his arms and torso, only to feel dull achy pains from his stomach and shoulder. Makoto hisses in pain as he hugs himself gently.

The emerald-eyed teen rubs his face with his hands as he ponders about the music again. He thinks, _‘what was that? It sounded like a ringtone, maybe? A ring…’_ Makoto’s eyes widen as he looks at the desk. He gets up and grunts as his whole body protests with aches and pains from the brunette moving.

Makoto sits down at the desk and picks up his phone. He disconnects the charger from his phone and hits the home button. He notices that it is 11:30 am, he has a missed call and voicemail from Takeshi. The brunette sighs and rubs his temples at the thought of his now ex-boyfriend calling him.

The brunette thinks, ‘ _Oh shit. He called me after everything that happened. What could we possibly talk about? What do I do?’_ Makoto throws his head back and looks up at the ceiling recalling the events that took place last night. Makoto feels his heart ache, and he bitterly laughs at himself, considering the irony of his body feeling achy as well.

Makoto remembers that Takeshi had kneed him in the stomach. He puts the phone down on the desk as he lifts up his green t-shirt up to inspect the damage to his abdomen. He sees a bluish, purplish bruise on the side of his belly. Makoto groans as he puts his shirt down.

He inspects his right shoulder by lifting up the sleeve, and he sees a similar colored bruise on his arm. The brunette inwardly curses at his own stupidity. He looks around the room and notices a post-it on the door. The emerald-eyed teen squints to read the message on it, but fails.

Makoto picks up his yellow glasses case and opens it up to pull his black-rimmed glasses out to read the message on the door. It says:

_When you wake up, contact me._

_I’m with Nanase._

_-Sousuke_

Makoto smiles at the note. He was just about to wonder what happened to Sousuke and Haru. His smile fades as he thinks about the two dark-haired males finding out about his injuries. He looks back down to the phone and wonders if he should listen to the message his ex left him.

After a few minutes of contemplating the current circumstances, the emerald-eyed teen decides to check the voicemail at least. For a minute, Makoto stares at the message at the very top with Takeshi’s name on it.

He sighs and hits the play button, placing the phone on his ear. Makoto hears Takeshi’s recorded voice on the other line and he holds his breath, his muscles stiffen as he continues to listen to the message.

_‘Hey. Makoto. It’s me, Takeshi. Umm…I just wanted to call you and say that…I, umm…was out of line last night. I was angry at a lot of things…and I shouldn’t have said that to you. Look, I don’t want to end things like this. I know you are mad about what you saw, and you have every right to be angry with me. I never answered your question…and…well…I think you deserve a proper answer. Let’s meet and talk Mako…I mean, Makoto. Some place neutral, you know. Remember that gay bar I took you to? Yeah, I know we are underage, but I know the owner, remember? No drinking, I promise. Can we meet there? Or if you have some other place in mind where we can have a little more privacy, I’m open. Please, Makoto. At least let me answer your questions one last time. Call me. And…umm…nevermind. Just, call me.’_

The brunette listens to the whole message, and his heartstrings are pulled as he hears the desperation and vulnerability in Takeshi’s voice. Slowly, the emerald-eyed teen slides the phone down his ear, and into his lap as he stares at the lit up phone in his hand. Should he call him? Should he wait? Did he mean what he said? And what was that last part that he backed out of? What was he going to say to him? Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance? Was this a second chance? Or is it too late for that?

Makoto closes his eyes and thinks, ‘ _What do I do? If I ask Haru, he will tell me to just leave it as is. Sousuke…what would Sousuke say? Would he tell me the same? What about Rin? Ugh! I think they all would be angry with Takeshi…but shouldn’t I at least hear him out? We were both very angry last night, and I ran out of there. I ran out of there because…he asked me to.’_ Makoto opens his eyes and rubs his face with one hand as that last thought runs though his head over and over again.

Makoto looks down at the phone again and decides rather hastily to call Takeshi back. He hits ‘call back’ and places the phone on his ear as he listens to the dial tone.

Makoto bites his lip as the dial tone continues, and doubt starts to gnaw in is chest. Before the brunette could back out he hears, “hello? Makoto?”

The brunette hears Takeshi’s voice, but it’s softer, and uncertain. He’s never heard the blond sound so small before. Makoto says shakily, “Ta-Takeshi. Yeah…um…it’s me.”

Takeshi sighs on the other end of the line and says gently, “Yeah. Thanks for…uh…calling me back. Did you listen to my message?”

The brunette nods, and remembers that Takeshi isn’t there to see it and says nervously, “uh…yeah. I heard your message. You…uh…said you wanted to meet with me, and talk. But…”

Takeshi interrupts, “look, Mako! I mean, Makoto. I wanted to apologize…apologize to you. I’m sorry. I was angry, and feeling other things too, and I just…let things happen and I made…poor choices. I should have talked to you about stuff. About my real feelings for you. I was just afraid that you would…uhh…I don’t know. I just was being a real douche to you, and I’m sorry.

The two are silent on the phone. Makoto looks down at his lap as he rubs his thigh up and down trying to rid himself of all the nervous butterflies within him. The brunette says gently, “what real feelings? I…”

Takeshi sighs and says nervously, “uh…can we talk in person? I…I don’t think I can say it over the phone like this….not without…feeling like a complete idiot.”

Makoto reels his head back at Takeshi’s interruption, and confusion fills his gut. He thinks, _‘what does that mean? Did he hate me all this time? Is that what he means? I don’t know if I can handle that…if…’_ The brunette’s eyes start to water as the thought of Takeshi hating him fills his heart. He sighs shakily and says, “Wha-what do you mean by that?”

Takeshi curses softly and says, “Makoto…please don’t cry. Shit. I’m sorry. I just wanted to talk to you in person, Makoto. I didn't mean…I just…ah, crap.”

A few tears fall from Makoto’s eyes as he tries to stifle his sniffles. The brunette says, “do you really hate me?”

There is silence on the other end before the brunette hears a long sigh, “Makoto…I-I…I didn’t mean that. I…I don’t hate you. I could never hate you.”

Makoto wipes his tears with the palm of his hand, feeling a little relieved that Takeshi doesn’t hate him, but this nagging thought reminds the brunette that the blond said he hated him yesterday. Even if it’s just for this moment only, he takes a little relief in the fact that Takeshi doesn’t completely hate him. The emerald-eyed teen tries to calm down, and says, “I don’t know. Takeshi…I don’t know if we should see each other…”

Takeshi says quickly, “Makoto. I’m not asking for us to reconcile and get back together. I just want to talk. To apologize for hurting you, and for yesterday. I didn’t even answer your questions properly. I want to come clean about some things that happened…even though I can’t take it back. I was selfish, and…”

Makoto rubs his temples, ”Takeshi…I don’t need to know, really. You can spare me the detai…”

The blond interjects, “Makoto…I won’t tell you everything. That’s not what this is about. I just want to tell you my feelings…in person. I can’t do it over the phone like this…I…need to tell you in person. You don’t have to commit right now, just think about it.”

Makoto bites his lip as he thinks about what Takeshi says. He ponders, _‘is there really any harm in talking? Just his feelings…not getting back together…and the questions I asked. I know Haru is going to be pissed…probably Rin too. Would Sousuke be okay with this? My guess is no. And a part of me is hesitant. But…this is my first relationship…do I really want to end it like this?’_

The brunette says, “Ok, Takeshi. Let’s meet then. But not at that bar, no. You said a neutral place, right? What about the library at school? There are those small study rooms that we can reserve for an hour. As long as one of us reserves a room, we can have a private space where no one will bother us. Is that ok?”

The blond thinks about that and says, “Ok. I can agree to that. Tomorrow? Can we meet tomorrow?”

The brunette immediately says, “no…not tomorrow. I…I’m busy tomorrow. I know Tuesdays are out of the question for you because you are tutoring students. What about Wednesday then? After my shift at the café, I can swing by campus.”

The blond says, “Ok. I’ll reserve the room tomorrow then. Just meet me at the front of the library at 4:30?”

Makoto nods and says, “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

Takeshi says, “Alright. I’ll text you Makoto. Thanks. I’ll see you then.”

They hang up with each other. Makoto looks at his phone, knitting his eyebrows. He wonders if he did the right thing. The brunette sighs, and looks at the door with the message from Sousuke.

Makoto calls Sousuke and waits for him to answer the phone.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Back at the pool, Sousuke gets off the phone with his mother, and sighs deeply. He places his phone in his jean pocket as he rubs the back of his head with a scowl on his face. He thinks, _‘I can’t believe this. Figures I would have to meet my mom’s new fiancé. Ugh…what a pain. I’ll have to check in with Yumiko or Sakura about the break after this school year. Hopefully I can go back to Iwatobi then too.’_ The raven-haired teen goes back in through the glass door, walks over to the edge of the pool and squats close to where Nanase is floating about.

The teal-eyed teen says, “Hey. I think you had enough time in there. Time to get out before you turn into a prune, Nanase.”

Haru looks over to Sousuke and swims to edge of the pool, propping his forearms on the cool tile floor and resting his head on the back of his hands, “I won’t turn into a prune, Yamazaki. Did you hear from Makoto?”

Sousuke clicks his tongue and says, “Che. Not yet.” He checks his sports watch, it reads 11:58 am. He says, “Hmm, it’s been about an hour and a half. Maybe I should go upstairs and check on him.”

Nanase tilts his head and says, “hmm. Interesting.”

Sousuke frowns and scowls at the navy-haired teen, “what do you mean by that? What’s interesting?”

Haru stares blankly at the raven-haired teen before shrugging, “nothing important. But, I was going to ask…”

Before Haru could finish his sentence, Sousuke’s phone rings. The raven-haired teen gets up, fishes his phone out of his pocket and says, “Makoto is calling, Nanase.”

Haru’s eyes remain on the teal-eyed teen before listening to the conversation that unfolds.

Sousuke answers the phone, “Makoto? How are you feeling?”

Makoto smiles at the other end, hearing the raven-haired teen’s voice laced with concern, “Honestly, I’m a little sore…but nothing I can’t recover from.”

The teal-eyed teen looks down at Nanase and says, “Well, if you need some pain killers, it’s in the kitchen. Nanase and I are at the pool. We’ll come up and…”

Makoto interrupts, “No, no. It’s ok. I’ll come down after I take some meds and get changed. Besides, I think I need to eat something. Any good places close by?” 

Sousuke sighs, “I don’t mind going out to eat, but Nanase will need to take a shower at least. We’re coming up, Makoto.”

Makoto hears the finality in Sousuke’s voice. It sounds like the raven-haired teen won’t take no for an answer, and he can’t really argue with the teal-eyed teen about Haru coming up to shower, “alright. I’ll go use the washroom right now then.”

The raven-haired teen says, “see you in a bit.” He hangs up and notices that Nanase is out of the pool, shaking his head back and forth. The teal-eyed teen says, “you seem eager to head up.”

Haru walks over to his backpack and opens it up, taking out a cream colored towel as he dries himself off. He says with more concern than he intended to, “I’m worried. Makoto needs meds?”

Sousuke walks over to the glass door waiting for Nanase to dry off and head upstairs with him, “yeah. He said he was sore. I found him swimming down here last night. The concierge told me that Makoto was going for a swim, and that he didn’t look so good. My guess is that he overworked his body and now he’s feeling it.”

Sousuke crosses his arms and thinks about what he just said to Nanase. It does make sense that Makoto would be sore if he overworked his muscles, but he also knows that the brunette saw his blond boyfriend. The emerald-eyed teen didn't say too much about what happened with him either, just that he saw a scene that he wasn’t expecting and that he broke up with him. That conversation couldn’t have ended well.

Haru decides not to put his shoes on after drying off, and picks up all his stuff before heading over to the raven-haired teen. He stops right in front of the teal-eyed teen and tilts his head to the side as he notices that Sousuke is thinking about something. He patiently waits for Sousuke to say or do something.

After a few moments, the raven-haired teen notices Nanase standing next to him and says, “Ah. Let’s go.”

Haru blankly stares at Sousuke and follows him to the elevator. The navy-haired teen is curious about what the raven-haired teen was thinking about because he looked so concerned.

When the elevator opens, they walk in and stand on opposite sides. Haru asks as he looks down at his shoes, “Yamazaki. Are you coming to my place tomorrow? You had a few phone calls before you answered my question.”

Sousuke looks over at Nanase and says, “why? I don’t want to intrude on your plans with Makoto.”

Haru looks up and stares into Yamazaki’s teal eyes, “I think Makoto will want you to come over. And…I think it’s only fair that you come over anyway…for Makoto’s sake. Besides, you’re taking him out tomorrow to a cat café earlier in the day, right?”

Sousuke looks away as he rubs the back of his neck, “well…let’s ask him when we get to my apartment. And…don’t tell him about the cat café. I figure it would be better if it were a surprise. Besides, it was Rin’s idea.”

The elevator opens and the two teens walk down the hallway. Haru says quietly, “I won’t tell him.”

Sousuke looks back at Nanase, acknowledging what he said and nods lightly. The raven-haired teen lets himself and Nanase into the apartment and takes off his sneakers in the entry area.

Haru waits for Sousuke to finish up, and places his shoes down, and hangs his hoodie on the coat hook by the entryway.

Sousuke leads Nanase into the apartment and says, “let me make sure there is a clean towel in the shower room for you.” The raven-haired teen checks the shower room and indeed there is a clean blue towel. The teal-eyed teen comes out and says, “yeah, go ahead. The blue towel is all yours.”

Haru nods in response and quickly shuffles into the bathroom. Haru’s eyes glimmer as he sees a large bathtub that could easily fit two or three people next to the showering area. He shakes his head as he resists filling the tub for future soaking.

Sousuke starts to head to the kitchen to grab some cola, but hears someone open a door. He looks behind him and sees Makoto coming out of the washroom.

The brunette looks over at Sousuke as he closes the door to the washroom. He says with a smile, “hi, Sousuke. I take it Haru is in the shower?”

The raven-haired teen nods and says, “you want anything to drink?”

The emerald-eyed teen nods, “yes, please. I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

Sousuke nods, heads to the pantry, grab two cans of cola, and walks over to the dining area. He notices Makoto rubbing his tummy and wonders if he is overworked himself yesterday or if it’s something else. The raven-haired teen places one can of cola on a coaster sitting on the shiny lacquered cherry wood dining table and hands the other to the brunette.

Makoto smiles at Sousuke and reaches over to grab the can of soda from the raven-haired teen, but somehow the can slips through his fingers and it falls on the floor. The brunette gasps and says, “oh! Sorry. I’ll get it.”

The emerald-eyed teen leans down to the side to pick up the can, but winces and hisses as his stomach protests such a quick motion. He places a hand on his stomach, and feels a strong hand on his shoulder. The brunette hears, “I doubt that kind of pain was just from overdoing it in the pool last night.”

The raven-haired teen firmly pushes Makoto back on the chair until the brunette is resting on the backrest. The teal-eyed teen leans forward a bit, squeezes Makoto’s shoulder softly and asks, “why you are in so much pain today, Makoto?” 

The brunette sighs in relief as the pain subsides, but frowns at Sousuke’s observation. Internally the emerald-eyed teen debates on what he should say. No matter what he says, the raven-haired teen could be upset with him, actually, Haru would be worse since the navy-haired teen could read his facial expressions and body language better.

Sousuke squats down to pick up the can of cola with his other hand and places it on the dining table. He places his forearm on his thigh, looking up at the emerald-eyed teen. Their eyes meet and Sousuke can clearly see fear within those green eyes. The teen’s teal eyes soften slightly, feeling a little worry for the brunette in front of him.

When Makoto notices the raven-haired teen squatting down, he looks over at him and their eyes lock on each other. The brunette feels a little exposed as he stares at those teal blue eyes. At first he sees a blank look within them, but Sousuke’s eyes become gentle, and a little lighter for some reason.

The brunette breaks eye contact by closing his eyes and says in a whisper, “you’re right. I don’t think this is from overworking my muscles. I…well, this is from, uh…someone. I got kneed yesterday.” Makoto clutches the fabric over his stomach as he admits that he got hurt the night before.

The raven-haired teen grimaces, and takes his hand off Makoto’s shoulder, putting it down on his other thigh. Sousuke laces his fingers together, looking down and says, “What happened? I wanted to ask you about it last night.”

Makoto presses his lips together and sighs again, feeling defeated, “ok. Takeshi was the one who kneed me, but I pinned him down to prevent any more injuries. We just argued…about our relationship. Well, he thought Haru and I were lovers and that we were…doing…it. And…my stomach isn’t the only thing that hurts. I tripped when I was heading down the stairs, so my shoulder hurts too. And my muscles are a bit sore in general…”

Sousuke gets up and sits down. He grabs the can that fell on the floor and gently taps the sides of the can to reduce carbonation, “you really had it rough last night. Did you take pain meds already?”

Makoto nods as he looks away, rubbing his good arm up and down. He sighs, “I guess it’s quite noticeable.”

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, looking down at the can of soda, “yeah. I don’t think Nanase will let you off the hook on this one. If he really is your best friend, I’m sure he will understand…eventually.”

The brunette frowns deeply, closing his eyes shut tightly. He knows that Sousuke’s is right, there is no way Haru will let this slide. Takeshi hurt him, and he knows that Haru will be very upset about it too. The conversation he had with his ex comes to mind, and he bites his lip remembering his promise to meet him on Wednesday. The emerald-eyed teen wonders if his best friend will pick up on that too.

Sousuke looks over at the brunette and sees a pained expression on the emerald-eyed teen’s face. He leans forward, trying to figure out what could plague Makoto’s mind. The teal-eyed teen feels concern wash over him and says gently, “there’s something else…isn’t there?”

Makoto opens his eyes and glances over at the raven-haired teen. His green-eyes fill with shame at being caught so easily. The brunette laughs at himself and says with a small voice, “I really am easy to read.” He sighs, looking down at his hands in his lap, “Takeshi called me this morning and left a message. I called him back. I…I heard what he had to say, but…”

Makoto covers his eyes with his hand, placing his thumb and middle finger around his temple, lightly rubbing circles as he says, “I agreed to meet with him. He said that there is something that he has to tell me in person. And…I just felt that I needed to hear him out. I mean I just ran out after he told me to, but still. We were so mad at each other.”

Sousuke watches the brunette confess, and can tell that Makoto has some reservations about the situation. The raven-haired teen crosses his arms thinking about the situation. He doesn’t like the idea of Makoto talking to the blond at all. The teal-eyed teen didn’t really meet the blond properly, but within those few minutes of watching the blond walk into Makoto’s workplace, the look on Nanase’s face, the interaction between the blond and Nanase, and the fact that he had to step in between the blond and the navy-haired teen was enough to make the raven-haired teen dislike the other.

The raven-haired teen says with indifference, “Makoto. You don’t have to apologize to me or anything. It’s your choice. I have my own opinions on the matter, but at the end of the day, what I have to say isn’t important. If you want to meet with him, then do so. I can’t say the same for Nanase. If you’re going to need some sort of approval from him, that could be difficult.”

Makoto peeks through his fingers by lifting his pinky finger up and tilting his head to the side to look at the raven-haired teen. The brunette smiles weakly, “you do have a point.”

Sousuke sighs, “I remember you said that he’s possessive of you, so…” Before the raven-haired teen could finish what he was about to say, Nanase comes out dressed in the clothes that he came to the apartment complex in. The teal-eyed teen turns around in his seat and looks over at the navy-haired teen saying, “Nanase, you want something to drink?”

Haru walks over to the dining table and nods at Sousuke’s question, “please.”

The raven-haired teen sneaks a look over at the brunette and can see that Makoto is biting his lip lightly and looks a bit nervous. He gets up and offers his seat to Nanase, “go ahead and sit. What kind of drink do you want?” Sousuke gently pats Makoto’s shoulder gently before heading to the kitchen.

Haru sits down in Sousuke’s seat, placing his backpack next to him on the chair adjacent to him. He says firmly, “water.” The navy-haired teen looks over at the brunette and says, “Makoto. How are you?”

The emerald-eyed teen looks over at his best friend. He notices the worry in those deep blue eyes and smiles sweetly, “I’m sore. I’ll be ok, Haru-chan.”

Haru looks away, his eyes frowning at the nickname given to him, “no…’-chan’. You seem a little…off.”

Makoto rubs the back of his neck and chuckles sheepishly, “ah. Nothing ever gets past you.” The brunette looks over at the can of cola and takes it into his hand. He taps the top and side of the can gently, opens it, and takes a sip of the bubbly soda.

Haru looks over at the brunette and studies his facial features closely. The free-swimmer can tell something is bothering the emerald-eyed teen. The sapphire-eyed teen places his elbow on the table and rests his chin on his hand as he continues to stare at Makoto.

Sousuke comes back to the dining table, and places a tall glass of water in front of Nanase. In the raven-haired teen’s other hand is another can of cola for himself. He looks between the navy-haired teen and the brunette, noticing the silence between them.

Sousuke taps the side of the can, opens it and takes a sip of cola, “so…shall I go get food?”

Haru glances over at the raven-haired teen standing between him and Makoto, “I can go with you.”

The raven-haired teen glances over at Nanase and Makoto before he shakes his head, “nah. You and Makoto need to talk. I’ll grab some…”

The brunette interrupts, “uh…at least finish your drink before leaving. I mean…it will…be, uh…flat. Yeah. You don’t want it to go flat, right?” Makoto takes a sip of his cola to hide the nervousness that he feels.

The raven-haired teen quirks an eyebrow and sighs, “alright. I’ll go after I finish my drink. Shall I give you guys some privacy?”

Haru slightly looks curious about the raven-haired teen’s question by tilting his head lightly to the side.

Makoto shakes his head and says, “no, please. You don’t need to go.”

Sousuke looks over at Nanase and says, “you ok with that?”

Haru nods and watches the raven-haired teen sit down on the other side of Makoto. The navy-haired teen waits for the teal-eyed teen to get comfortable in his chair before saying, “so…what happened yesterday Makoto?”

The brunette looks over at Haru with uncertainty and says softly, “I…I saw Takeshi last night.”

Sousuke decides to watch and observe the two teens at the dining table talk. The raven-haired teen takes another sip of his cola.

Haru’s eyes widen at the mention of Ito. He looks down at the dining table as he grabs the glass of water and takes a long sip. He says calmly, “what happened?”

Makoto focuses his eyes on the cola in front of him, placing both hands around the cool aluminum frame, “Well…I went to his apartment. When I got there, I found a couple of people with Takeshi…anyway, I got upset about it.”

Haru looks up at Makoto and says firmly, “you wouldn’t get upset if they were just hanging out…”

The brunette sighs and says weakly, “they weren’t hanging out. I’m not sure exactly what they were doing. Just that…people weren’t fully dressed…can we leave it at that.”

Haru knits his eyebrows, leans back in the chair and crosses his arms. If the brunette looked over at the navy-haired teen, he would clearly see that his best friend is angry.

The emerald-eyed teen continues to focus his attention on the can of soda in front of him, taking a deep breath he continues, “anyway, I told the others to leave Takeshi and I to talk, but we argued instead. I think I pushed him pretty hard, and he tried punching me…either way he did hit me in the stomach. I ended up pinning him to the bed. But, Haru…he thought you and I were having sex. I told him that wasn’t true, and somehow he pinned me to the bed. I told him it was over. I was so upset. He got angry with me, and asked me to leave, so I did. I fell down a few stairs and hit the floor. I came back here, and Sousuke found me in the pool. If Sousuke wasn’t there…I don’t know what would have happened.”

The room is silent for several moments. Makoto closes his eyes, and hangs his head down after admitting all that. He waits for someone, anyone to say something.

Haru looks over at Makoto and sighs at the defeated body language he receives from the brunette. He says softly, “I’m sorry, Makoto.”

Makoto slowly lifts his head to look at the free-swimmer and their eyes meet. The brunette tears his eyes away from those deep blue orbs seeing too many emotions behind them. He says with hesitation, “he called me today. I called him back. I decided to…meet him next week just to…”

Haru interjects quickly, “wait a minute. You’re going to meet him after all that? Makoto…”

The brunette gets up quickly and says with his head bowed down, “I know Haru. I just want to talk to him. We were so mad last night and I didn’t want to break it off like that. I…”

Haru gets up and walks over to the emerald-eyed teen, lifting up his shirt to see the bruise on his stomach. Haru frowns deeply as he sees purples and blues on the brunette’s toned abs. Makoto pulls down his t-shirt quickly and says in a panic, “Haru! Wha-what are you doing!?” The brunette backs away from his best friend.

Haru balls his hand into a fist and looks up at the brunette and says firmly, “Makoto. Did you see what he did to you?”

Makoto eyes widen as he stares down at the free-swimmer. The anger he saw earlier in those sapphire eyes have become darker. The brunette sees that Haru is very upset about the situation and the emerald-eyed teen is rendered speechless. He knew his best friend would be upset about his decision to meet with Takeshi.

Sousuke shifts in his seat as he sees the brunette partially shut down with the intensity of Haru’s stare and says, “sit down, both of you.”

The deep, levelheaded voice cuts through to both Haru and Makoto. Both teens look over at the raven-haired teen with shocked eyes. The teal-eyed teen doesn’t even bother looking back up at the two teens and casually sips his cola waiting for the others to sit back down at the table.

Haru scoffs as he walks back over to his seat.

Makoto slowly sits back down at his seat, taking the can of soda in his hand and takes a small sip of it.

There is silence for a few minutes as all the teens around the dining table try to collect themselves. Sousuke is the first to break the silence as he asks the brunette, “tell me something, Makoto. How important is it that you see your ex-boyfriend?”

The brunette’s eyes are focused on the can of soda in his hands, but he looks up at Sousuke and meets cool teal eyes. Makoto’s green eyes waver under the raven-haired teen’s gaze, as he thinks about the question. The brunette sneaks a peek over at Haru and sees that his best friend is also staring at the raven-haired teen across from him.

Makoto sighs and says, “I don’t know how to respond to that. I just want to hear him out. He…he never answered my question. I’d like to know the answer.”

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, not satisfied with that answer. He says carefully, “how important is it that you meet with him?”

The brunette stares at Sousuke as he shifts in his seat. Makoto says insecurely, “well, fairly important. I just want to talk with him, that’s all. It won’t change anything.”

Haru huffs angrily, “you can’t say that, Makoto. Your feelings could change.”

Makoto rubs his forehead, “ok, ok. Yes, feelings can change. What I meant is that it won’t change the status of our relationship.”

Sousuke frowns, “wait a minute. Makoto…what are the conditions for keeping your relationship with your ex? And vice versa?”

The brunette is shaken by the question and glances over at Haru.

Haru looks over at Makoto and notices green eyes peeking through his fingers. The navy-haired teen holds his gaze for a few moments before looking away, “it’s me, isn’t it?”

Sousuke interjects quickly, “Nanase. Don’t. Let him answer before jumping to conclusions.”

Haru glares at the raven-haired teen, “I’m not jumping to conclusions. I can see it in his eyes.”

Makoto sighs, “alright, stop. Yes, Haru. I told Takeshi that if he can’t accept my relationship with you then our relationship is over. I was being honest. If Takeshi can’t accept you as my best friend, whom I am very close with, then I can’t be in a relationship with him. If he doesn’t trust me, then it just can’t work.”

Haru crosses his arms and stares at Makoto with eyes that tell the brunette that he doesn’t understand why Ito would think that he has a sexual relationship with his best friend.

The brunette says quickly, “I know Haru. I told him you have a boyfriend, and that we love each other like family. But he thinks that since we hold hands, hug each other, and other stuff like that means that we are screwing around. I mean…how do I say this? Takeshi never had a childhood friend before because he was always moving around from place to place. He just doesn’t understand that friends could have intimacy or see each other as family.”

Haru huffs angrily as he continues to stare into those green eyes. He says through his deep blue eyes that he thinks Ito is being an idiot for even insinuating such a thing, and that Ito is an idiot for not trusting you, Makoto.

Makoto nods, “yeah I can see why you would think that. I’ve told Takeshi several times that we weren’t…you know, he just gets jealous easily, I think. And yeah, I thought he did trust me.”

Sousuke watches the conversation, wondering if either of them realized that Nanase has become quiet, and that Makoto is answering questions that other people can’t hear. It’s quite a sight to see, and the raven-haired teen can imagine how others who do not know the two very well would be shocked to see two friends communicate like that. The raven-haired teen wonders if Makoto’s ex-boyfriend had seen this communication style too. If that’s the case, Sousuke wonders if the blond felt envious, or even jealous of the closeness Makoto and Nanase have.

Sousuke shakes his head. It probably took Makoto several years, maybe their whole lifetime to establish this kind of communication style. The raven-haired teen concludes that it’s something that only very close childhood friends can achieve, and that it’s not something to be jealous over. It really is amazing how they can communicate like that.

Makoto sighs, “I know, Haru. But…you think you can trust me with this? I know it might be a bad idea, but I need to talk to him, get my answers, hear what he has to say. And maybe I’ll get hurt again, but at least I can walk away knowing I did everything I could. And…you guys will be there no matter what happens, right?”

Haru’s eyes widen and waver at Makoto’s request. He closes his eyes and takes the brunette’s question seriously. Haru doesn’t trust Ito, but he does trust Makoto. Haru sighs as he opens his eyes, finally understanding what Makoto wants to do. Through his eyes, Haru conveys that he trusts the brunette and says, “I will be here. Always.”

Sousuke nods in agreement.

Makoto’s green eyes glimmer with so many emotions, and a brilliant smile graces his features. He walks over to Haru, kneels down and hugs him tightly, “thank you Haru-chan! Thank you!”

Haru smiles sweetly and hugs Makoto, “uh…no ‘-chan’. And…umm…too much. Ma-Makoto. Too…tight.”

The brunette lets go quickly and smiles sheepishly, “sorry. I didn’t mean…”

Haru laughs at Makoto, and the brunette joins him as he holds his stomach with one hand.

Sousuke observes the whole scene before him and sighs in relief. He’s glad that the two teens were able to talk and come to an understanding. The raven-haired teen continues drinking his cola as the two teens laugh at each other.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** November 17th, Monday, 1:20 pm **

The cold, blistery air swirls around the benches near the front of the university. Makoto wraps his charcoal grey scarf around himself snuggly and rubs his cheeks against the warmth. The brown-haired teen pulls his knitted green beanie down over his ears, sits down, removes his black and grey gloves, and puffs warm air into his cold hands. He pulls out his phone and texts Sousuke.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

Ok. Waiting in front of my uni. Let me know when you are close by. ^_^ ]

The emerald-eyed teen feels better than he did the day before. Makoto took it easy yesterday by resting, playing videogames, and going to bed early. Both Haru and Sousuke took care of him until Haru left in the late afternoon to study and prepare things for today.

Makoto looks up at the sky and notices that it’s quite cloudy today. He’s quite content with the fact that it isn’t raining today, especially since he was rushing to get ready in the morning and forgot his umbrella. Sousuke made sure that he had his scarf, gloves, and even a beanie to protect him from the cold.

The brunette smiles to himself as he puts his phone in his pocket.

Suddenly he hears a high-pitch voice call for him, “Tachibana-kun?”

Makoto looks up and a woman with dark brown hair with blond highlights, slicked back in a loose ponytail, and brown eyes gazing downward towards the brunette.

The emerald-eyed teen’s eyes widen momentarily, “Sugawara-kun…hi.”

The young woman smiles gently and says, “I…I’m glad I ran into you, Tachibana-kun. I wanted to apologize…for stopping you the last time we met. I was wrong.”

Makoto gets up and faces the shorter woman in front of him. The two teens stare at each other momentarily before the brunette sighs softly and says, “Sugawara-kun. I accept your apology. Please, let’s just put the whole incident behind us.”

Sugawara sighs in relief, “Thank goodness. I feared that you would still be angry with me.”

Makoto looks away as he plunges his hands into his pockets, “I’m not angry with you…not anymore Sugawara-kun.”

The espresso-eyed girl stares at the brunette before her and notices that Tachibana looks uneasy, “um…ok. Well, that’s all I wanted to tell you. I hope that…”

Makoto’s cell phone starts playing a tune. The brunette pulls his phone out of his pocket and says, “excuse me Sugawara-kun.”

The emerald-eyed teen puts the phone to his ear and says, “hello, Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen says, “where are you? I’m right in front.”

The brunette gasps, “oh. I’ll be there in a moment.” Makoto hangs up the phone and puts the phone back in his parka jacket pocket.

The emerald-eyed teen looks at Sugawara and says, “I have to go.”

Sugawara nods and says, “yeah. Well, I was heading out too.”

The two teens walk away from the bench and move towards the front of the university.

Sousuke notices the brunette right away, as he recalls the emerald-eyed teen walking out of the apartment that morning with his brown parka jacket, a deep green v-neck sweater over a black and white plaid dress shirt, dark navy jeans, complimented by charcoal grey, black, and neon green sneakers. He smiles to himself when he notices that Makoto is wearing the beanie, gloves, and scarf that he handed him earlier in the morning.

The raven-haired teen gets off his motorcycle, walks over and waves at the emerald-eyed teen, “yo. You ready to go?”

Makoto smiles at the raven-haired teen, waving back at Sousuke. He notices that Sousuke is wearing a dark quilted bomber jacket, a black and blue sweater, medium grey jeans, and black sleek boots. The brunette says, “yeah. I’m ready.”

Before the brunette leaves with the teal-eyed teen, he turns to Sugawara and says, “bye Sugawara-kun. Take care.”

The espresso-eyed girl looks up at Tachibana, nods and says quietly, “bye Tachibana-kun. I’ll see you around.” She waves at the tall emerald-eyed teen, and glances over at Sousuke with a small smile and a nod before turning on her heel and walking away.

Makoto watches Sugawara leave in the opposite direction with a solemn expression. The raven-haired teen observes their interaction and says, “are you two friends?”

The brunette turns his head to gaze at the teal-eyed teen, “not really. We had a couple of classes together last trimester. She was just apologizing to me, that’s all.”

Sousuke nods and looks over at the back of the girl that the emerald-eyed teen was talking to. He wonders what she had to apologize for. He glances back over at the brunette standing next to him, “I see.”

Makoto tilts his head as he notices that Sousuke is wearing something on his ear, “um…what’s that?” 

The teal-eyed teen pulls out his phone looking up directions to the cat café. When he hears the brunette’s question, he glances up and says, “what’s what?”

The emerald-eyed teen quirks an eyebrow and points to the device that is attached to the raven-haired teen’s ear, “that thing. It flashes a blue light every once in a while. What is it?”

Sousuke lifts one hand over the device and says, “this thing? It’s a Bluetooth headset. Don’t worry about it.” The teal-eyed teen goes back to getting directions to the cat café in Shibuya.

Makoto tilts his head to the side and tries to peek over to see what Sousuke is typing on his phone, but the raven-haired teen moves the device away from the brunette’s prying. The raven-haired teen says, “Makoto. C’mon. Let me surprise you today.”

The brunette groans in defeat, “but…I want to know where we are going. You have been quiet about it since you mentioned it over the weekend.”

Sousuke clicks his tongue, “Oi. Stop your whining. You will know soon enough. Let me just get the directions down.”

Makoto chuckles, “you know. I can help with that…if you tell me where we are going.”

The teal-eyed teen eyes move away from his cell phone and onto the brunette in front of him. He’s greeted with a sly smile on the emerald-eyed teen’s face and the raven-haired teen sighs, “no. I’ll figure it out myself.”

Makoto pouts and says, “aww, so stubborn. Fine.”

Sousuke smiles as the brunette gives up on trying to get information out of him. Finally he gets the proper directions on his phone and sets the navigation. The teal-eyed teen says, “Ok. Let’s go.”

The two teens walk over to Sousuke’s motorcycle, put on their helmets, and get on the bike heading to Shibuya.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke parks his motorcycle on the street. He cuts the engine, pulls the kickstand down, and feels Makoto’s hands on his shoulders as the brunette gets off the bike. The raven-haired teen follows suit and flips the keys on the key ring to find the keys to the side compartments of his motorcycle to put the helmets away.

The brunette hands the dark blue and yellow helmet to Sousuke, and readjusts his scarf and jacket as he waits for the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke pulls out his phone and places one of his hands on the headset that is attached to his ear. He scowls at his phone as he has to re-input the address again.

Makoto steals a glance at the raven-haired teen and notices how the teal-eyed teen would scowl at his phone trying to put their current position and their destination together. Makoto can’t help but smile at the attention Sousuke is pouring forth into the directions.

Makoto breaks the silence and says, “you know, if you are having some trouble, maybe I can help.”

The raven-haired teen’s head shoots up and says, “Naw. My phone is just being stupid. I know I passed the place to find parking, but I just don’t want to start walking in the wrong direction.”

The brunette giggles and raises his hands in defense, “ok, ok. I was just trying to help. I take it directions isn’t your thing.”

The teal-eyed teen shrugs, “not really. I mean, I can get around. Ah…this way. C’mon.”

The two teens start walking as Sousuke leads and Makoto follows. The brunette takes in the sights of different buildings they pass by. He notices a chocolate shop and his eyes light up as he looks at the delicious window displays of gift baskets, truffles, and chocolate bars.

Makoto looks over to Sousuke who is still walking on ahead, and the brunette pouts as he thinks, ‘ _guess this isn’t the place. I wonder…what kind of place we are heading to.’_ He continues walking behind the raven-haired teen as Makoto continues to look at the window displays of the shops that they pass by.

Makoto notices a small kitten in a window and giggles at the sight of the cute little animal. He walks by and wonders what kind of place would have animals with foodstuffs. Lost in his thoughts, he bumps into the Sousuke who has stopped in front of a pair of doors and says, “ok. Here it is. You okay, Makoto?”

Sousuke places a hand on Makoto shoulder as the brunette smiles sheepishly, “yeah. Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going for a moment. “

Makoto looks up and sees a light green awning with red lettering that reads, ‘Nyan-Nyan Café.’

Sousuke moves his hand off of the brunette and opens the door, “c’mon, let’s go inside.”

Makoto looks at the raven-haired teen with glistening eyes before breaking out into a sweet smile. The brunette walks into the cat café, looking around drinking in the whole space. The café is enrobed in earthy colors of creams, greens, and browns. He notices that there are two separate rooms, one for the customers to dine in, and the other to play with cats. There is a glass partition that separates the two rooms, with glass doors.

In the room with all of the cats, there are walkways for the cats to come by and visit the customers, a catwalk that is a bit higher on one side of the wall, empty shelves for the cats to jump into and rest, two big kitty furniture structures, area rugs, a variety of cat toys, structures with kitty grass and catnip, several bookcases with manga and magazines to read next to bench-style bench seats, tables, hot drink dispensers, and several stations with cat treats.

In the room for dining, there are several round tables with seating for two, and a few rectangular tables for bigger parties. Makoto notices a couple sitting at one of the dining tables swooning over the cute kitty shaped pastries.

The café has a whimsical, modern feel while maintaining a playful and calming atmosphere. Makoto’s breath is completely stolen by the absolutely wonderful feeling he gets from the café, and can’t help but smile widely, eyes glittering with amazement, as he continues to look around like a child in a candy store.

The raven-haired teen walks in after the emerald-eyed teen, walking up to the host counter, “hi, I have reservations for two under Yamazaki.”

The young blond woman nods and looks at the reservation list, “yes, I see your reservation here. I have you down for the premium package set, is that correct?”

Sousuke nods, “yes, that’s correct.”

The young woman bows slightly, picking up two menus for the young teens, “please follow me. I will show you to your seats.”

Sousuke gently pulls Makoto’s arm, “Makoto, c’mon.”

The brunette looks over at Sousuke and blushes in embarrassment, “um…sorry. I’ve just never seen a place quite like this before.”

The raven-haired teen smiles gently at the brunette, “let’s sit down, c’mon.”

The two teens are lead to a wooden round table right by the glass partition. Makoto puts his backpack on the floor, pulls out the wooden framed chair with a white fabric cushioned seat, sitting down as the hostess hands him a menu.

After both teens are seated, the hostess says, “if you have any questions, please feel free to ask the staff. Your server will come by shortly to take your orders.” The young woman bows and walks away.

Both teens take off their gloves, placing them in their jacket pockets, and unravel their scarves. Makoto takes Sousuke’s and gently places it in his backpack along with his scarf and beanie. The brunette takes off his parka jacket, sliding it along the frame of the chair.

Makoto says hesitantly as he looks over the menu, “Sousuke…I can’t believe you. A kitty café. How…how did you know that I’ve never been to one.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow after taking off his own bomber jacket, and says calmly, “I didn’t. Happy birthday, Makoto. Hope you enjoy the experience.”

The brunette looks up at the teal-eyed teen and is graced with an amused smile by Sousuke. Makoto chuckles, feeling his chest swell with glee and delight. The brunette doesn’t realize that his cheeks turn a slight shade of pink as he smiles brightly at the raven-haired teen.

The teal-eyed teen’s eyes glimmer at the sunny smile Makoto is showing him. He can see that the brunette is truly happy to be here at the cat café, and knowing that he is the one responsible for the smile that graces the emerald-eyed teen’s face gives him comfort. After everything that has happened the last couple of weeks, Makoto deserves to smile jovially.

Makoto says with warmth, “I’m going to treasure this day. Thank you Sousuke. Really…you didn’t need to do this for me.”

Sousuke looks down at his menu and says, “you’re right, I didn’t need to do this for you. I wanted to. Let me be honest though, Rin did suggest a cat café, but I picked which cat café to take you to.”

The brunette laughs melodiously feeling filled with happiness. Just hearing the teal-eyed teen admit that he values Rin’s opinion, but still makes his own choices to do this for him makes his heart light. It’s a step up from doing things in Rin’s honor. Sousuke told him before that he was doing things for him that Rin would have done for him if he were still in Japan, but this was different. Makoto can tell that Sousuke’s view of their friendship has changed, and that the brunette is not merely a friend of a friend. 

Makoto remembers the conversation they had back at his apartment, and those words stung a little, to know that Sousuke didn’t view him as a friend then. The emerald-eyed teen can feel the transition between them shift more clearly now.

It’s a strange and thrilling feeling to realize when people you spend time with have shifted over to something more than just mere acquaintances, or social friends. To see the line drawn so firmly in the sand that the two of them have become true friends makes the brunette feel so good.

The emerald-eyed teen had always wanted to be good friends with Sousuke since they met each other back at the swim club competitions so many years ago. He remembers having some sort of good feeling about the raven-haired teen, that he was similar to Haru, Rin, and Nagisa.

Makoto realizes that Sousuke must have put some serious thought and effort into finding a cat café, especially since they just started spending time with each other just a couple weeks ago. He asks, “how much effort did you put into finding this place?”

Sousuke rubs the back of his neck, “uh, that’s not important. I just looked up some cafés online. I just thought that you would enjoy the atmosphere of this place, that’s all.”

The brunette smiles, wondering if the raven-haired teen is humbling his own efforts; either way, Makoto thinks it’s cute, “ok. I’ll let it go then.”

The teal-eyed teen smiles in relief; he really didn’t want to go into detail in regards to how many reviews he had to look through. The raven-haired teen is about to say something until a server comes by. A young woman with silver hair pulled back in a bun asks, “are you ready to order?”

Makoto smiles at the young woman and says, “I’m ready, how about you Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen nods and says, “go first.”

The brunette chuckles, “ok.” He looks over the menu and finds what he’s looking for, “I’ll have the omurice and a mocha with extra whipped cream.”

The server writes down the emerald-eyed teen’s order and says, “what about the appetizer?”

Sousuke face palms and says, “oh. Sorry. I forgot to tell you Makoto. The premium set also includes an appetizer and dessert.”

Makoto blinks, nods and quickly scans the food selections, “um, I’ll have the corn potage. And for the dessert…how about…the chocolate lava cake.”

The server writes down the rest of Makoto’s order and turns to the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke says cooly, “I’ll have the salad with miso dressing, the tonkatsudon, a matcha latte, and the matcha baumkuchen.”

The server nods, taking the menus from the two males, and leaves with their order.

Makoto chuckles, “ah! Baumkuchen. I didn’t see that on the menu. It’s been awhile since I’ve had some too.”

Sousuke stares at the brunette questioningly, “is that some roundabout way of asking for a bite of mine?”

The emerald-eyed teen eyes widen, with his mouth hanging open partly, “eh!? No, no. I-I…I didn’t mean it like that.” Makoto face palms as he realizes that his previous statement did sound like he was indirectly asking for an invitation to try some of Sousuke’s dessert.

The brunette sighs, slumps in his chair and tilts his head to the side, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Sousuke chuckles to himself inwardly and says, “hey, it’s ok. I wasn’t going to chew you out or anything. Whatever you meant, if you want a bite, you can have one. I really don’t mind. I’m not big on sweets. But I know you are.”

Makoto laughs, holding his stomach as he does so, “ah. Well, ok. And, how do you know about that?”

The raven-haired teen places his elbow on the wooden table, propping his chin on the palm of his hand, looking away from the emerald-eyed teen and staring over at the cats in the other room, “I remember…that time Kisumi dragged us to some cake buffet…you ate quite a bit of chocolate cake.”

Sousuke’s eyebrows furrow gently, “actually, I had the same thought before. When Nanase first came to my apartment. You eat a lot.”

Makoto stares at the teal-eyed teen in awe as Sousuke speaks so casually. He leans back and looks down at his hands in his lap. A slight flush burns his cheeks, “yo-you remember that? Ah…so embarrassing.”

Sousuke chuckles at Makoto’s response, but he doesn’t take his eyes off this short-haired calico cat that walks across the catwalk, “I bet you’re blushing right now.”

The brunette’s eyes shoot up to stare at the raven-haired teen in shock. He thinks, _‘eh!? What just happened!? Is he…is he teasing me?’_ The emerald-eyed teen’s hands ball into fists as he feels his heart rate race, and his cheeks heat up further in embarrassment, “n-no. I’m not blushing.”

The teal-eyed teen shifts his eyes over to the brunette, and he can clearly see the emerald-eyed teen staring at him with flushed red cheeks. He smirks, “sure…you can think that.”

The raven-haired teen takes a closer look at the brunette in front of him by turning his head, facing Makoto. He notices that the emerald-eyed teen has shifted his to the side, rather than staring at him. He notices the green sweater that Makoto is wearing is a deep, dark green shade. Sousuke remembers the brunette wearing brighter colors, and wonders if the dark shade reflects Makoto’s overall mood.

Staring at the emerald-eyed teen’s sweater reminds Sousuke that Makoto wasn’t feeling well yesterday and asks nonchalantly, “how are you feeling today?”

Makoto glances over at the raven-haired teen curiously as the flush in his cheeks dies down. He notices that Sousuke is staring at him quite intently, and gives the raven-haired teen a puzzled look.

The teal-eyed teen points at Makoto’s stomach with his left hand and says, “and your arm. I didn’t get a chance to ask you this morning.”

The brunette wears a small smile and says, “ah. It’s healing. I feel better than I did yesterday. It bothers me a little, but nothing I can’t handle.”

The server comes back with their drinks and appetizers. She places a small bowl of corn potage in front of Makoto. The brunette looks down at the bowl, and quickly notices the white bowl is in the shape of a cat’s head with cat ears. The corn soup looks creamy, warm, and inviting and Makoto can’t help but smile when he notices a little carrot garnish in the shape of a kitty paw. There is a side of toast in the shape of a cat’s face as well, with brown toasty marks on the thick slice of white bread that have cat eyes, the cute kitty mouth that smiles and whiskers.

The silver-haired woman also places a large, tall ceramic cup filled with Makoto’s mocha, but on top of the beverage is milky white foam and whipped cream in the shape of a 3D cat with cocoa powder outlining the cat’s face, and stripes.

The server places a small plate of salad in front of Sousuke, and he notices the cat shaped croutons on top of the leafy greens. The young server also places a large white mug filled with the matcha latte down. The raven-haired teen notices the cutesy design on the top of his beverage, outlined in matcha powder are kitty paws topping the frothy milk.

The server bows and says, “let me know if there is anything you need. Please enjoy.”

Makoto pulls out his phone from his parka jacket to take pictures of the cute presentation of the foods before him. He notices that Sousuke is about to dig into his salad and says, “please, wait Sousuke. I want to take a picture of everything first.”

Sousuke looks up and stops his hand from moving his fork downward to stab a piece of lettuce, “eh? You take pictures of your food?”

Makoto giggles as he focuses his cell phone camera on the adorable 3d cat art on top of his mocha, “sometimes. Ren and Ran get a kick of all the fun things I send them. I text my mom pictures, and she shows my siblings. They really loved the pictures of all the gatchapon machines I find. I never knew there were so many different kinds of gatchapon. Did you know there are shops just filled with them?”

Sousuke nods as he watches the brunette continue to take pictures, “yeah. I’ve been to a couple before. Yumiko dragged me to one once. She was looking for Disney, Shingeki no Kyojin, and Durarara gatchapon.”

Makoto is about to get up to take pictures of Sousuke’s food, but the raven-haired teen extends his hand out to the brunette, “here. I’ll take the pictures. Just relax.”

The brunette smiles and hands the teal-eyed teen his phone, “Disney gatchapon? Oh! Did you ever find a Frozen gatchapon? Ran loves Frozen…I would like to get her some. Oh, and Ren loves Yokai Watch and Pokemon!”

Sousuke chuckles as he takes a picture of his salad, “I remember seeing a couple of those. I’ll double check with Yumiko. She keeps up with that stuff more than I do.”

Makoto smiles as he watches Sousuke move on to take a picture of the matcha latte for him, “Ah, Yumiko-san. How is she doing?”

Sousuke smirks as he focuses the camera on the matcha latte, “fine. You left quite the impression on her. She likes you.”

The brunette laughs nervously as he fidgets in his seat, “Ahaha…I’m not sure about all that. I thought she might find me a bit…I don’t know…intrusive or something.”

The raven-haired teen clicks his tongue, not happy with the picture he took, and re-takes it again, “Nah. She wants me to keep you around. She’s never met any of my friends. I guess it’s a good thing that she met you first…since you are so likeable.”

The emerald-eyed teen frowns slightly at the thought of Sousuke not introducing his friends to his stepsister. He stares at the raven-haired teen and ponders about Sousuke’s character. The teal-eyed teen seems to carry himself as a loner, someone who only has a few friends that he keeps close, while the others are just acquaintances.

However, the thought that he was the first friend to meet his stepsister makes his heart feel lighter. The brunette smiles and says softly, “I’m glad then. If she likes me, then I know she will love Rin.”

Sousuke finally gets a good picture of his matcha, closes the camera app, but his head shoots up at the mention of Rin. He stares at the brunette across from him and is hit with an angelic smile. His features soften as he says, “Heh. I guess you’re right. Yumiko would enjoy Rin’s presence. I…I haven’t been forthcoming with Rin about my stepfamily. He knows about them, but nothing in particular. I sorta have been avoiding the topic.” The raven-haired teen shrugs as he extends his arm forward, Makoto’s cellphone in his hand.

The brunette slowly takes his cellphone from Sousuke’s hand. Their fingers gingerly brush against each other, and the brunette shivers internally at the touch, it felt like electricity. Makoto’s hand curls around the device as he brings his hand closer to his chest, looking down at his phone. He thinks, ‘ _what was that? All I did was touch him…and I felt a bolt of electricity hit me…I still feel it…on my fingers. Why do I feel so nervous now?’_

The emerald-eyed teen looks up to find Sousuke staring at him with uncertainty, the teal-eyed teen’s hand retracted back and he is rubbing his thumb over his pointer finger. Makoto wonders if the raven-haired teen felt the same thing. He shakes his head and smiles, “I think Rin will understand, Sousuke. I’m just glad that you and Rin are talking again. You need him…and I know he needs you. When it comes up…I’m sure you will seize the opportunity, if that’s what you want of course.”

Sousuke feels his heart beat just a little faster after handing Makoto his phone back. He quickly brings his hand back towards him, brushing this thumb over his finger. Whatever he felt, it felt warm and exciting, but nothing really conclusive. He tries to wrap his mind around what just happened, staring at the brunette. The raven-haired teen sees Makoto smile and words pouring out of his mouth. The teal-eyed teen looks down at his salad as he process the brunette’s words in his mind.

He thinks, _‘seize the opportunity. Heh…I think I have been running away from Rin for the past month. But you come in and change that. Precious friends…that’s what Rin said. I think I understand that phrase a little more now. Makoto…is a precious friend. And, I’m a precious friend to Rin, just like he is to me. Hmm, I haven’t been fair.’_

The brunette notices that Sousuke is lost in some sort of thought process. He decides to look at the pictures that the raven-haired teen took and smiles, “thanks Sousuke. You take better pictures than I do. I’m going to send a few pictures to my mom.”

Sousuke looks up and notices Makoto pressing buttons on his phone and smiles. He grabs his fork and nibbles on his salad watching the brunette reach out to his mom. His senses are immediately met with refreshing, soft, but crisp butter lettuce coated with a light miso and sesame creamy dressing. The crunchy kitty croutons have deep flavors of garlic, parsley, and butter. The salad is topped with a garlic chive and sesame seed garnish. The harmony of flavors and textures make it impossible to stop after one bite.

Makoto sends the pictures of his mocha and Sousuke’s matcha latte with a message. He puts the phone down on the wooden surface and notices that Sousuke has started eating his salad. The brunette’s mouth upturns into a small smile, as the raven-haired teen looks content with the food in front of him.

The brunette looks down at the pale yellow cream soup before him before picking up his spoon. Gently, Makoto scoops up some of the creamy liquid with the kitty paw carrot onto the spoon and brings it up to his face, lightly blowing on the spoonful of soup. He envelops the spoon into his mouth and is hit with a gentle spicy flavor with strong sweet notes from the corn. The crunchiness from the cute carrot cutout makes the brunette smile as he enjoys the slight heaviness the milk and cream give the soup and relishes in the warmth as it cradles in his mouth.

The emerald-eyed teen moans at the yummy goodness in his mouth. Sousuke looks up at the brunette when he hears Makoto moan, and observes a sweet smile on the backstroke swimmer’s face. Sousuke says teasingly with a half-smirk on his face, “That good, huh?”

The emerald-eyed teen glances over at the raven-haired teen and smiles devilishly, “I think so. But there is only one way to find out, you know.” He winks playfully at the teal-eyed teen. He says, “If you let me try yours, I’ll let you try mine.”

Sousuke laughs whole heartily and says, “there’s only one spoon. I don’t think there’s anyway to share…”

Makoto interrupts the raven-haired teen as he scoops up some of his corn potage and lifts it up and over to Sousuke, “here. We can share my spoon then. C’mon…before it spills all over the place.”

The teal-eyed teen is floored by Makoto’s suggestion and looks at the spoon hanging in the air between them. His cheeks flush pink at the action, and his eyes waver as to what he should do.

The brunette chortles, “c’mon, Sousuke. Just take a bite. I promise I won’t make you look bad.”

The raven-haired teen leans forward with uncertainty and Makoto gently pushes the spoon forward as Sousuke’s lips part. The teal-eyed teen takes the spoon into his mouth and the warm liquid instantly heats him up. The raven-haired teen tastes the sweetness from the corn, the smooth creaminess from the milk and cream, the meatiness from the chicken broth, and finally the spiciness from the paprika, bay leaf, and pepper. Sousuke nods as his taste buds are sweetly assaulted with satisfying flavors.

Makoto smiles when he sees Sousuke nod in approval. The brunette puts his spoon down into his soup as he reaches over and grabs the raven-haired teen’s fork, stabbing the dish in front of the teal-eyed teen and taking a bite of the salad tossed in miso dressing. The emerald-eyed teen tastes the refreshing crunchiness of the lettuce, the tangy saltiness from the miso dressing, and the toasty garlic croutons.

The two teens hear a couple of girls giggling next to them, and both teens look over at the two teenage girls a few tables away from them. Makoto hears one of the girls say something about them being really cute. Sousuke hears one of the girls say something about how they wish their boyfriend would do something as sweet as feeding her. Both teens’ eyes widen and they both look down in embarrassment. The two girls roar in a fit of more giggles at how cute the two guys are before it dies down and the girls are talking about something else.

Makoto slides the fork over back to the raven-haired teen quietly, not being able to meet the teal-eyed teen’s gaze. The brunette eats the rest of his corn potage without saying anything, still feeling embarrassed about the whole situation.

He ponders to himself, ‘ _am I embarrassed because of what I did…or is it because those young women caught us? Maybe it’s both. But…I didn’t mean anything by it…just wanted to share some food with Sousuke. Did it really come off as cute?’_

Sousuke notices the brunette sliding the fork over to him, and he takes the fork into his hand. The teal-eyed teen glances up at the emerald-eyed teen and finds him silently eating his soup. The raven-haired teen stabs his food with his fork and eats the rest of his salad. He glances over at the young women once again, and sees that they are engrossed in some other topic.

Sousuke sighs quietly, taking a sip of his matcha latte. He tastes the smooth creaminess from the milk, and the slight bitter grassiness from the matcha with a hint of honey for sweetness. He says, “maybe we shouldn’t do that again.”

Makoto looks up at the raven-haired teen and notices that Sousuke still has pink stained cheeks. He says bashfully, “ah…yeah. Sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

Sousuke meets shy green eyes and says, “nah. I’m to blame too. Don’t worry about it. I should have thought about the consequences of the action more.”

The brunette smiles timidly, “I didn’t think it was anything special. I just wanted to share with you…since you are being so kind to take me out for my birthday.”

The raven-haired teen smiles and says, “so pure. I doubt those girls thought you were being so innocent about it. I wonder if they think we’re…” Sousuke decides not to finish his sentence and leaves the remark hanging in the air between them as he takes another long sip of his latte.

Makoto eyes widen at the suggestion of Sousuke’s response. The brunette looks down at his soup and continues eating as he thinks, ‘ _hmm, now that he mentions it…I can see how those girls can come to that conclusion. Ah…I hope it doesn’t make things weird between us.’_ The emerald-eyed teen continues eating until he eats every last drop of the corn potage.

He takes the mug of mocha into his hands, lifts the cup to his lips and takes a long sip. The brunette can tell that they used dark chocolate as he taste the complex flavor of espresso and dark chocolate with the creaminess from the whipped cream. Makoto puts the cup down and his ears pick up on a deep laugh. He gazes over at the raven-haired teen and sees Sousuke laughing at him. Makoto eyebrows furrow in perplexity.

The raven-haired teen notices that Makoto has whipped cream all over the tip of his nose and a solid line of white right above his upper lip. Sousuke can’t help but laugh at the sight. When the brunette looks confused, Sousuke laughs harder, holding his stomach as he reaches for his napkin and trying to hand it over to the emerald-eyed teen. 

Makoto notices that the raven-haired teen is sort of giving him a napkin, and takes it from the teal-eyed teen. Suddenly the brunette realizes that he must have whipped cream on his face and unravels the napkin quickly, wiping his mouth.

Sousuke wipes a tear from his eye and says in an amicable tone, “wait…you have some on your nose too.”

The emerald-eyed teen wipes his nose intensely, “did I get it all?” He uncovers his face to the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke nods and says, “real cute, Makoto.” The raven-haired teen face palms at the admission that left his lips. He inwardly curses himself for saying something so corny.

Makoto giggles and says, “don’t beat yourself over that. I think it’s endearing…well…I’ve called you cute many times before now. Is it really that bad?”

The teal-eyed teen looks up at the brunette and notices that he’s spooning some of the whipped cream and eating it. He says, avoiding the question, “trying to prevent your face from getting creamed?”

The brunette sticks out his tongue playfully and eats some of the whipped cream on his spoon, “maybe. Um…since we are on some sort of corny streak. Can I tell you something?”

Sousuke takes the last bite of his salad and nods, “sure.”

The brunette puts his spoon down and leans back into his chair, gazing into Sousuke’s teal blue eyes. Makoto sighs softly and says, “you know, I was kinda of afraid of what would happen today. This is the first birthday I’ve had without having all my close friends with me, and my family. And…since Takeshi and I broke up, I thought this was going to be a horrible day emotionally. But, it’s not. I mean, classes were sorta ok. And running into Sugawara-kun didn’t help much either. After all that, I’m just really happy you are here with me today, and trying to lift my spirits. I guess I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you. I really am spoiled to have such good friends.”

The raven-haired teen holds Makoto’s gaze, listening to the brunette’s words. His eyes glisten when the emerald-eyed teen says that he appreciates him, and that he made the brunette happy. He says without thinking, “maybe your friends feel the same way. Being spoiled by you.”

Makoto’s eyes glimmer at Sousuke’s honesty and burst into laughter, “aww, that’s so sweet.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen as he realizes what he just said, “hey. I…I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you spoil your friends…dammit…that’s what I just said.” The raven-haired teen covers his eyes with his hand as the brunette continues to giggle.

The server comes by and takes their empty dishes and says, “if you want any other drinks, please let me know. The premium set includes unlimited drinks during your time here.” She bows and leaves the teens to their conversation.

The two continue eating and drinking together, laughing about silly things, or about how good their entrees were. By the time dessert comes by, Makoto notices a candle in his chocolate lava cake with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. The server says softly, “happy 19th birthday,” before leaving the teens. 

Makoto looks up and down between the candle on his dessert and Sousuke’s smirking face. He says, “you told them it was my birthday?”

Sousuke snorts, “of course I did. It wouldn’t be fun if I didn’t. Besides you can’t complain since I’m treating you.”

The brunette chortles, making a wish before blowing out the candle. He takes the candle out of his lava cake and says, “now my poor kitty has a blemish. I wonder where they get these kitty molds.”

The raven-haired teen snickers, “ah…wouldn’t you like to know. Just eat your dessert. I’m sure once you eat it, you won’t care about how it looks.”

Sousuke swiftly cuts his baumkuchen and takes a bite. He relishes in the sweet fluffy cake with the bitterness from the matcha, and he detects a rum glaze on the outside of the cake. The teal-eyed teen concludes that the rum glaze is a good compliment to the matcha, as it’s not super sweet, and brings out a more complex flavor profile.

Makoto looks over at the raven-haired teen and while he’s assessing the flavors of his dessert, the brunette quickly leans over and steals a piece from the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke barely had time to do anything about the quick steal of cake, so he watches the emerald-eyed teen relish in the flavors of his dessert. He says, “well, what do you think?”

The brunette smiles and says, “it’s really good. I like it. My mom loves baumkuchen. If my parents ever come to visit, I will have to take her here to try this. The glaze is interesting, I can’t pinpoint the flavor, but it’s good.”

Sousuke chuckles, “it’s rum. I would be surprised if you actually got that right.”

Makoto tilts his head in confusion, “how do you know?”

The raven-haired teen rubs the back of his neck, looking away from Makoto, “uh…that’s not important. I just know.”

Makoto raises an eyebrow and says, “oh? Is it a secret? Hmm…I wonder about you sometimes.” The brunette digs into his chocolate lava cake, and when he cuts into the decadent cake, he sees a viscous dark chocolate sauce come out of the middle of his cake, and his eyes gleam in delight watching the chocolate lava spill on his plate.

Sousuke watches the brunette look at his dessert in awe and chuckles to himself. He thinks, _‘he reminds me of a child sometimes. The way he just innocently takes in the experiences of things. Almost like it’s the first time he’s seen it or something. It’s charming.’_ The teal-eyed teen stops in his tracks, as he thinks about his last thought. Is he seriously thinking that the brunette is still cute, again?

Sousuke sighs as he eats his baumkuhen and observes Makoto eat his chocolate lava cake in absolute delight.

After they eat, the two head to the washroom to clean up before heading to the kitty room.

Sousuke takes Makoto’s backpack, their coats, and says, “go ahead into the cat room. I’ll be there in a moment. I just need to make a quick call.”

Makoto tilts his head to the side curiously and says, “ok. I’ll be waiting for you, Sousuke.”

Makoto heads through the glass doors and sits down on one of couches, picking up a cat toy to play with one of the cats. Sousuke notices Makoto laughing wholeheartedly and greeting and introducing himself to each cat one by one. 

Sousuke walks over to the hostess station and looks behind the counter. He remembers looking at one of the cat plush toys behind the counter, one in particular that caught his eye. There was one with an orange cat in an orca whale costume or something, it was cute. The raven-haired teen hands the hostess his receipt, and says, “I would like to add that cat…orca plush too.”

The hostess smiles and grabs one of the orange cats in an orca suit for Sousuke and rings up his bill. Sousuke pays and places the plush toy in Makoto’s backpack. The raven-haired teen asks the hostess if he can use a locker and receives a key. He leaves their coats and backpack in the storage locker and places the key in his pocket.

Sousuke walks over to the cat room, opens the glass door and notices that Makoto is surrounded by six cats, sitting on the floor, leaning against the bench.

Sousuke walks over to the brunette and stands in front of him, observing the emerald-eyed teen fawning over the cats that have gathered around him.

The emerald-eyed teen looks up and smiles at him invitingly, “Sousuke. Come, sit next to me.” Makoto motions for the raven-haired teen to sit next to him on the floor.

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow and says, “I don’t know. These felines are all over you, I don’t think there’s any room for me.”

Makoto scoffs playfully, “Don’t be silly. Here.” Makoto gently pets one of the cats next to him and places the white and black cat on his lap. He says, “now, sit next to me.”

The teal-eyed teen sighs as he moves closer to the brunette and sits on the floor next to the emerald-eyed teen. He turns his head and watches the five cats rub up against Makoto as the brunette tries to pet all of them with equal attention. 

The white and black cat on Makoto’s lap looks up at Sousuke with her yellow eyes. Sousuke and this yellow-eyed cat stare at each other curiously. The raven-haired teen bores an indifferent stare at the cat on the brunette’s lap.

After Makoto pets all the cats that surround him, he gazes over at the teal-eyed teen. The brunette notices that Sousuke is staring at the cat in his lap, and he chuckles to himself as he tilts his head to the side, “you want to pet her?”

Sousuke glances over to the emerald-eyed teen and says, “I don’t know. I don’t think she likes me.”

Makoto extends his hand to Sousuke and says cheerfully, “here, give me your hand. We’ll do it together.”

The teal-eyed teen’s eyes widen slightly and he says in bewilderment, “hah? Together?” Sousuke stares at the extended hand before him.

Makoto giggles, “yes, together. She likes me. Just give me your hand.” Makoto extends his hand further.

Sousuke sighs and raises his hand over Makoto’s palm and slowly places his hand into the brunette’s. Sousuke notices that the brunette’s hand feels warm and electrifying, just like before. The teal-eyed teen feels his heart beat a little faster, and he wonders why he is having this kind of reaction.

When Makoto feels the raven-haired teen’s hand in his, he feels the warmth radiating from the teal-eyed teen’s skin. Makoto feels a jolt of energy run through his fingers and nervously he says, “ok. Let’s introduce you first.”

Sousuke tries to keep a mask of indifference on his face, but it cracks under his curiosity. The teal-eyed teen feels Makoto’s hand gently grasp his wrist as he leads him to the white and black cat’s face in the brunette’s lap.

Makoto says, “let her smell you.” The brunette and the raven-haired teen watch the yellow-eyed cat sniff out Sousuke’s hand. Slowly the yellow-eyed cat sniffs Sousuke’s hand. The brunette says as he notices the teal-eyed teen’s fingers curl, “just relax. Cats can sense fear. If you’re confident, they feel more at ease.”

Sousuke nods and just allows the yellow-eyed cat continue to sniff him out. The raven-haired teen can feel the hot air come out of her nose as she continues to sniff him. After a few more moments, the cat rubs her head on Sousuke’s hand, purring in delight. 

The brunette chuckles, “see. She approves of you. Now you can pet her.” Makoto grasps the back of Sousuke’s hand and leads him over the top of the yellow-eyed cat’s head and back, repeatedly. Makoto feels his cheeks flush as he continues to hold Sousuke’s hand in his, leading the raven-haired teen through the motions of petting the cat in his lap.

Sousuke smiles as he pets the soft silky fur of the yellow-eyed cat and says, “wow. She’s really soft. And she’s purring a lot, cat whisperer.”

Makoto chortles lightly and releases his grasp on Sousuke’s hand, “you’re doing a great job Sousuke. I don’t think you need my assistance anymore.”

The two teens look at each other, Sousuke notices that Makoto’s cheeks are slightly pink and that his eyes sparkle dazzlingly. Sousuke’s eyes waver as he continues to gaze into Makoto’s pure green eyes.

Makoto breaks eye contact first, looking down at one of the cats curled up next to his thigh. Gently he pets the shorthaired black cat next to him. He thinks, ‘ _ah…I think I feel so overwhelmed today. Sousuke is being so sweet and his eyes looked so enchanting. I think I almost got swept away…’_

Sousuke shakes his head lightly when Makoto looks away, almost as if he was spellbound. He feels the yellow-eyed cat rub her head on his wrist, and he looks down at the cat, smiling and continues to pet her gently. He says softly, “thanks, Makoto. I don’t usually pet animals like this.”

The brunette glances over at the raven-haired teen, “oh? Not even Kuro?”

The teal-eyed teen keeps his eyes trained on the cat in Makoto’s lap, “no. I never touched him. I just fed him…and stared at him. Did you ever have pets?”

Makoto says softly, “yeah, I did. I had pet fish. I used to have two goldfish, but they died years ago. I have a little grave for them back in Iwatobi. Haru won four goldfish during the Obon festival two years ago, and he gave them to me. Right now, Ren and Ran are taking care of them…I even let them name the goldfish too. But if you’re asking if I ever had a pet cat, no…I’ve never had a cat before. How about you?” The brunette looks over at the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke glances over at the emerald-eyed teen with kindness, “I see. Uh…sorry about your fish. I just thought you would have a cat back at home. You have a natural connection with cats. As for me, I’ve never had a pet. Not even fish.”

Makoto nods, reaches over to pick up a small container of shredded chicken that he left on the bench behind him and hands it to Sousuke, “Nagisa said the same thing to me before, since I always play with the neighborhood cats back in Iwatobi. Maybe one day I will have a pet cat, but for now I am content with just playing with other people’s cats, or even coming into a place like this every once in a while.”

Sousuke takes the container of shredded chicken, looking at the contents as he says, “what’s this?”

The brunette smiles and says with energetically, “it’s pieces of chicken. Why not give some to the lovely cat on my lap. I’m sure she would love some treats.”

Sousuke opens the container and the cat in Makoto’s lap looks up at the raven-haired teen with interest. The teal-eyed teen picks up a piece of chicken in the container and slowly places the piece in front of the yellow-eyed cat.

The black and white cat on the brunette’s lap gets up and places her paw on Sousuke’s fingers, grabbing the piece of chicken with her teeth and eating it. The teal-eyed teen’s eyes widen as he says, “eh? Just like that…she just snatched it away.”

Makoto giggles and says, “yeah…it always surprises me when cats do that, but it’s so cute, don’t you think?” The brunette picks a piece of shredded chicken from the container Sousuke is holding and gives it to the black cat patiently waiting for the treat. The black cat does the same as the yellow-eyed cat, snatching the piece of chicken away from the brunette.

The emerald-eyed teen chortles with mirth, “so cute.”

The teal-eyed teen laughs at Makoto’s reaction and says, “I guess it’s kinda cute. You really get a kick out of all this, don’t you?”

Makoto’s eyes smile at the raven-haired teen, “yeah. It lifts my heart. Cats are just affectionate and calming, at least in my opinion. Cats will let you know how they feel, and they are always honest.”

Sousuke brings down his hand with the container of shredded chicken and the yellow-eyed cat notices right away, jumping on Sousuke’s lap and eating out of the container. The raven-haired teen slightly jumps at the feel of the cat on his lap and sighs when he realizes that she just took advantage of the situation, “oi. That’s cheating.”

Makoto laughs at the display that takes place on Sousuke’s lap and says with tenderness, “aww. She probably was eyeing you the whole time. Waiting for her next treat. Her patience won her the prize and she jumped at the opportunity.”

Sousuke laughs with Makoto, realizing that he was right. The yellow-eyed cat probably was waiting for more goodies out of the container in his hand. He should have been more mindful about that, but his loss was her win.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

****

** Monday, 5:32pm **

****

After spending two hours at the cat café, Sousuke and Makoto do a little window-shopping while heading back to the raven-haired teen’s parked motorcycle.

Currently Sousuke is parking the motorcycle across the street from Haru’s apartment. Makoto thought it was adorable how the teal-eyed teen input the free-swimmer’s address into his phone, trying to find a route to their destination.

Makoto swings his leg over the motorcycle, getting off the vehicle. He lifts the blue and yellow helmet off his head, propping the helmet under his arm as he rubs his hair.

Sousuke gets off the bike, taking off his helmet and placing it in one of the side compartments. He looks behind him to find the brunette handing him the kitty helmet to put away. The raven-haired teen takes the helmet and places it in the other side compartment.

They walk across the street, up the flight of stairs to Haru’s apartment until they are in front of door number 303. Makoto knocks on the door, no answer. The brunette looks over at Sousuke before trying the doorknob, it turns and opens, the emerald-eyed teen lets a sigh escape and says, “ah…Haru.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow and says in disbelief, “wait…did he just leave the door open?”

Makoto opens the door and says, “yeah…it’s a bad habit. I’ve told him he can’t be doing this in Tokyo.”

Sousuke shakes his head, “so he still does it, huh. I thought that might have changed over time…I guess not.”

The two teens enter Haru’s apartment, closing the door behind them. Makoto can smell the spices of curry being cooked on the stove, and smiles widely before calling for Haru. Both Sousuke and Makoto take their shoes, coats, scarfs, and gloves off by the entryway.

Makoto asks the raven-haired teen, “I’m curious…how did you know about Haru’s bad habit of leaving the front door unlocked?”

Sousuke looks at the brunette and says, “I…visited him once. He dropped his keys at the swimming club, and the address was on the back. So, I waited for him to come home and to give back his house keys. He invited me into his house, and that’s when I noticed that he left the front door unlocked. I thought it was strange and unsafe, but Nanase said he did it all the time. I guess…he never really used those keys I brought back for him.” Sousuke shrugs.

Makoto was about to respond, but Haru comes out of his bedroom in only his jammers and a blue apron.

Haru says nonchalantly, “ah. You’re here. Sorry, I was on the phone. Please come in, Makoto, Yamazaki.”

Sousuke looks over at the navy-haired teen and says, “yo, Nanase. Pardon the intrusion…and thanks for having me over.”

Haru nods, but Makoto runs over and hugs Haru. Makoto says, “Ha~~ru~~! Please stop leaving your door unlocked. It makes me worry.”

Haru has a blank stare on his face as the brunette hugs him. The navy-haired teen says lazily, “Ma-makoto…stop. I have to check the curry. Go sit down with Yamazaki. And…text Rei. He wants to set up a skype chat with you.”

Sousuke watches the emerald-eyed teen latch onto the navy-haired teen, he walks past the two teens and makes himself comfortable on the tatami mat floor, sitting down on one of the cushions by the low wooden table. The raven-haired teen looks around the apartment and notices that it’s small, but cozy and has a traditional feel to it. He looks at the table and notices a blue laptop on it.

Makoto lets go of the free-swimmer and says, “ok. I’ll go do that.” He starts to walk over to the living room, but is stopped by Haru’s words.

Haru stares at the emerald-eyed teen with a serene smile in his sapphire-eyes and says, “Makoto. Happy birthday.”

Makoto beams at the navy-haired teen and says, “thank you, Haru-chan!”

The navy-haired teen’s eyes widen and glisten at having the ‘-chan’ at the end of his name. He’s tempted to scold Makoto for using it, but decides against it since it’s the brunette’s birthday. He looks away, and walks into the kitchen.

The emerald-eyed teen sits down next to Sousuke, sitting on one of the cushions on the floor. He says to the raven-haired teen, “so…you have been to Haru’s house in Iwatobi before?”

The teal-eyed teen looks over at the brunette and notices that Makoto is pulling out his cellphone. He says, “yeah, just once. I think he had a dog too.”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke and says curiously, “so you’ve met Makkou?”

Sousuke tries to remember if that was the name of the dog that Nanase introduced him to, and shrugs, “I guess that’s right. I don’t know for sure, it’s been quite a long time.”

Makoto giggles, “awww. I wish I were there when you met Makkou! Haru’s mom takes care of him now. You’ve probably have seen a fluffy white dogs in front on Iwatobi market…that’s Makkou! You know, Haru was planning to name him after me…since I was the one that found him. But I refused. Not after Haru said, ‘Makoto, poop.’”

Sousuke chuckles, picturing Nanase with a dog and saying, ‘Makoto, poop.’ He thinks that would have been one interesting sight, and the raven-haired teen can imagine the brunette pouting in the background. He laughs harder at the thought.

The brunette stares at the teal-eyed teen, laughing next to him and feels his heart beat a little faster. He blushes at the embarrassing memory he just told Sousuke, and giggles lightly, “hey…it’s not that funny.”

Sousuke shakes his head and says between laughs, “no…it’s not. It’s hilarious!” The raven-haired teen tries to control his laughter, and finally he just smiles at the brunette, an amused expression on his face.

Makoto stares at the raven-haired teen and his eyes glisten. He thinks, “ _whoa. I don’t think I’ve seen that kind of expression on his face before. It’s…’_ Makoto shakes his head and says, “fine…I guess it is quite funny.”

Haru comes over with a tea tray containing a pot of hot tea, three cups and coasters. He puts it down on the table, and sits next to Makoto as he pours the tea for everyone. The navy-haired places the teacups in front of Sousuke and Makoto.

Sousuke says, “thanks Nanase. Do you need any help in the kitchen?”

Haru shakes his head, “no. The curry is almost done.” He looks over at Makoto and says, “did you text Rei?”

Makoto gasps and smiles sheepishly, “I’m doing that right now.” The emerald-eyed teen furiously types on his cellphone, texting a message to Rei.

[To: Rei

From: Makoto

Hi! ^_^ Haru told me that you wanted to set up a skype chat. I’m at Haru’s place right now. Can you believe, he’s making me my favorite: curry! ^_~ No mackerel for me tonight. Let me know when you want to set up the skype. Haru’s laptop is right in front of me. ]

Haru gets up and heads to the kitchen. Sousuke watches the navy-haired teen walk out of the living room and into the kitchen. He looks over at the brunette and asks, “so…why is he wearing his jammers?”

Makoto looks up at the raven-haired teen as he places his phone on the table, “oh…umm…I don’t know how to explain that. He probably was soaking in the tub. Haru loves water, so sometimes I find him in the tub with his jammers on. It’s a thing for him. I find it adorable.”

Sousuke furrows his eyebrows, trying to wrap his mind around Nanase sitting in a tub with his jammers on. He thinks, _‘that’s a bit strange. But I guess Nanase isn’t one for being anything but quirky. Seems everyone is taken by the guy.’_

Makoto giggles, “don’t hurt yourself trying to understand it. Haru is Haru. He likes doing it, and that’s all you really need to know.” Makoto opens up Haru’s laptop, just in case Rei decides to just call.

Sousuke scoffs to himself and says, “yeah, you’re right. I guess some things are better left to the unknown. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Makoto chuckles, “it’s ok. And really, if you’re curious…I don’t think there is any harm in asking. Besides, I think it’s sweet that you ask questions that you’re wondering about. It means that you notice things.”

Sousuke reaches for his teacup and stops when he’s about to grasp the cup in his hand as he glances over at the brunette smiling at him. His eyes gleam with shock as his lips part slightly.

Makoto holds Sousuke’s shocked gaze, smiling at the raven-haired teen. He notices that the teal-eyed teen cheeks ever so slightly turn a very faint shade of pink. The brunette’s smile widens as he takes notice of Sousuke’s embarrassment. He thinks, _‘Sousuke…you really are a softy when people get to know you. You don’t show it often, but in times like these…I appreciate them. You make me feel special.’_

Sousuke breaks eye contact first, clicking his tongue in the process. He grabs the teacup and brings it up to his lips trying to forget what just happened. He thinks, _‘I’m not sweet. I don’t know what he’s talking about.’_ Sousuke takes a sip of the steamy barley tea, and the image of Makoto smiling so genuinely enters his mind. He takes another sip of the hot tea, relishing in the smooth, toasty flavor as he contemplates about the event that just took place between him and the brunette.

Usually he just takes notice of things, but doesn’t speak his mind about it so freely. However, Makoto just seems to make him want to ask questions about the things that he notices. He wonders what that means.

Makoto holds in his laughter knowing that the raven-haired teen is denying something. Before the brunette could deepen his thoughts on the interactions any more, the laptop rings indicating that someone is calling from skype.

The brunette answers the call and his eyes become wide with absolute shock. On the screen he sees Ren, Ran, Hayato, Nagisa, Rei, Gou, Kisumi, and his mom and dad. All of them smiling and calling his name as soon as he sees them. Before Makoto could say anything, Nagisa counts, “one, two, three…” and they all start singing happy birthday.

Sousuke watches Makoto’s face as he hears a chorus of voices from the laptop singing happy birthday. He notices the brunette’s face change from shock to being moved deeply as his green eyes sparkle with ardor and gratitude. Sousuke puts his cup down on the wooden table as he watches the brunette being serenaded by his friends. He looks back to check on the navy-haired teen in the kitchen and he notices that Nanase is also staring at the brunette with a small smile on his features. Sousuke continues to sip his tea, grateful that he is out of view from the webcam.

Once the group is done singing, Nagisa says with much enthusiasm, “Mako-chan! Are you wearing the lucky Superman briefs I sent you? Remember, those briefs will save you from disaster!”

The brunette combusts in a furious blush as he covers his face with his hands, but peeks through his fingers as he says carefully, “Nagisa! I, I um…well…I did get them. And…”

Ran says interrupts, “Onii-chan, onii-chan! I miss you so much! Did you eat your favorites?”

Ren says happily, “Onii-chan! Momo-san showed me all of the cool places I can catch beetles here! Even ones as big as Pyuunsuke! So, when you come home for summer, we can catch them!”

Hayato says cheerfully, “Makoto-sensei! Happy birthday! I wish you were here teaching us all how to swim again.”

Rei smiles, “Makoto-senpai! We miss you very much.”

Gou says, “Makoto-kun! I hope that you are taking care of your body! Even if you aren’t swimming anymore, remember to eat a balanced meal, with plenty of vegetables.”

Kisumi chuckles and winks at the brunette, “Mako-sensei! I hope all your wishes come true.”

Makoto’s mother says sweetly, “Makoto! I hope you are doing well, honey.”

The emerald-eyed teen’s father smiles, letting all the others talk to Makoto.

Makoto is overwhelmed with happiness that he drops his hands down to his thighs. As everyone continues to say such nice things, and bring up fond memories, the brunette’s eyes start to water and he gives the group his trademark smile, tilting his head to the side as a stream of tears fall down his cheeks.

Everyone watches the brunette with shock. Nagisa says with concern, “Eh? Mako-chan!? Are you ok?”

Ran looks over at her brother Ren and says, “Ren! This is your fault! You made onii-chan cry talking about beetles!”

Ren frowns at his sister, “did not!”

Makoto shakes his head, as he wipes the tears that stream down his face with the palm of his hands, “no…these aren’t tears of sadness. I’m just so moved…I just couldn’t help it. Sorry…I’m just….so happy right now.” Makoto laughs at himself for crying in front of his friends and family. Earlier he thought that today would be a bad day, but he was very much wrong. Going out with Sousuke earlier made him realize that, but seeing his friends and family all together made his heart flutter, he really is spoiled to have such wonderful friends and family.

Haru walks over with a box of tissues for the brunette and sits down next to him so everyone can see him as well. Makoto takes the box of tissues and wipes his face.

Ren and Ran say in unison, “Haru-nii-chan! Haru-nii-chan!”

Sousuke looks down feeling that he is intruding on something very private for the brunette. He gets up, stretches his legs, and then attempts to walk over to the kitchen.

Makoto looks over to the side and notices that Sousuke had got up and is starting to walk away. The brunette looks over at his friends and says quickly as he gets up, “hold on guys.”

Haru watches the brunette get up, looks over to the side and sees Yamazaki in the process of walking towards the kitchen. The navy-haired teen wonders what the teal-eyed teen is trying to do. He thinks that Yamazaki should know better than to walk away. Makoto wants all his friends together, that includes Yamazaki. Haru shrugs and his attention focuses on Nagisa as he asks him about his swimming training.

Makoto quickly walks over to the raven-haired teen, grasps Sousuke’s bicep gently and says, “please, sit down with us.”

Sousuke looks over his shoulder to find the brunette looking at him with pleading green eyes. The teal-eyed teen sighs and says in a hushed voice, “you should talk to your friends and family, Makoto. Don’t worry about me.”

Makoto walks over and faces Sousuke, a frown on his face, “I am. You are one of my friends too. Is it really that awkward?”

The raven-haired teen pinches the bridge of his nose lightly and says, “well, yeah. I mean…the people on that screen care about you deeply…you should just talk to them. It’s your birthday, they want to celebrate with you too. We already did so…yeah.”

Makoto sighs and says with vulnerability as he meets those teal-blue orbs head on, “I understand…that this is something you don’t usually do. Could you try? You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, I just would like to have your presence there with me. And…Nagisa and Rei have wondered about you. I’ve been quiet about it, because I know you are a private person. I’ll respect your decision if you really don’t want to join the rest of us.”

Sousuke stares at the brunette for a few moments before he says, “guh…fine, fine. What a pain. I can try…but I’m not talking.”

Makoto smiles with a nod, grasping Sousuke’s wrist gently he says softly, “thank you…Sousuke.” He leads the raven-haired teen to the laptop, a little to the side so there is room for the brunette in the middle.

Sousuke sits down, followed by Makoto. Nagisa, Rei, Kisumi, and Gou eyes widen.

Nagisa says excitedly, “Wow! Sou-chan!”

Rei says with shock, “Sousuke-senpai!”

Kisumi says with amusement, “Ah! Sousuke! Long time no see.”

Gou says as she leans forward, “Sousuke-kun!? I’m so glad to see you! I’ve been so worried about you. I knew you were in Tokyo…wait are you, Makoto-senpai, and Haru-senpai friends now?”

Sousuke rubs his neck, feeling put on the spot. He looks over at the brunette and sees a careful smile. He sighs as he realizes that not talking was out of the question and says, “yo. It’s nice to see some of you again. And it’s a pleasure to meet you, Tachibana’s family. Makoto has shown me pictures of all of you. Gou…how have you been?”

Makoto’s mother tilts her head slightly, trying to place Sousuke’s face. She furrows her eyebrows faintly, trying to remember who he is.

Makoto says, “ah. For those of you who don’t know, this is Sousuke Yamazaki. He saw each other at swim meets frequently when we were little, and even competed last year during our swimming competitions. We met…”

Ran stares at the teal-eyed teen and interrupts the brunette, “Onii-chan…is he taller than you? He looks taller than you.”

Ren says as he jumps up and down on Nagisa’s lap, “yeah, onii-chan! He does look taller! I’ve never seen anyone taller than you, onii-chan!”

Gou giggles to herself giving the raven-haired teen a knowing look, “I’m fine, Sousuke-kun. I’m very happy to see you.”

Haru looks over at Yamazaki, hoping the raven-haired teen isn’t too embarrassed or flustered over all the attention he’s getting from everyone in Iwatobi.

Makoto laughs nervously, “ah…well, yes. Sousuke is a little taller than me. But that doesn’t mean he’s going to allow the two of you on his shoulders. Remember what I taught you two…you have to ask first.”

Ran and Ren both pout, whining, “Onii~~chan~~!!”

Makoto’s mother clasps her hands together and says in a soft tone, “ah! Yamazaki-san! Now I remember. Yes, yes…you went to swim club when Makoto and Haru were younger. I remember talking to your mother, she’s such a sweet woman.”

Sousuke looks over at the brunette’s mother and smiles, “yes, I did go to swim club at Sano so we frequently competed with Makoto and Nanase.”

Kisumi picks up Hayato, carrying him as the two leave off camera.

Nagisa says, “Ne, ne, ne…how did you guys meet? Was it by accident like one of those scenes where you see each other in the train and bump into each other? And you’re all like, ‘whoa, Sou-chan!’”

Rei interjects, “Nagisa-kun…that isn’t a beautiful way to meet. They probably met each other at the library as they were reaching for the same book.”

Gou giggles, “no…both of you guys are wrong…they met at the café, I bet. Makoto-senpai tending to the espresso machine while Sousuke-kun orders a drink…and their eyes meet…as realization hits the both of them. Their eyes sparkle with recognition…Makoto-senpai stops doing what he’s doing while Sousuke-kun stares at Makoto-senpai…admiring each other’s muscles.” Gou sighs with a dreamy look in her eyes as she cups her cheeks with the palms of her hands.

Sousuke face palms and says, “oi.”

Makoto laughs nervously, as Haru stares at the group in front of the screen and says nonchalantly, “I bet Rin made them talk.”

Everyone looks over at Haru, who just stares at the group blankly.

Nagisa says, “ah! That must be it. That would make the most sense.”

Rei nods agreeing with Nagisa’s assessment, “yes…that does seem like the most logical circumstance.”

Gou still has a dreamy glow in her eyes as she says, “yeah…onii-chan probably was worried about Sousuke-kun. I still like my scenario better.” 

Kisumi and Hayato come back into view with a big chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache with numbered candles on it. There is beautiful lettering on the cake in white chocolate saying, ‘happy birthday Makoto!’ Everyone makes room for Hayato to walk right down the front and center. Ren and Ran help Hayato hold the cake in front.

Kisumi says, “we all made you this cake, but it looks like we are going to have to eat it in your place, Mako-sensei.”

Makoto laughs, “ah! You guys! So sweet! Now I’m jealous that I can’t have some with you!”

Hayato says adorably, “Makoto-sensei! Make a wish!”

Ren and Ran say, “onii-chan! Happy birthday!”

Ren says, “blow out the candle, onii-chan!” 

Makoto giggles and leans forward and blows over the laptop as if he is blowing out the candles in front of him.

Ren and Ran blow out the candles for the brunette and everyone cheers.

Haru smiles with his eyes, watching the display take place, sincerely happy for Makoto.

Sousuke has a small smile on his lips as he watches the adorable interactions between Makoto, his friends, and family. He notices how everyone authentically wants the brunette to be happy, and to share that happiness with him. He wonders if Makoto just naturally brings people together in an intimate way. That would explain a lot of things that happened today.

Haru says, “I’m going to check on the curry. Yamazaki, come help me.” The navy-haired teen waves at everyone before getting up and walking towards the kitchen.

Sousuke watches Haru get up before looking over at everyone with a small wave, “see you guys later. Nice meeting all of you.” He gets up and follows Nanase into the kitchen.

Sousuke leans his back against the sink’s edge as he watches Nanase taste the curry. He looks over to Makoto with his arms crossed and sees the brunette talking enthusiastically with his friends and family.

Nanase pours some of the curry sauce into a tasting dish and hands it over to the raven-haired teen, “try this.”

The teal-eyed teen looks over at the navy-haired teen with his arm extended to him with a red and black tasting dish. Sousuke takes the tasting dish and brings it up to his lips. He can detect spicy notes of cardamom, cumin, ginger, turmeric, curry, cayenne pepper, pepper, and garam masala. The thickness of the sauce is smooth, he can taste a bit of tang from the tomato paste, and the sweetness from the caramelized onions, and apple. There is some depth from the curry that he can’t really pinpoint, but it harmonizes well with the rest of the dish.

Sousuke nods and says, “it’s good. I don’t think there is anything I can offer you.” He turns around and places the tasting dish into the sink.

Haru nods and turns off the heat, covering the pot of curry, “mmm. Thanks.”

The two teens become quiet, Haru cleaning up the mess around the kitchen, while Sousuke moves over to lean against the counter. Haru breaks the silence, “Yamazaki.”

Sousuke moves his head slightly to the side to glance at Haru’s profile, “yeah.”

Haru moves his eyes to gaze at the raven-haired teen, “Makoto told me that you would let him stay for a week. He said that about a week ago. Can he stay with you for a little while longer? Just until after he meets with Ito.”

The raven-haired teen takes in a breath, thinking about Nanase’s question. He thinks, _‘I was planning on letting him stay with me until the weekend. But, I don’t have to tell Nanase that. If he’s asking…it means he’s worried. Makes sense. I don’t trust that guy either. Huh…seems we finally agreed on something for a change.’_

Sousuke stays silent for a moment, watching the brunette laughing in front of the laptop before saying, “I guess. Worried?”

Haru takes a deep breath, putting down the dishtowel he was using to clean the counter, “yes. It’s not that I don’t trust Makoto. I don’t trust Ito.”

Sousuke nods as he crosses his arms over his chest, “yeah. I haven’t really met the guy, but I didn’t like the look in his eyes. And…Nanase…you should stay away from him. He doesn’t look like the kind of guy that will stop once he gets started. The last thing you need is to get involved in an altercation. You should think more about your future.”

Haru turns his head to stare at Sousuke’s profile. He wonders if Sousuke’s words were a friendly warning or some sort of threat. He says, “worried?”

Sousuke side glances the navy-haired teen, and they both stare at each other momentarily. The teal-eyed teen’s gaze hardens, “I don’t want to see Rin cry. He will cry if something bad happens to you. And…Makoto will blame himself if it has anything to do with that guy.”

Haru huffs and looks away, knowing that what Sousuke said is true. Haru crosses his arms, not wanting to admit that the raven-haired teen’s words hit him hard. The navy-haired teen doesn’t want to cause harm to either Rin or Makoto.

The teal-eyed teen moves his gaze over to the happy brunette and says in a softer tone, “if for some reason that guy causes you trouble. Come to me. I’ll deal with him. I have nothing to lose if I get into a fight with that guy.”

Haru’s eyes widen at the suggestion, he leans his back on the sink counter, next to Sousuke and says with concern, “Makoto. Makoto would not want that.”

Sousuke scoffs lightly, “che. He said…you are important. Besides, I don’t want Rin to lose focus.”

Haru smiles lightly realizing that Sousuke is taking into consideration Makoto’s feelings. He thinks, _‘hmm. You have changed Yamazaki. You don’t feel as cold as you used to. Doesn’t mean that I approve of you…yet. But I do appreciate everything that you have done for Makoto…and Rin.’_

\-----------------------------------------------------------

****

** Monday, 8:13 pm **

Makoto leans back on the palms of his hands as he says, “Haru! That chocolate roll cake was so good! I can’t believe you made it.” The brunette giggles as he rubs his stomach, “I am stuffed.”

Haru is about to get up and take the dishes, but Sousuke gets on his knees grabbing Nanase’s dishes, “I got it. You’ve done enough, Nanase.”

Sousuke grabs the rest of the dishes and carries them over to the sink and starts washing the dishes.

Haru looks over at Makoto, grabs the laptop that was next to him and pushes it over in front of the brunette, “call Rin. He wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”

Haru gets up and helps clean up the kitchen. Makoto watches Haru and Sousuke in the kitchen. He smiles watching the sight. The brunette opens up the laptop and calls Rin via skype.

Rin answers the skype call and smiles toothily at the brunette, “Makoto! Happy birthday!”

Makoto laughs, “Rin! Thank you! I’m looking forward to seeing you next month. How are you?”

Rin shifts in his seat, crossing his legs, “I’m ok. A little sore, but I’m checking out this massage therapist tomorrow afternoon. I may need to find a new pillow or something…I keep getting this kink in my neck.”

Makoto gives him a concerned look, “oh. Well if only I were there…I’d give you a neck massage…and you wouldn’t have to pay me a thing either.”

Rin chuckles, “don’t spoil me Makoto…besides you shouldn’t be doing things like that today. Relax, enjoy.”

Makoto takes a sip of his barley tea and says, “I have been. I went to my classes today, and guess what? Sousuke picked me up and took me out to a cat café! He told me it was your idea though, so thanks for that suggestion. I had a blast. All of the cute kitties were so affectionate…I swear…I could live there. And then we came here to Haru’s place…Haru made me curry and a chocolate roll cake. I even had a skype chat with everyone in Iwatobi, it was so epically sweet!”

Rin gives Makoto his signature shark-like grin and says, “oh? Well, I’m glad he took you out. And fyi…he’s the one that asked me about what you liked and all that. Of course, this is after he found out about your birthday. I tell ya, you leave an impression on people sometimes, Makoto. I was surprised that he wanted to do something nice for you.”

Makoto tilts his head to the side, “eh? Really? Then…Sousuke found out about my birthday that one time when we talked on skype then. When I made the chai. That wasn’t that long ago. He told me that he looked up quite a few cat cafés before picking the one we went to today…saying that I would enjoy the atmosphere of the one we went to.”

Rin whistles, “damn…he really did some quick research then. You certainly have him preoccupied. I’m glad you two get along. It’s better than him brooding. He isn’t one for making very many friends.”

The brunette flushes lightly, “wha-what do you mean by that? I’m not trying to keep him busy or anything. I…he…I mean.” Makoto sighs, “it is true…that we have become closer…even friends.” The emerald-eyed teen chortles, “he does seem like the type that doesn’t make very many friends…but when you have his trust, it seems like you have it for life. Reminds me of a rabbit. You know, slow to warm up to, but when a rabbit licks you, you know they will love you forever.”

Makoto blinks and waves his hands in defense, blushing at the embarrassing comment he made, “ah, don’t tell him I said that! Oh my gosh! That came out all wrong. I didn’t mean it like that…” Makoto face palms in absolute embarrassment.

Rin roars in laughter on the other end, hitting the desk a few times. The redhead can’t help himself, the comment was just so funny. He has an image in his head of Sousuke as a rabbit licking Makoto’s cheek.

Makoto whimpers on the other end as he shrinks into himself as crimson-eyed teen continues to laugh at his disposal.

When Rin finally composes himself enough to talk, he says, “are…are you saying that Sousuke licked you?”

Makoto moans in horrification, “Ri~~n! Stop. I just meant that as an analogy…nothing more.”

Rin chuckles as he runs his hand through his red locks, “But I have an image of Sousuke licking your cheek.”

Makoto’s eyes widen as the imagery that Rin mentions enters his mind. The brunette combusts in a furious blush, his face crimson just like Rin’s hair. The emerald-eyed teen covers his cheeks as a small attempt to cover his embarrassment, “oh my god! I can’t believe you, Rin! You just had to go that far, you pervert! You know, he licked you first! You had his trust first.”

The redhead eyes widen and glisten as his lips part in astonishment. Rin is rendered speechless for several moments, before he clears his throat, placing a closed fist right above his mouth, “uh…who’s the pervert now? We were kids. That’s different. He didn’t lick me. Besides…I’d like to lick Har…”

Makoto stumbles as he frantically places his hands over Rin’s mouth on the computer screen as he anxiously blurts out, “ah, Rin! No more! I don’t want to hear any more pervy things. No more licking and all that stuff.”

Both Haru and Sousuke are finishing up cleaning, and both their ears perk up at the mention of ‘pervy things,’ and ‘licking,’ that the two teens stop what they are doing and turn around to find Makoto flushing wildly and the brunette’s hands on the laptop screen as if he is trying to shut someone’s mouth.

Haru walks over quickly and kneels down to face Rin, “Rin…what are you talking about?”

Rin rubs the back of his neck and looks away with a slight flush on his cheeks, “uh…nothing. Makoto and I were just…uh…talking about stuff.”

Haru looks over at the emerald-eyed teen and stares at him. Makoto trembles under the free-swimmer’s stare and says nervously, “uh…Haru…I uh, we were just ta-talking…ahh! I don’t know anything. Stop staring.” Makoto covers his face cowering in anxious embarrassment.

Rin sighs, “Haru, it’s my fault. You can punish me later.” He gives Haru a knowing wink.

Sousuke comes over and sits down next to Makoto, gently bumping the brunette’s shoulder, “what’s going on?”

Makoto falls back on the tatami mat and covers his face with his hands, “ah…don’t ask.” The brunette thinks, _‘how? How did it get to this? I meant that whole rabbit thing as nothing more than an innocent comment…it really is so sweet when a rabbit licks a person…it’s like the ultimate sign of affection and trust. And Rin…Rin had to tarnish and make it all dirty and pervy. Ugh…how did this happen? So embarrassing! How am I going to face Sousuke now!?’_

Both Haru and Sousuke watch Makoto unceremoniously fall back onto the floor. Sousuke just watches the brunette cover his face as the emerald-eyed teen goes through some sort of internal battle.

Haru is the first to gaze back at the redhead. Rin smirks and shrugs, “seriously, I’ll take this. One for the team, eh, Makoto?”

Makoto groans, “What’s that supposed to mean?” He peeks through his fingers and sees teal-eyes staring at him with puzzlement. The brunette’s eyes waver slightly under those teal-orbs.

Rin looks around to look for Makoto and says, “you tell me birthday boy. What should it mean?”

Sousuke turns around and quirks an eyebrow at Rin, “oi. That’s enough. What were you two talking about anyway?”

Makoto gets up quickly and says, “nothing! We weren’t talking about anything at all!”

Haru blankly looks at the brunette and says, “hmm…suspicious.”

Sousuke looks over at Nanase and then back at Rin, “I agree with Nanase. Something suspicious is happening here. And what pervy things are you talking about?”

Rin grins as he crosses his arms, “Makoto has a kink.”

The brunette wails, “Ri~~n! I do not! Oh god…can we stop talking about pervy things, kinks, or whatever! This conversation has taken a turn for the worse. I reserve the right to change the topic. It’s my birthday.”

Rin snickers, “alright, alright. Sorry, dude. It’s just so much fun to tease you.” He looks over at Sousuke and says, “yo, Sousuke. How was the cat café?”

Makoto face palms knowing that Rin is jabbing him with the comment he made.

Haru looks at the brunette questioningly. He thinks, ‘ _something tells me that Makoto said something that got Rin using it as ammunition to tease him. Pervy things and something to do with licking…hmmm…that could be anything. I wonder if somehow it got out of context.’_

Sousuke charmingly smiles at Rin, “the food was good, the cats were friendly.” He shrugs, “what do you want me to say?”

Haru looks at Rin and says with a hint of allure that only Rin or Makoto could detect by the tone of voice, “Rin…I’m going to have to punish you later. 

Makoto gasps and thinks, ‘ _oh no! I know that tone. Shit…Sousuke and I need to get out of here.’_ The brunette yelps, grasping Sousuke’s knitted sweater as he stares at Rin, “ah…you know…I think Sousuke and I should get going now. It’s late…we all have classes tomorrow…yeah.”

Quickly the brunette gazes at Haru and says in a fluster, “you have to get up early, right? Maybe…”

Haru gives the brunette a quizzical look as he places his hand on Makoto’s shoulder, “wait. I didn’t even give you your present yet.”

The emerald-eyed teen laughs nervously, “ah! Well, let’s do that now, Haru. I just…” The brunette’s phone rings in his pocket and he fumbles to answer the phone. Without checking who called, the emerald-eyed teen answers, “hello?”

The voice on the other end says, “Makoto. Happy Birthday.”

The brunette’s breath hitches sharply and he looks over at Haru very briefly. He thinks, _‘crap…I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t think Takeshi would call me…what am I going to do? Just play it cool…ugh…that’s not going to happen…’_ He looks over at Rin who quirks his eyebrow at him.

Makoto looks down, fidgeting as he sways from side to side. He says timidly, “th-thank you. Thank you for remembering my birthday…I really appreciate it.”

Sousuke glances at the emerald-eyed teen noticing that his ears are slightly pink. He darts his eyes away and looks over at Rin who is staring at the brunette with interest.

Haru gets up and heads to his bedroom to get Makoto’s present. The navy-haired teen heard who was on the other line, and decided to leave Makoto to deal with Ito.

Takeshi says, “well, that’s all I wanted to tell you. Just…yeah. See you Wednesday, Makoto.”

The brunette closes his eyes, his head bowed down, “ok. Um…just…yeah. Thanks. I’ll see you later.”

They hang up. Makoto looks at his phone and thinks, ‘ _what am I doing? Why did I answer? What was I going to say just a moment ago?’_ The brunette holds his phone a little tighter and puts the phone back in his pocket. He lifts his head up slowly and tries his best to smile brightly, “ah…a classmate wishing me a happy birthday.”

Rin stares at the brunette with a hard gaze. The emerald-eyed teen holds the redheaded teen’s gaze for a moment before looking away sighing, “Rin. I…”

Sousuke says with indifference, “ah. It’s nice when acquaintances remember things like that. Isn’t that right, Rin?”

Makoto looks over at the raven-haired teen next to him, and the teal-eyed teen’s eyes move to gaze into emerald orbs. The brunette thinks, _‘did he just cover for me? He must have known…Sousuke picks up things quickly…there’s no way he didn’t know it was Takeshi. Why did he do it?’_

Rin laughs, “ah, yes. Seems that you made quite a few friends in Tokyo. Good for you Makoto. Not that I was ever worried you wouldn’t. You are the kind of guy that everyone wants to be around. Isn’t that right, Sousuke?”

Sousuke glances over at the redhead and says with a smirk, “oh? Are you trying to get me to say something corny, you crybaby?” 

Rin glares at the raven-haired teen playfully, “oi, oi. I’m not a crybaby!”

Haru comes back with a large box wrapped in shiny peridot paper, “yes you are Rin. You cry about everything.”

Rin face palms, “oi! Not you too, Haru.”

Makoto laughs and says, “Rin…you’re adorable!”

Rin clicks his tongue, looking away, “che. Some friends you guys are. A bunch of traitors!” He smiles sweetly for a moment, but clears his throat to wipe the smile away.

Haru sits down next to Makoto and hands the emerald-eyed teen his birthday present and says, “happy birthday, Makoto.”

The brunette takes the large box into his lap, moving back just a little, “Haru-chan! Thank you!” He smiles at the navy-haired teen.

Rin says, “open it already, birthday boy! Let’s see what Haru-chan has given you.” He winks at Haru.

The free-swimmer eyes widen at being called ‘-chan,’ he looks away from both Rin and Makoto, a slight flush on his cheeks as he mutters under his breath, “no ‘-chan.’”

Usually Nagisa is the only one that calls him ‘-chan,’ but that’s only because the sapphire-eyed teen had given up on changing Nagisa’s suffix, not to mention, he calls everyone ‘-chan.’ Recently, Rin had picked up on calling him ‘-chan’ every now and then and for some reason, Haru can’t help but blush slightly. 

Sousuke watches the brunette marvel over the pretty wrapping paper and says, “oi. If you are just going to admire it, then take a picture.”

Makoto pouts at the raven-haired teen and says, “awww, but it’s such a pretty shade, don’t you think?”

Rin rolls his eyes, ‘c’mon…let’s see what’s inside.”

The brunette chortles, “so impatient! Alright.” Makoto opens the gift carefully, trying to save the pretty paper.

Makoto opens the box and gently moves the white tissue paper to the side to reveal a stylish olive green cargo winter jacket. The brunette takes the jacket out of the box, looking it over.

Haru softly says, “I remember you looking at a jacket that was similar to this one back in Iwatobi. But this one is insulated and has a fleece blend lining. I thought…”

Makoto says as he gets up, “I love it Haru! I was looking for a nice jacket before the winter, and I just gave up on it thinking my parka would be enough.” The brunette slips the jacket on, zipping it up, and checking out all the pockets.

Rin whistles, “lookin’ good, Makoto. I know Haru is very picky when it comes to coats. He’s never been one to wear too many layers.”

Sousuke looks up at the brunette and says, “the color suits you nicely.”

Haru says, “you could leave your parka here for now, and wear that one back to make sure you like it.”

Makoto smiles at all his friends and says, “ah…you guys have spoiled me rotten today.” He laughs feeling filled with warmth.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

****

** Monday, 9:21pm  **

****

After Makoto and Sousuke leave Haru’s apartment, the navy-haired teen goes back to the living room, sits down and stares at the redhead on the laptop screen, “I’ve been meaning to ask…how your day was.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow and smiles seductively, “is that all you want to know…Haru-chan?”

The sapphire-eyed teen looks away and swallows. He thinks, _‘there he goes with that ‘-chan’ thing again. Why…why is it when he calls me ‘Haru-chan,’ that I get all flustered.’_ The navy-haired teen takes a deep breath and says in a cool tone, “you remind me of Nagisa when you say my name like that.”

Rin chuckles, “I’m sure I do. But why is he the only one that can call you that? When Makoto calls you ‘Haru-chan,’ you politely tell him no.”

Haru moves his eyes to glance over at the crimson-eyed teen. He finds Rin’s torso as he’s moving his laptop to the bed, readjusting the laptop, he finally sees Rin’s face, his head tilted as he moves the laptop. Haru sighs, “I just don’t like ‘-chan.’ But I gave up with Nagisa. He gives everyone that suffix.”

Rin sits cross-legged on the bed as he leans forward, his elbows on his knees as he stares at Haru with an amused smirk, “oh? Well, if you let Nagisa get away with it…why not me?”

The navy-haired teen faces the redhead and lets his sapphire eyes travel up and down Rin’s body. He notices how the black tank top the crimson-eyed teen is wearing is just a little too big, that the black tank top is a bit crooked and that it’s just barely staying on one of shoulders…almost teasing the free-swimmer.

Rin tilts his head as he rests his chin on the palm of his hand, “oi, Haru? Are you listening? Something wrong?”

Haru shifts his eyes to the side, his sapphire eyes glimmer slightly as he says in a soft tone, “why? Why ‘-chan?’”

Rin chortles as he smiles broadly, “ah? I’m surprised that you’re thinking about it. You haven’t really chided me for calling you ‘Haru-chan’ yet…I’ve been testing your limits, Haru. Would it make you feel better if I allowed you to call me, ‘Rin-chan?’”

Haru looks up at Rin and he stares into those ruby eyes. Rin holds his gaze, wanting to know the answer to his question, but patiently waits for Haru to think about the suggestion.

The navy-haired teen thinks, _‘but…Nagisa calls you ‘Rin-chan.’ I don’t want to share a nickname with another. I…I just haven’t found the right nickname for you yet. But if you want me to call you ‘Rin-chan’ for now…I guess that’s ok.’_

The sapphire-eyed teen says gently, “if you want me too…I can.”

Rin shakes his head and says, “I won’t allow you to call me by some nickname without it being something you want, Haru…or should I say Haru-chan.”

Haru breaks the eye contact between them again and says quietly, “no…I don’t want to call you ‘Rin-chan.’ I…I want something…that no one else can call you.”

Rin smiles and says, “so…is it ok if I call you Haru-chan?”

Haru sighs and says with a slight blush on his cheeks, “I let you call me ‘-chan,’ but only when it’s just us.”

Rin’s smile turns into a longing gaze, “oh? So…since it is just us…can I call you Haru-chan?”

Haru nods slowly as he swallows, “ye-yeah. I like it when you call me that.”

Rin drops his hand as he leans forward with both elbows on his knees. He says with a raspy voice filled with desire, “ne, Haru-chan…what would you like me to do with you right now?”

Haru runs a hand through his hair as he closes his eyes, letting his imagination take hold of his urges. He pictures Rin in front of him, slowly crossing his arms in front of his body, pulling the black tank top over his torso in an erotic motion, shifting his body to the side as he quickly just flings the black fabric off his shoulders and tosses it over his arms. The black fabric thrown into some far off distance, leaving the redhead with nothing but his tawny-peachy smooth skin, and toned chest and abs. The navy-haired teen can picture Rin running a hand through his hair, seductively grinning at him as he raises one eyebrow with a lustful gaze in those beautiful ruby eyes.

Rin watches Haru close his eyes and bite his lip as he comes up with some image. The redhead observes the free-swimmer as he runs a hand through his hair, a sign that he has picked up over time since they started talking through skype that indicates that Haru is trying to subdue his urges.

The ruby-eyed teen says with eagerness, “Haru-chan…tell me. What do you see in that mind of yours?”

****

Haru turns his head and opens his eyes to meet those crimson orbs gazing into his sapphire ones with hunger. Haru says with dilated eyes, glimmering as a hazy lust overtakes the navy-haired teen, “I see you tearing off your top and devouring me with your eyes, Rin. I see you grinning at me, ready to do…”

Rin lets out a strained sigh just watching Haru in such a vulnerable state makes the redhead feel his heart race, and his cock twitch. He licks his lips with captivation as he says, “like this…Haru-chan?”

Rin reaches for the hem of his tank top, twisting his body as he flings the top off behind him somewhere.

Haru watches the redhead intently, not wanting to miss a thing. As the ruby-eyed teen is freed from the fabric that had teased him earlier, the navy-haired teen moans softly seeing just what he imagined come to fruition. His body feels hot, like the temperature had risen considerably in just a matter of moments.

Haru reaches behind him, leaning back, one hand on the tatami mat, the other hand desperately feeling for the string to undo the bow to his blue apron. Once he finds the string, he yanks it, unraveling the tie, and the apron hangs loosely. Haru reaches for the string that is looped around his neck and takes it off carelessly.

Rin watches Haru pull off his apron and he drinks in the image of the softly moaning free-swimmer. He let’s his crimson eyes wander thoroughly at the sight before him and frowns since he can only see Haru’s face and torso, leaving him to his own devices in regards to what’s down below.

Rin says in a curious tone, “ne, Haru-chan…are you wearing your jammers? I’d like to see the rest of you, babe.” Rin gently shifts his legs, feeling himself getting turned on by his free-swimmer many miles away.

Haru bites back another moan as he hears Rin call him ‘Haru-chan’ again. He says in a shiver, “how did you know?” The sapphire-eyed teen moves back far enough to give the redhead a view of a majority of his body.

The redhead smirks as he says in a sexy mewl, “I know you, Haru-chan. You love the water. I’m just surprised that you were wearing your jammers and an apron this whole time…even when Makoto and Sousuke were with you earlier.”

The sapphire-eyed teen dons a small smile and says seductively, “jealous?” Slowly, Haru lets one hand up on his neck as he slides his fingertips down his collarbone.

Rin swallows as he watches the navy-haired teen begin touching himself. The redhead feels himself swell with lust, as his pants start to become very uncomfortable. He thinks, _‘Haru is getting really good at this. If he keeps up like this…I’m not going to be able to last…damn…you are so hot right now.’_

The redhead says, “Haru-chan…I can be jealous if you want me to. Unfortunately, I can’t be jealous when it comes to them. However, I am jealous of the fact that I can’t be the one sliding my own fingers down your body right now. How I would love to just rub my fingers down your nipples and squeeze them between my thumbs and forefingers as I illicit those erotic moans from your dirty mouth.”

The navy-haired teen says in an alluring tone, “I miss you, Rin. I just want you to touch me…like this.” Haru slides his fingers down his torso, his breathing becoming uneven as he hooks his thumbs over the rim of his jammers. He gets on his knees and slowly pulls down the black restraining fabric further down his hips, swaying from side to side as he frees himself from his swimwear. Haru tosses his jammers to the side, kneeling on the floor, his breaths becoming more ragged, a flush on his cheeks as he is completely exposed for the redhead to see.

Rin bites the bottom of his lip, a blush staining his cheeks as he watches Haru’s painstakingly slow fingers move down his toned muscles, trailing down each and every curve, dip, and concave muscle that is in the navy-haired teen’s path. The redhead swallows audibly as the sapphire-eyed teen gently hooks his thumbs over his jammers. He thinks, _‘damn, Haru! I want to kiss you so badly. I want to make you cum with my own efforts…just one more month and I can finally touch that hot flesh of yours…I want to feel how strong you have become, babe.’_

The redhead’s eyes widen and glitter in absolute shock watching Haru’s hips sway from side to side. Rin can’t help but get up enough to pull down his own pants and boxers off, freeing his own throbbing cock. The crimson-eyed teen hisses lightly at his own hasty action, not wanting to take his eyes off his laptop screen. Rin embeds the image of a vulnerable Haru, kneeling on the floor, legs spread apart, one hand up hovering over his hard, slightly pulsating penis, and the other hand on his cheek trying to hide the blush on his beautiful features in his mind.

The navy-haired teen moans sensually as he gently wraps his hand around his aching cock, as he swiftly swipes the tip with his fingers. Haru closes his eyes momentarily, visualizing the redhead kneeling beside him, massaging the small of his back, pressing both of their erections together as he whispers, ‘Haru-chan,’ in a seductive raspy tone, leaving the sapphire-eyed teen shivering in wanton desire.

Rin watches the navy-haired teen moan lewdly and the crimson-eyed teen moans feeling himself being taken by the image of Haru revealing his inner desires for the redhead to witness. The all-around swimmer shifts his weight on his comfortable bed, one leg propped up, allowing his foot to be planted on the bed, while his other leg is still in a cross-legged position. Rin places one hand behind him, the palm of his hand firmly planted on the soft comforter below, while he grasps his thick, hard cock with the other hand, pumping himself up and down at the sight of Haru doing the same.

Haru open his eyes slightly, half-lidded dilated sapphire eyes peering over at the redhead and the navy-haired teen’s breath hitches as he sees Rin fully naked on the bed, his cock being stroked the same way as the free-swimmer is doing to himself.

Haru rocks his hips upwards as pre-cum dribbles down his cock, coating his hand and shaft as the sapphire-eyed teen continues to gently squeeze and rub his hand up and down in a rhythmic beat, and swirling his thumb over the tip every now and then, eliciting more erratic loud moans from him.

Rin’s eyes meet with lust-filled sapphire ones, and he rubs his own cock faster, the pre-cum making a delightful friction, moaning Haru’s name over and over while wishing he could be there with the navy-haired teen, making him feel all hot, bothered and cared for.

Rin never takes his eyes off the free-swimmer, instead he takes in everything that Haru provides him, drowning in the image of his beautiful lover, thrusting his hips upwards as he grinds his hand up and down his hard length.

Rin matches the rhythm Haru shows him. The redhead squeezes his cock as he comes down to the base of his shaft, and repeatedly does this action, feeling himself reaching his climax he pants ruggedly, “Haru…I’m…so close…”

Haru keeps his gaze connected to the redhead. When the sapphire-eyed teen hears Rin’s familiar voice telling him that he is close to cumming, Haru smiles sweetly as the navy-haired teen is also nearing his own climax as well. He pants uncontrollably, “Rin…me…me…too…”

Rin smirks lustfully as he continues to pump his penis vigorously, flushing feverishly as he pants Haru’s name over and over again. The redhead cums as he breaks eye contact with the navy-haired teen, throwing his head back, and arching his back as he cums all over himself and onto the comforter below him.

The crimson-eyed teen closes his eyes as he slowly pumps himself down from the high for the last time, visualizing the beautiful sapphire swimmer above him, cupping his cheeks and being enthralled into a deep passionate kiss.

Haru pants loudly, hearing Rin say his name over and over again. Hearing Rin’s voice become desperate for release fills the navy-haired teen with warmth. He loves hearing his name come off the redhead’s lips, almost as if Haru has enchanted the crimson-eyed teen into some kind of deep-rooted fascination.

He watches Rin break eye contact with him, and hearing the redhead cum fills the sapphire-eyed teen with lust and desperation for his own release. Haru pumps himself faster panting Rin’s name as he bites his lip, closes his eyes and cums all over himself and onto the tatami mat below. The navy-haired teen’s muscles contract as he spills himself, back aching upwards, his head thrown to the side.

The free-swimmer feels his knees give way, as he gently falls to the side, lying on the floor. Panting, he looks up at Rin who is staring at Haru with gleaming eyes filled with so much affection and longing. Haru continues panting, softly whispering Rin’s name, feeling filled with Rin’s devotion.

His blue eyes glitter in absolute fondness. Haru wants to say those three wonderful words to the redhead, but not like this. Haru gazes into those ruby eyes longing to feel his presence. The navy-haired teen terribly misses having the redhead hold him, even if it wasn’t for long periods of time, he still misses those strong arms around his body…almost as if it is a affirmation of their romantic relationship.

Haru finds his voice after a few moments and says, “I want to swim with you, Rin.”

The redhead smiles lovingly, “I want to swim with you too, Haru-chan. When I see you next month…let’s swim…for the team.”

Haru flushes as he sits up and says, “I will show you a sight you have never seen, Rin.”

The two teens laugh, a melodious sound that Rin has engraved in his heart for safekeeping. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------

** Monday, 11:12 pm **

****

Makoto enters the guest bedroom in Sousuke’s apartment in nothing but a medium sized white towel around his waist. After returning from Haru’s apartment, Sousuke told Makoto that he wanted to study a little bit before heading to bed, so the raven-haired teen has been in his bedroom for about an hour now.

Makoto decided to take a shower, and is currently getting into a pair of heather grey boxer briefs and slim navy sweatpants. He dries his hair again with the white towel before placing it on the back of the desk chair.

Makoto decides to get his backpack ready for classes tomorrow, picks up his backpack off of the floor, and places it on the seat of the chair. He unzips the main section of the bag, and starts taking his notebooks and books out of the bag.

As he takes out the last book from the backpack, he notices something with a face at the very bottom. Makoto thinks, _‘eh? What’s this?’_

He takes out the book and places it on the desk, sticks his hand back into his backpack and takes out a fluffy, soft, and squishy plush. It’s an orange cat with black eyes in an orca suit. Makoto tilts his head trying to figure out how this cute plush got into his backpack. Gently the brunette squeezes the plush, relishing in the cozy feel of the fabric as he recalls the events of the day.

The emerald-eyed teen thinks, _‘I know I didn’t have this in my bag after any of my classes today. Let’s see…did someone else go through my bag? Oh! I gave my bag to Sousuke at the cat café. But…this can’t be his. Hmm…actually…I didn’t open my bag after the cat café or at Haru’s place. Sousuke did have my bag at the cat café. How strange…this can’t be…is it? A gift?’_

Makoto eyes widen at the thought of the plush being a gift. He looks over at his closed door and decides to ask the raven-haired teen about it.

The brunette holds the plush against his chest as he opens his door, walks over to Sousuke’s room and knocks loudly.

Makoto hears a faint, “yeah? Come in.”

The brunette opens the door slowly and finds Sousuke in front of his desk, writing some notes in a notebook. Makoto walks over to the teal-eyed teen and thrusts the adorable fluffy orca suit cat in front of Sousuke’s face, “tell me about this? I found it in my bag. You were the only person I could think of who had access to my backpack today.”

Sousuke jerks his head back slightly as the smiling orange cat plush is presented to him without warning. The raven-haired teen leans back in his chair as he looks up at Makoto curiously, “what? You don’t like it?”

The brunette blinks as he brings the orca kitty plush closer to his chest, staring at the smiling orange cat inside the orca suit. He gently massages the sides of plush with his fingertips as he says, “no…I didn’t say that. I…I was surprised to see it in my bag and I was just trying to figure out where it came from. It’s really cute.”

The teal-eyed teen gets up, rubs his neck with his back to Makoto, he replies, “well…I saw it at the cat café…it reminded me of you. I remember you had a pillow on your bed with an orca on it…so yeah. And you like cats, right? So…happy birthday. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Makoto’s slowly smiles as he watches the raven-haired teen rub the back of his neck nervously. The brunette walks over to Sousuke, briskly jumps up, and wraps his arms around the teal-eyed teen’s neck, hugging him while he holds the plush with one hand, “I love it. You should have given it to me directly. It really does suit me.” The brunette chuckles as he tightens his hold on Sousuke.

Sousuke wasn’t expecting Makoto to hug him suddenly, so when the emerald-eyed teen came into view, he quickly took a step back, and wrapped an arm around the brunette’s back to steady himself and the shirtless backstroke swimmer. The raven-haired teen feels Makoto’s smooth warm skin under the palm of his hand and an electrifying feeling courses through him.

The teal-eyed teen’s eyes widen, a blush staining his cheeks, and he can feel his heart rate increase at the contact between their flesh. He feels Makoto tighten his hold on him. He thinks, _‘whoa. This is unexpected. I was just…I thought that he would…I didn’t think this would happen. I, whoa! He has a strong grip.’_ Sousuke swallows as he says hesitantly, his voice staggering slightly, “uh…I-I’m glad you like it. Um…you…uh…like hugs, huh?”

Makoto realizes that he just hugged the raven-haired teen and slowly unravels his hold on Sousuke. The brunette accidently drops the plush as his hands sit on Sousuke’s shoulders. The emerald-eyed teen is met with uncertain teal orbs, and he can see a slight blush on the raven-haired teen’s cheeks.

Makoto’s lips part slightly as surprise overtakes him. He thinks, _‘whoops. That was impulsive of me. I was just so overwhelmed with joy…I just…I hugged Sousuke. Oh god…he looks shocked. Or is it that I hugged him too tight? Ah…I always forget my own strength…crap.’_

The brunette giggles timidly, “ah…I’m sorry. Too much? Haru always says I don’t know my own strength. I was just…I mean…I was just really happy…my fault. Sometimes I can’t contain myself.”

The brunette laughs at himself, but there is something else that has him feeling nervous. It reminds him of that sizzling jolt of electricity that he felt back at the cat café, when their hands briefly touched. Finally he realizes that he’s touching Sousuke’s shoulders, and that the raven-haired teen’s hand is on his bare back.

The brunette quickly let’s go of Sousuke’s shoulders and moves back a couple of steps, allowing space between them. Makoto rubs the back of his neck nervously with a deep red blush on his face, “ah…really sorry about the hug. I’m…really moved by you, Sousuke. You took me out, spent the day with me, and got me the cute kitty plush in an orca suit. You really made my day.”

Sousuke observes Makoto’s facial features when their eyes meet. He notices the glimmer in the brunette’s green eyes. For a small moment those emerald eyes held affection that quickly turned into astonishment. The raven-haired teen just watches the brunette apologize, and suddenly he feels a warm pressure on his shoulders leave.

When the brunette takes a couple steps away, the raven-haired teen’s hand gently falls to his side. Sousuke covers his mouth with the hand that he held the brunette with and stares at Makoto with ambivalence and wonder.

Sousuke swallows again, finding his voice, he puts his hand down and says, “I really am glad, Makoto. You don’t have to apologize. I was just shocked. I don’t usually get hugs from people.”

Makoto smiles sheepishly and scratches his cheek, “ah…that’s ok. I’ll try and keep that in mind. I don’t want to make you uncomfor…”

Sousuke interjects quickly, “no. I didn’t mean that you couldn’t. It’s ok. Really, it’s ok…” The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen as he face palms with a small grunt. He realizes what he just said. He thinks, _‘what the hell am I saying? That makes it sound like I want him to hug me or something? I…I’m not sure what I’m trying to say…’_

Makoto chuckles lightly, “I think I understand what you’re saying. It’s really embarrassing saying these kind of things out loud.” Makoto puts his hands up gently waving his hands back and forth, “it’s ok, Sousuke. I…thank you for today. I really had a great birthday. I truly am grateful to you.”

Sousuke glances up at the brunette and stares at him momentarily, feeling his heart rate continue to race, he decides to just nod at the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto says shyly, “well…it’s late. I better head to bed.” He looks down and notices the cat plush on the floor. The brunette walks over to the cat plush, with his back to Sousuke as he bends down to grab the fluffy toy.

Sousuke watches Makoto walks over to the orca suited cat plush and notices the brunette bend down to pick it up. The raven-haired teen quickly looks away as he realizes that he was staring at the brunette’s ass. He inwardly curses himself for gazing at the emerald-eyed teen’s butt so blatantly.

Makoto turns around and says, “goodnight Sousuke. See you tomorrow.”

The raven-haired teen nods and says softly, “night. Sleep well.”

The brunette closes Sousuke’s door, heads into the guest bedroom, and closes his door. He leans against the door, feeling his heart beat start to slow down.

Makoto places the kitty plush over his heart as he gazes down at the adorably fluffy toy. He thinks, _‘What was all that? I hope I didn’t make things weird between us. Anyway, I’m surprised. I really thought I would be sad today. But…I’m not. Sousuke. For the longest time…I thought Sousuke and I would never be friends…but here I am in Sousuke’s apartment, having good times with him, and he even treats me like a true friend. He even came with me to Haru’s, and stayed with me during my chat with the gang from Iwatobi, and my family. I am spoiled. And now I have this cute kitty to remember all this. What a wonderful birthday…being surrounded by the people that care and love me…I couldn’t ask for anything more.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you so much for your support and patience in waiting for this chapter! It took a little longer than expected. I know this was a rather long chapter (about 70 pages on Word @.@) and it only covered 2 days -.-|| I was a little hesitant to do a scene via Skype between Rin and Haru, but I really wanted to show their relationship at the same time. I know that you guys probably wanted Takeshi to be completely out of the picture already, but I don't think that Makoto would have gotten into a relationship with someone who was a complete poop. 
> 
> Also if anyone knows what happened to Makkou after High Speed 2, please let me know ^^|| I might have missed it. 
> 
> Thank you again and best wishes!! (also the flu is awful! Please take care and stay healthy).


	9. Chapter 9

** November 19th, Wednesday, 4:48pm **

****

Makoto is leaning against the white wall with a red stripe inside the library, looking out one of the large glass windows next to him. The brunette placed his green backpack on the floor several minutes before and is currently waiting for the tall blond to arrive for their meeting.

The brunette got a text from Takeshi letting him know that he was going to be about 20 minutes late because he had to drop something off at a family friend’s place near Ikebukuro. The emerald-eyed teen knows that the blond had classes earlier in the day, so the coffee-eyed teen likely skipped class today if he’s going to be late.

Makoto crosses his arms as he continues to look out the window. He can hear the wind howl breezily against the door nearby, and he watches the multicolored leaves scatter around the concrete outside. It’s been windy all day, and he can see that it has started to rain gently. He sighs in relief as he remembered to bring an umbrella with him. It was a good thing Sousuke mentioned the weather this morning while Makoto cut up an apple for himself as a sad attempt of breakfast since he overslept and didn't have time for something more substantial.

The brunette takes the opportunity to think about the events that happened last night. He was packing all his stuff into his duffel bag when Sousuke walked in after his shower, asking the emerald-eyed teen what he was doing. Makoto remembers smiling at the raven-haired teen, thanking him for his hospitality, and telling him that he really should go back to his own apartment.

Sousuke frowned as he held his towel in place and said, “just stay until the weekend. Settle things with your ex before going back.”

Makoto is shaken out of his thoughts as he notices a young woman struggle with her umbrella before she was able to close it and walk into the library. Their eyes meet briefly as the brunette gave the young woman a small smile before returning to looking out at the rustling leaves through the window.

He remembers being shocked at the raven-haired teen’s statement. They had a bit of an argument as Makoto tried to persuade the teal-eyed teen that he would be okay back in his apartment, and that he didn’t want to intrude on Sousuke’s private space. Eventually the teal-eyed teen said, “I don’t want you to go, not yet.” After that, Sousuke eyes wavered temporarily as they met with green orbs. The raven-haired teen quickly turned around, giving Makoto a view of his back.

Makoto bites his lip as he ponders about that one particular moment. The brunette found himself scanning the defined back muscles of the sun-kissed tawny-peach skin before him, wondering if his back looked just as broad as Sousuke’s. As the brunette continued to stare at Sousuke’s back, his green eyes settled on the towel riding on the raven-haired teen’s hips and noticed how the towel outlined the top part of his ass. Makoto remembers shaking his head and looking away when he heard Sousuke’s deep voice say, “I’m worried about you. If you really want to leave, I won’t stop you.”

Makoto remembers being dumbstruck as he watched the raven-haired teen just shuffle out of the guest bedroom, closing the door gently. The brunette heard genuine concern from the raven-haired teen that pulled his heartstrings, and something else that the brunette couldn’t identify. They did share some very raw moments together, and it had a flavor of that, but something Sousuke wasn’t ready to say to the emerald-eyed teen, or something that the raven-haired teen had not worked out yet. Either way, the backstroke swimmer felt like he was missing something, and definitely didn’t want to leave Sousuke alone after that interaction.

Afterwards, he made some barley tea for Sousuke, knocking on his bedroom door and placing it on the desk as the teal-eyed teen was doing some exercises watching his form in the mirror. He told Sousuke that he will stay until the weekend and that he didn’t want to worry him or any of his friends.

Before Makoto could contemplate further, he notices a familiar white and red umbrella walking up the library stairs. The brunette unfurls his arms and picks up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders.

The brunette watches the blond press a button on the handle closing the fabric barrier of the umbrella. Makoto walks over to the door, standing in front waiting for Takeshi to come in. The blond is wearing a stripped black and white beanie, a white puffy jacket, a maroon colored scarf, two-toned fashion jeans that have plaid of white, grey and reds in the front, and solid black denim in the back, and dark brown combat boots.

Takeshi shakes his umbrella before opening the door and walking in to see Makoto standing in front of him. The blond notices that Makoto is wearing his black half-rimmed glasses, an olive green cargo jacket, a fitted black and pumpkin asymmetrical-thick stripped long-sleeved polo shirt, dark grey jeans, and charcoal grey, black and neon green sneakers.

The two teens stare at each other with uncertainty. Makoto had been feeling nervous ever since he got off work, but now he feels knots form in the pit of his stomach.

Takeshi breaks eye contact first, looking off to the side at one of the round bins near the wall that contained several umbrellas. The blond walks over to the bin and places his umbrella in it casually. He tilts his head back as he takes off his black and white beanie, looking over his shoulder at the emerald-eyed teen, “hey, Makoto. Sorry about the delay. Let’s check what’s available at the front desk.”

Makoto moves his head to stare into those coffee colored eyes, swallows slowly before saying, “yeah. Let’s do that.”

Takeshi looks down and sighs, taking the lead, he walks towards the front desk of the library with Makoto trotting a couple steps behind the blond. When they get to the front desk, the coffee-eyed teen asks the woman about the study rooms. The blond sticks the beanie in his jacket pocket as he loosens the scarf around his neck and takes it off.

Makoto remains a few steps behind the blond, worry gracing his features as he fidgets with his hands or rubs his forearm. The brunette shifts his weight from his left foot to his right foot as he waits for Takeshi to figure out which room they will occupy. The emerald-eyed teen starts thinking, “ _crap…I’m so nervous. Maybe this was a bad idea. I mean…maybe this will just end with us at each other’s throats or something. Shit. I’m really starting to panic about all this. Dammit. I need to keep myself together. We are just gonna talk. Just words. I can handle words.’_

The brunette notices coffee colored eyes looking back at him and he holds his breath. Takeshi says over his shoulder, “ok. We are in room two. Let’s go.” The blond leads the way while Makoto follows him preoccupied with his thoughts.

The emerald-eyed teen doesn’t pay any attention to his surroundings, he just continues to pursue Takeshi’s lead as he feels those knots in his belly tighten, leaving the brunette feeling anxious, afraid, and apprehensive of what’s to come.

They walk down a carpeted hallway in the very back of the first floor library, towards the dead-end of the hallway, Takeshi turns right as he grasps the door handle and pulls down opening it up wide.

The blond holds the door open for the brunette, “go ahead. You first.” Their eyes meet, dark brown clashing with emerald orbs; the brunette’s eyes waver under those coffee eyes that hold more confidence than Makoto feels at the moment. The backstroke swimmer swallows and nods, breaking eye contact as he heads into the small study room. 

In the middle of the study room is a wooden round table with three metal chairs with blue cushions, a white board hangs on one side of the wall. The room is small and the walls are bare. Makoto slowly walks over to the table, takes off his backpack, places it on one of the chairs, and unzips one of the compartments looking for his yellow eyeglasses case to put his glasses away.

Takeshi closes the door and watches the emerald-eyed teen’s back as he places his backpack on the chair, putting his glasses away. The blond quickly strides over to the brunette, places his hands on either side of the wooden table, pinning the emerald-eyed teen in between the blond and the table. 

When Makoto is done putting his glasses case in his backpack, he feels a pressure surrounding him. He looks over to the side to find Takeshi with a serious look on his face, and something else. The brunette’s eyes widen as he notices the blond leaning in towards him. Makoto’s turns his body so that his butt is against the table as his hands rest on Takeshi’s shoulders, gently keeping the blond from moving any closer. The brunette swallows as he averts his eyes, looking at the blond’s bicep covered with the white jacket.

The brunette exhales sharply, a flush staining his cheeks, “Ta…Takeshi. I thought…we were just gonna…”

The blond interjects in a low husky voice, “I know. But I can’t help myself. You look so damn hot today. I just want to strip you out of these clothes and do naughty things to you. You know…when you blush, it just turns me on more.”

Makoto’s fingers clench around the soft fabric of the down jacket Takeshi is wearing, shutting his eyes tightly, feeling his heartbeat race at the blond’s low voice, and a shudder goes through his body. The brunette feels his body react, feeling the beginning of some of their sexual encounters from the past start to overwhelm his senses in the present. The emerald-eyed teen bites his bottom lip trying to resist the temptation of pressing his body up against Takeshi’s and covering his mouth over the blond’s lips. He whispers, “please…don’t tempt me. Please…”

Takeshi moves his gaze down as his eyes wander over Makoto’s torso and the hem of the brunette’s shirt. He lifts his hand off the table, pulls at the hem of Makoto’s shirt and slips his hand under the asymmetrical stripped shirt and undershirt, pressing his thumb against the emerald-eyed teen’s warm flesh, rubbing his thumb over the side of the brunette’s waist. The coffee-eyed teen lightly moans as his appendage runs over Makoto’s skin, “you’re the one tempting me.”

The emerald-eyed teen’s face contorts into a mixture of pleasure, uncertainty, and fear as the blond caresses his flesh so tenderly. Makoto tries to bite back a moan as he softly throws his head forward until his forehead is met with Takeshi’s sturdy shoulder, feeling the fabric of the white puffy jacket on his forehead.

The brunette whimpers, as he continues to hold back moaning against Takeshi’s touch. He says timidly, “Takeshi…this is the best part of what he had. Please…don’t do this to me. It would be so easy…to run right back into this. But…then we would just make the same mistakes, at least I would. I don’t want to hurt you, not now, not in the future. If, if we are to move on, Takeshi…can you accept all of me?”

The blond stops his ministrations on Makoto’s waist, and just let’s his thumb stay still as Takeshi holds his breath, taking in the brunette’s fragile words. He can hear the emerald-eyed teen slightly panting on his shoulder and he swallows slowly. He sighs and says sourly, “Makoto…are we really just going to jump into your relationship with Haru?” 

The brunette piercingly exhales as he hears the slight bitter question come out of the blond’s lips. His heart sinks as he feels that the conversation became acidic so quickly. He grasps the white puffy jacket with both hands tightly as he says weakly, “eventually…we will have to talk about it, Takeshi. I want to hear what you have to say. I want to hear your answer so badly. You said that you wanted to tell me your real feelings. I know you like me, everything we’ve been through tells me that, you have told me that. I’m afraid, Takeshi. That everything we had was a lie. That somewhere deep inside…you really don’t like me at all.”

Takeshi is taken aback by Makoto’s words, he feels himself stiffen and panic. The blond moves his hands to grasp the brunette’s shoulders and lightly shakes him, “Makoto. Look at me.”

The emerald-eyed teen frowns, keeping his head down, refusing to meet those coffee colored eyes as he’s being shaken casually. Makoto’s hands loosen around the white fabric, slides off the slippery material, falls to his sides, gripping the edges of the round table supporting his weight. The brunette feels his eyes start to water, but bites his tongue to keep the tears from streaming down his face.

The coffee-eyed teen tilts his head to the side, moving his body downwards to catch a glimpse of the brunette’s beautiful green eyes. Unable to get Makoto to look at him, Takeshi gently cups the brunette’s cheeks in his hands, guiding the emerald-eyed teen to face him by raising Makoto’s head upwards.

Takeshi stares at Makoto’s facial features and he can clearly see the brunette furrowing his eyebrows, eyes shut tightly, and his lips pressed together. He sighs silently as he realizes that he has deeply hurt the brunette. He says delicately, “Makoto. Look at me. I want to see your eyes, ba…” Takeshi inwardly curses himself, and frowns slightly, exhaling irritatingly at himself. He continues softly, “Let me tell you.”

The backstroke swimmer feels so fragile and unwanted but when Takeshi cups his cheeks and lifts his head up, he holds his breath fearing the worst. Hearing the blond talk so sensitively and holding him so adoringly makes him feel warm and cared for. Then he hears Takeshi almost call him something so affectionate, his heart yearns for that sentiment, but he can hear the blond chastise himself for almost saying it, and he swallows down the fear that had overtaken him before. With Takeshi’s encouraging words, Makoto opens his eyes to delve into those coffee colored orbs above him.

Their eyes meet, green and dark brown clashing together. The brunette gazes into those coffee orbs with as much clarity he can muster, to let the blond know that he is ready to take on anything he has to say to him.

Takeshi gently grazes his thumb against Makoto’s cheek as he smiles softly, “you really have the most beautiful green eyes I’ve ever seen, Makoto. I…I realized…after you left my apartment, that I made a huge mistake.”

The blond frowns, closes his eyes briefly and shakes his head before opening his eyes again with a regretful gaze, “no…not just a huge mistake. A lot of mistakes. I should never have let you leave like that. I should not have said those things to you…I wasn’t completely honest. I could never…ever hate you. Never, Makoto. I said all that because…I didn’t want to admit something to myself.”

The brunette looks up at the blond with uncertainty. He can see those coffee colored eyes waver above him. Makoto raises his hands up to gently hold unto Takeshi’s wrists, softly he massages the blond’s wrists as a means of encouragement. He says shyly, “tell me. What is it?”

Takeshi sighs shakily, washing warm breath over Makoto’s face. The blond’s hands tremble slightly as the coffee-eyed teen starts to say, “I…I want to…tell you that I…umm.” The blond slowly bumps his forehead with Makoto’s, closing his eyes he says vulnerably, “dammit…I can’t get the words out. I wanted to say this while peering into your eyes, but I can’t. It’s too much for me, Makoto. So…so just listen. I don’t think I can repeat myself…so…you ready?”

The brunette feels fear bubble within him as he notices Takeshi’s trembling hands on his face. He was going to ask him something, but when the blond’s forehead came into contact with his own, he swallows feeling anxious. Makoto listens to Takeshi’s words, never has he heard him so defenseless, and it makes the emerald-eyed teen wonder what could make the coffee-eyed teen so flustered.

Makoto lets Takeshi’s words sink in as he continues to gently caress the blond’s wrists with his thumbs. The emerald-eyed teen exhales a shaky breath, looking down, “I’m ready, Takeshi. Tell me.” The brunette braces himself for anything. The uncertainty that builds between them continues to eat the atmosphere, making the air heavy around them.

Takeshi finally musters the strength to continue and says with conviction, “ok. Makoto…I am certain…that I have fallen in love with you. I don’t know when, I don’t know how…I just know that I am. I’m pretty sure…that’s the reason why I can’t stand the idea of you and Haru together in any way. You guys are too close, and it bothers me. I don’t just get jealous…I envy you two. I want what he has over you. I want us to be closer than any other relationship you have with anybody. I love you, Makoto.”

The emerald-eyed teen listens to Takeshi’s words and he feels like his heart literally stops beating. Makoto lets the words sink completely in his mind, in his body. His eyes waver as he tries to comprehend the meaning of Takeshi’s words, his feelings, his confession. The brunette swallows audibly, as he squeezes Takeshi’s wrists gently and tilts his head upwards yearning to meet those coffee colored eyes.

Takeshi feels Makoto’s movements, the pressure of the brunette’s forehead against his gone. The blond leans back, looking away from the brunette in front of him. He runs a hand through his hair as he focuses his gaze on the chair next to the brunette. The coffee-eyed teen unzips his white puffy jacket, feeling hot all of a sudden, the blond takes off his jacket and plops it on the table before pulling the back of the chair and sitting down.

The coffee-eyed teen rests his elbow against the table, rubbing his temples with his middle finger and thumb as he sighs, “I don’t expect you to say anything right now. You asked me if I could accept your relationship with Haru. I can accept your friendship with him, like what I think a normal friendship is, yes. But…”

Makoto watches Takeshi back away from him and sit down next to him. The brunette can’t see his eyes, but he can sense the defeated sound in his voice, and posture. The emerald-eyed teen interjects, “wait. Don’t say anything more. Not yet. Let me process what you said before.”

Takeshi listens to Makoto, and sighs, whispering, “fine.” He closes his eyes and continues to rub his temples.

The brunette says softly, “you…love me. That’s what you said…”

The blond gets up and grasps Makoto’s black polo shirt collar and says, “don’t make me say it again, Makoto. I…”

The emerald-eyed teen places a hand on Takeshi’s collarbone, stopping them from clashing harshly as he interrupts, “Takeshi! I’m not asking you to say it again. A simple yes or no will suffice. Let…”

Before the brunette could finish his sentence, Takeshi grasps Makoto’s wrist on his shoulder and leans in as he pulls Makoto’s polo shirt closer to him, enveloping his mouth over the brunette’s lips. Takeshi takes advantage of the emerald-eyed teen’s parted lips, and thrusts his tongue into Makoto’s hot cavern.

Makoto was not expecting Takeshi to possess his mouth so mercilessly. The brunette moans as Takeshi intensely overtakes the pace of the heated kiss, the hand around his wrist tightens and the brunette struggles to get out of the blond’s hold. He tries to push the coffee-eyed teen off him with his other hand, but is met with an indomitable force as Takeshi refuses to be pushed off. The kiss escalates to one of urgency and desperation.

The brunette is overwhelmed as he realizes that the blond is demanding the emerald-eyed teen to see how much he needs this, the physical closeness. Makoto breaks the kiss by pushing harshly with his free hand and moving his head to the side at the same time.

The two teens pant wildly. Takeshi mumbles curses under his breath. Makoto pulls his hand away from the blond’s grasp as he places his hand over his mouth loosely. He looks down, licks his lips gently, tasting the blond on his lips, he continues to pant, “Takeshi…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you. I hear you. I see. You love me. But…I’m not…”

The blond let’s go of the brunette, walks a few steps away from him, his back to the emerald-eyed teen as he rakes his hand through his hair, “I know. You’re not in love with me. I remember what you said when you called me. That you could…’could’…fall in love with me. And you went on and on about Haru, I get it! He’s important to you, that…”

Makoto can hear the desperation and pain in Takeshi’s voice. The brunette feels his heart twist hearing such suffering come from the blond that he gets up and grabs his shoulder, turning the coffee-eyed teen around to meet his emerald gaze as he firmly places both his hands on Takeshi’s shoulders, “Takeshi. Stop. Just stop for a moment. Please. Let me say something!”

Takeshi just stares at the brunette before him, shock written all over his face. The blond looks away, not wanting to meet those green orbs, “fine. What?”

The emerald-eyed teen sighs and says strongly, “Takeshi. I am so very happy to hear you confess your true feelings to me. How I wish I could return your feelings. But…if you’re saying that I have to change in order to keep you…that I have to change the way I am with my close friends, I can’t. That’s not me. I love my friends.”

Takeshi scoffs and throws his hands up and around to break the hold Makoto has on his shoulders. He frowns as he takes a step forward, their chests clashing lightly as he says with affliction, “dammit! Did you hear what you just said!”

Takeshi grasps Makoto’s polo shirt again, bringing their faces closer together as he says irritably, “you love your friends. But you don’t love me. Don’t you see? That doesn’t make any fuckin’ sense. I’m your damn boyfriend. And you put your friends before…”

Makoto grasps Takeshi’s wrists around his collar and squeezes harshly as he says painfully, “wait a damn minute, Takeshi! I wasn’t done! You say you love me, but you can’t stand the way I am with my friends. How can you discriminate? That part is also ‘me.’ That is a part of who I am. I can’t change that part because I like the way I am when I am with my friends. My friends love me unconditionally, just as I do. I really could have fallen for you Takeshi! But you get so damn impatient! Maybe things would be different if you accepted my friends! Maybe I would love you now!”

The brunette’s eyes widen as that last sentence is finally said, and he covers his mouth in disbelief. He thinks, ‘ _I…shit. I shouldn’t have said that. That was not fair.’_

Takeshi let’s Makoto go forcefully, turning away from him as he takes deep breaths and runs both his hands through his blond locks. That last bit stung deeply.

Makoto is thrown back a little, he stumbles a bit as he gains hold of his footing. The brunette hugs himself, rubbing his arm up and down. He says carefully, “I…that wasn’t fair. I shouldn’t have said that last part. Look, I have an idea why you don’t understand how close friendships can be. I remember those times when we would stay up late and talk about things. I remember how you told me that you constantly moved from place to place. Never staying in one place any longer than a couple years. I remember how you said that you would make friends easily, but that you never could keep the long distant relationship. You told me you never had a best friend, and that your parents were always busy with work…that you learned how to take care of yourself without relying on anyone. I can never know what it was like growing up like that…my experience is different…”

Takeshi stops running his hands through his hair sometime during Makoto’s words and listens closely. He drops his hands to the side, tilting his head to the side as he allows the information to sink into his mind. He thinks, _‘he remembers all that? All those stupid things I said about my past. Wait…he was trying to understand me? Even then?’_

The blond turns around, keeping his eyes downcast towards the floor as he interjects, “yeah. You always have friends around you, and that Haru was always with you. That Haru is your childhood friend. That you have a group of friends who are important to you…”

Makoto stares at the blond in front of him, as the coffee-eyed teen recalls some of the things he has mentioned during those long night talks. The brunette’s eyes waver as Takeshi remembers the things he had said, things that he said from his heart…it moves him. The emerald-eyed teen says softly, “those friends are like family to me. We are so close…they have shaped me. I am who I am because of my friends. They are a part of me, Takeshi.”

The blond looks up to meet soft emerald eyes. Takeshi gazes into those beautiful green eyes, and for the first time, he has a better understanding of what those words mean. The coffee-eyed teen has heard these words so many times before but he didn’t listen to the meaning within those words. He thinks, _‘why is it now that I get it. Makoto has said those words so many times, and only now…I get it. Shit. The past two months…I wasted the past two months because I didn’t care to listen to the meaning behind those damn words. He meant that his friends are literally a part of him, not just people that helped him discover who he is. Not people who he can waste time with. Not people who he can share his interests with, or just do stupid stuff with. He meant more than that, like bonds. Dammit.’_

Takeshi looks away and crosses his arms, “shit. You mean you have strong bonds with your friends. They aren’t just friends to you. They are special, like family.” The blond softly mutters, “meaning you won’t give up how you spend time with them because it’s years of build up between you guys. A deep connection. I have never experienced anything like that…”

Makoto walks over to the blond and stands just a step away from him and says vulnerably, “I wanted to show you, Takeshi. I wanted to show you how to have that deep connection with others. It’s magical…captivating…endearing. It’s beautiful. I know it’s hard to understand, and maybe it’s because I come from a small town or something…but I want to share that wonderful feeling with others. Friends, family, acquaintances, children, elderly, adults…everyone. Everyone deserves to feel good inside, even a smile can change someone’s world view, even if it’s only for a moment. I wanted to share that with you.”

Takeshi side glances over at the emerald-eyed teen and sees magnetism, reverence, and compassion in those beautiful green eyes. He turns his head fully to stare into Makoto’s glistening eyes, and it makes him feel warmth grow in his chest. He whispers, “you have no idea…what you do to me. Maybe I am more selfish than I care to admit. Honestly, I just want to keep you all to myself. I’m not good at sharing. If you share so much of yourself, Makoto…you can’t guarantee there is enough room in your heart for me.” 

Makoto’s eyes widen, and his lips part as he let’s Takeshi’s words sink in. He thinks, _‘keep me all to himself? Again, keeping me all to himself. That’s not possible, not for me. Wait, I know he’s not good with trust…but somehow I was able to gain his trust so quickly. Why? Is it because…from the beginning, he wanted me more than just a friend or study buddy? How, did I not see this before? He trusts me, but not enough to let me be with my friends and maybe others? He’s more possessive than I thought. Takeshi, the heart grows…there will always be enough room.’_

The brunette’s eyes become despondent as he asks gently, “Takeshi. What is it that you want in a romantic relationship? Tell me.”

Takeshi raises an eyebrow and says naturally, “that’s easy. I want someone I can share everything with, to be loved and love in return. Why do you ask?”

Makoto looks away, remembering that Sousuke was the one that asked him that question. He thinks, _‘it’s similar. His answer and my initial answer. But, Sousuke pushed me and my answer changed. He knew…Sousuke knew then, that day when he came over to my place to pick up his phone…that Takeshi was getting close to crossing my line. Did Takeshi cross that line after all?’_

The brunette sighs and says softly, “someone asked me that question. My answer was similar to yours, but…instead of sharing everything, I wanted everyone I love to get along. That person pushed me further. My answer changed. I told him that trust was important to me. That my friends are important to me. That I will never choose between my friends and my boyfriend. That I will never abandon my friends, and I know with absolute certainty, that they would do the same for me. That I need my boyfriend to understand that and to respect my choices. I wonder, if our needs are different.”

Takeshi stares at Makoto and he says weakly, “what are you saying?” He walks over to the brunette, hooks his pointer finger and thumb under the emerald-eyed teen’s chin and gently guides Makoto to meet his coffee colored gaze, “what are you saying?”

Makoto meets those dark brown eyes and sees ambivalence deep within those dark orbs. He says with a broken voice, “Takeshi. I can never give you my heart if you choose to disregard my friends. That means…I can’t give you my heart if you can’t accept Haru. And he’s not the only one. My group of close friends… Rin, Nagisa, Rei, Gou, Kisumi and…Sousuke. You said you wanted someone you can share everything with…to keep that person all to yourself.”

Takeshi frowns and says forcefully, “wait. You’re telling me that I will have to share you with all these people, not just Haru?”

Makoto closes his eyes, and a painful expression graces his features as he hears Takeshi’s harsh voice pierce his ears. He swallows slowly, opens his eyes and says boldly, “yes. Not just Haru.”

The blond scoffs loudly, let’s the brunette go as he turns his back on the emerald-eyed teen, and clenches his fists harshly, “how come I’ve never seen these people?”

Makoto looks down sadly and says, “most of them are not here, in Tokyo…they live in Iwatobi or…”

Takeshi glances at the brunette over his shoulder, “how will I know…that you won’t be…’doing things’ with them?”

The brunette walks over to the blond, gently grasping the coffee-eyed teen’s wrist, and stares at him with clear, unequivocal eyes, “you want an honest answer? You don’t. That’s when trust comes into the picture. To trust another, you have to relinquish control, to rely on the other, to confide in me to do right by you. To believe in my character and integrity to follow my values, and our values. It’s a scary thing sometimes...to trust another person. I have learned to trust others by exposing myself to possible pain, to accept that I may get hurt. But…when people show me through their actions and words that I can rely on them, it’s one of greatest honors in the world.”

Takeshi frowns, not liking the answer, “if that’s the case, I don’t trust anyone. And you’re saying that you need my trust?” The blond grasps Makoto’s wrist that was hanging by his side. Takeshi brings his arm up as he stares into those green orbs, “even though I confessed my love for you, it means nothing! Is that what you’re saying?”

Makoto’s eyes waver under those clouded dark brown eyes. A gasp escapes his lips when Takeshi mentions his confession, and his green eyes start to water, threatening to fall down his face. He says with a fragmented voice, “Takeshi. I…no. You loving me…it means a lot to me. It really does, Takeshi. I want to give you my love, I want to reciprocate your feelings. But…my needs are not…”

Takeshi’s grip on Makoto’s wrist loosens as his eyes are cast downwards. He says with a vulnerable voice, “so…that’s it, huh? You won’t let up at all. Not even for me.”

Makoto’s tears fall down his face, and a painful sob escapes his lips as he hears Takeshi speak. This isn’t what he wanted to do. This isn’t what he wanted to see. The emerald-eyed teen tries to control his sobs from escaping his lips, but they come out anyway. He shakes his head, grasping Takeshi’s shirt with his hands, and rests his forehead on the blond’s chest, “Ta-Takeshi. I…I would try again. I want to. But I need you to accept…accept my friends. Please…”

Takeshi looks away, listening to Makoto sob on his shirt. He says without much thought, “you asked me, how long I’ve been doing things. I’ve been seeing Sugawara for three weeks. Kurosawa for a week and a half.” The blond huffs listlessly and says, “forget it. I shouldn’t have mentioned that.” 

Makoto stills as he hears Takeshi’s admission. He thinks, _‘wha? Did I hear that right? Did he say, three weeks? Kurosawa? The guy at his apartment? He, he really was cheating on me before…before…the break.’_

The brunette takes a step back, head hung down, slowly his grip on Takeshi’s shirt slackens and Makoto’s hands fall to his side as he says vacantly, “you cheated on me? When were you going to mention that? Or were you going to keep that to yourself if I decided to give our relationship a second chance? You know what…I don’t want to know. It doesn’t matter.”

Makoto walks past Takeshi towards the chair with his backpack, picks it up and slings it over his shoulders. The brunette says blankly, “it’s funny. If you told me about Sugawara before all these other problems…I would have forgiven you and given you a second chance. Because everyone makes mistakes. I would have given you my trust again even though you hurt me. But, I can’t do that. Not with everything else, Takeshi. I’m not the right person for you. I wish I could give you everything you need…without sacrificing a part of myself.”

The blond is stunned by Makoto’s words, turns around and grasps the brunette’s shoulders, forcing the emerald-eyed teen to face him. He shakes the backstroke swimmer and says in a panic, “wait. Makoto. Stop. Don’t do this. We don’t have to end this…”

The brunette grasps Takeshi’s wrists and pulls them down to their sides. He says woefully, “Takeshi. Answer me two questions. What are the reasons you pursued Sugawara and Kurosawa? And…will you accept my relationship with all of my close friends?”

Takeshi stiffens at the two questions presented to him. He tries to break free from Makoto’s grasp on his wrists, but the brunette doesn’t release his iron grip. The blond tries to look at the brunette’s eyes, but the emerald-eyed teen remains unfazed and refuses to look up at the coffee-eyed teen.

Silence engulfs the two teens for several moments. Makoto patiently waits for the blond to speak and answer the questions that hangs between them. The emerald-eyed teen continues to look down at his own shoes, refusing to meet those coffee orbs.

Takeshi sighs and says in surrender after several minutes, “fine. She offered herself to me. It was after one of our fights about Haru. I was angry, and in the moment, I thought it was a good idea since I was horny anyway. As for Kurosawa, we never had sex, just fooled around. I missed having a cock around, and he was hitting on me. Look, it was all a bad idea…this is what I regret doing. It’s not like we did it everyday or anything. It was only a few times, that’s it.”

Makoto’s grip on Takeshi’s wrists tightens slightly as he hears the blond’s reasoning. He says through gritted teeth, “what about my friends?”

Takeshi frowns, not wanting to answer the question. He says, “Makoto, I don’t want to answer this question.”

The brunette looks up with tear stained cheeks and an empty gaze, “answer the question. I won’t let you go otherwise.”

The blond's frown deepens as he peers into Makoto’s empty green eyes. He says in a whisper, “Makoto. Don’t.”

The brunette’s gaze turns into a sharp angry glare as he says peevishly, “If you don’t answer the question, Takeshi. I will assume the answer is no.”

Takeshi huffs and looks away. He tries to pry himself off of Makoto’s grip, but the brunette still has an impregnable hold on him. He says irritatingly, “sometimes you don’t want to know the answer.”

Makoto’s eyebrows furrow as he says harshly, “I heard the answer to the first question and that was something I didn’t need to know the answer to. This second question is important. I want your answer.”

The blond glares at the brunette and says, “I refuse.”

The emerald-eyed teen let’s Takeshi go roughly and watches the blond rub his wrist with his hand as he says with anguish, “so, you refuse to answer. I assume that means no. You won’t accept my relationship with my friends. I was hoping we could end this amicably. I’m…going to miss you Takeshi.”

Makoto quickly heads to the door, grasping the doorknob and says with remorse, “I truly am sorry, I couldn't return your love, Takeshi. I hope you find someone who will give you everything you need.” The emerald-eyed teen turns his head to look at the surprised coffee-eyed teen. He thinks, _‘good-bye Takeshi.’_ He gives the blond a sad smile before pushing the doorknob down and walking briskly out of the hallway of study rooms.

The brunette wipes his face as he walks past the front desk of the library. As he approaches the front glass doors of the library, he notices that it isn’t raining anymore, and just bolts out of the library, descending down the staircase rapidly. He thinks, _‘I want to get away from here. I can’t believe this. I’m an idiot. What did I expect? Of course we would be discussing our relationship. But…I was thinking of getting back together. Didn’t I say that…or did he say that it wouldn’t change the status of our relationship when we talked? But then we talked as if we were…were trying to make-up in some way. Ugh…I feel so…stupid.’_

Makoto briskly walks towards the front of his campus and turns right, heading to the train station. The brunette walks a couple blocks before he finally hears, “Makoto. Makoto.”

The emerald-eyed teen stops in his tracks and turns around to find Haru jogging up to him. The brunette tilts his head to the side, confused as to why the navy-haired teen is trying to catch up to him. Makoto says curiously, “Haru? What are you doing here? I thought you had class.”

Haru stares at the brunette carefully, noticing the slight redness in his eyes as if he cried recently. He says blankly, “I skipped econ. I waited for you in front of your campus. But…you didn’t hear me.”

Makoto’s eyes widen and he frowns, “Haru! Don’t skip class. Not on my account anyway.” He smiles gently at the navy-haired teen, “thanks, Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen’s eyes waver slightly at the brunette. He thinks, _‘he hurt you again. You gave him a chance to explain himself, and he hurt you. Makoto…I’m sorry.’_ Haru wraps his arms around the brunette’s waist and hugs him firmly.

Makoto looks down and watches Haru with astonishment. The brunette smiles and laughs slightly as he wraps his arms around the navy-haired teen’s back, “thanks, Haru. I need this.”

The free-swimmer unravels his arms around the brunette’s waist, grasping Makoto’s hand, “let’s go…to Yamazaki’s. I’ll make dinner.”

The brunette heard an undertone of satisfaction in Haru’s voice, which can only mean one thing. Mackerel. Dinner will contain some kind of mackerel. Makoto shakes his head as Haru drags him towards the train station.

For once, the brunette doesn’t chastise the navy-haired teen for his plans to make mackerel; in fact, Makoto is looking forward to the oceanic flavor, the crispy skin, and the tender, flaky texture of Haru’s favorite fish.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** Wednesday, 8:57 pm  **

****

Sousuke gets out of his father’s company car, closes the door and heads into his apartment complex. He walks over to the concierge area, and notices Oda is already working for the evening.

He smiles at Oda, “Good evening, Oda-san. You’re working early tonight.”

Oda looks up from the book he is reading and smiles at Sousuke, “Yamazaki-san. Good evening. Yes, I switched shifts with Ueno-san. Tachibana-san and a friend of his are upstairs.”

Sousuke chuckles, “thanks Oda-san. Tachibana’s friend texted me about that. They were waiting for me to come home.”

Oda smiles and nods at the raven-haired teen, “please have a good night, Yamazaki-san.”

Sousuke smirks and says, “I will. Have a good night, Oda-san.” The raven-haired teen waves to Oda before heading to the elevators leading up to his apartment. 

As the teal-eyed teen enters the elevator and hits the button to his floor, he gets a text from Yumiko.

[To: Sou-chan

From: Yumiko

Sou-chan! I hope dinner was okay without me. T_T Sorry I couldn’t be there with mom and dad. At least you didn’t have to dress up all fancy cuz mom made her special cream beef stew. Lucky bum! Mom hasn’t made that in ages, and she won’t forfeit the recipe. Anyway, just letting you know that I just got back from the date dad set up for me. The guy was a total snoozer. >.> I’m never seeing him again…he just wouldn’t shut up about all this hentai stuff. Seriously…there are more to girls than boobs and ass. I swear…if I catch another dude check out another girl while I’m their date, I’m gonna start smacking men around with my pantyhose or something. ]

Sousuke rubs his forehead as he reads Yumiko’s text. He thinks, _‘there are some things I’d like to know…and others I’d rather not. And pantyhose is not a weapon. If the guy is a pervert, he probably would get a kick out of that kind of thing.’_ The teal-eyed teen texts his stepsister back.

[To: Yumiko

From: Sou-chan

Good. Glad you are home now. If the guy was such a loser, then you should have come to dinner. Too bad. You missed out. Next time, just leave the guy. No need to waste your time on idiots like that. ]

The elevator door dings, and Sousuke puts his phone back in his blue jean pocket as he heads out of the elevator, walking down the hallway, opens the door to his apartment, closes the door, takes off his shoes and places his coat in the hallway closet.

Sousuke walks down the hallway and says, “Makoto? Nanase?”

Haru gets up and walks out of the dining room to greet the raven-haired teen. He says nonchalantly, “Yamazaki. Welcome home. Makoto and I are talking to Nagisa and Rei via skype. You want to join us?”

The teal-eyed teen shakes his head as he walks into the kitchen, “nah. You guys talk to your friends. How is he?”

Haru walks into the kitchen with Yamazaki, glancing over at the brunette on his laptop laughing with Nagisa and Rei, “I decided not to push it. He hasn’t said anything about it. I skipped class and waited for him at the front of his campus. I can tell…he cried.”

Sousuke pulls out a pitcher of water, and a tall glass to pour the liquid in. He sighs when he hears Nanase’s explanation, “I see. When he’s ready to talk, he’ll talk.”

Haru watches the raven-haired teen pour the water into his glass, lift it up to his lips, and take a long sip of his drink. The navy-haired teen wonders about his relationship with Makoto since the two have been living together.

The raven-haired teen polishes off the glass of water and pours himself another glass, he looks over at the sapphire-eyed teen and quirks an eyebrow, “what is it Nanase?”

Haru shakes his head and says languidly, “nothing notable. I’m going home now that you are back. I’ll say good-bye.” The navy-haired teen turns on his heel and walks out of the kitchen and into the living room.

The free-swimmer sits down next to Makoto and says firmly, “Nagisa, Rei…I’m heading home now. Don’t keep Makoto up late.”

Nagisa whines, “awwww…Haru-chan! No fair! We only talked for…” The blond checks his watch and says sheepishly, “over a half hour…ahaha.”

Rei frowns as he readjusts his glasses, “Nagisa-kun…you said you set an alarm. Our break is over. We need to go back to studying.”

Nagisa puffs out his cheeks and says, “awwww! Rei-chan is trying to kill me.”

Makoto chuckles and says, “Nagisa. If you listen to Rei, then maybe I’ll find you something special.”

Nagisa’s eyes light up, glistening with excitement, “Mako-chan! Seriously!? Will you get some special sweets! Strawberry would be perfect!”

Makoto smiles, “alright. I’ll make sure to bring you some yummy sweets when we see each other for Christmas. Ok? So, go back and study with Rei.”

Rei crosses his arms and says, “Makoto-senpai. You really shouldn’t spoil him with sweets.”

Nagisa says, “You’re horrible, Rei-chan!” The pink-eyed teen rubs his head on Rei’s back.

The brunette giggles at the sight. He remembers when Nagisa would do the same to him when the blond was frustrated. He says, “alright guys. See you later! Night.”

Haru says blankly, “night. Nagisa, Rei.”

Rei smiles at Haru and Makoto, “good-night, Haruka-senpai, Makoto-senpai.”

Nagisa waves as he says, “night, night! Mako-chan, Haru-chan!”

Makoto ends the call and closes the laptop as he turns to Haru, “you’re leaving already?”

Haru nods, “mmm. Yamazaki is home now. I should head back.”

Before the navy-haired teen begins to get up, the brunette wraps his arms around Haru and says, “thanks for today Haru! And for dinner. It was delicious.” The emerald-eyed teen unwraps his arms around Haru and watches the free-swimmer get up.

Haru nods with a smile, “I’ll see you later, Makoto. Call me if you need anything.”

Makoto gets up, pushing both his chair and Haru’s chair into the table before following the free-swimmer to the hallway. Makoto watches Haru put on his dark blue cargo jacket, sling over his light blue backpack on his shoulders, and tie his black and white sneakers.

When the navy-haired teen gets up, he asks with his back towards the brunette, “tell me one thing. Will you be ok?”

The emerald-eyed teen can hear the worry in Haru’s words and the memories of the event that took place before he saw his best friend start to pour into his mind. Ever since Makoto saw the navy-haired teen, he tried to forget what happened, he wanted to be with his best friend and turn a blind eye to his talk with Takeshi. For a while, Makoto omitted the event from his mind, but now that the sapphire-eyed teen asks him this question, the illusion the brunette had put up ruptures.

Makoto looks down, takes a deep breath, and smiles cheerlessly, “I will. I will be ok Haru.”

Haru’s back stiffens at the emerald-eyed teen’s response. It sounded hollow and dull. The sapphire-eyed teen shuts his eyes and balls his hands into fists as anger bubbles up. His face contorts with animosity as he thinks, _‘Ito. You hurt him again. I knew this would happen. I knew…’_

Makoto says firmly and somberly, “It’s over Haru. He and I…are no longer dating. He said what he needed to…and I said what I needed to. He answered some of my questions. I am sad…but I’ll get over it Haru. Please, give me time.”

Hearing the brunette speak solidly gives Haru hope that the brunette will be ok. The navy-haired teen unclenches his fists and turns around to face the emerald-eyed teen. He sees the backstroke swimmer looking down with a shattered spirit. Witnessing the brunette looking so sad fractures Haru’s heart. He says in a small voice, “Makoto…come here.”

The brunette registers Haru’s words, and without much thought he walks a couple of steps towards the navy-haired teen with a shaky sigh.

Haru looks up at the emerald-eyed teen with concern. He can see Makoto’s empty green eyes waver between melancholy and resolve of bouncing back to his usual self. The navy-haired teen lifts up one of his hands, caressing Makoto’s cheek tenderly and softly rubbing his thumb over the brunette’s cheekbone.

Makoto feels a gentle pressure on his cheek and he blinks his eyes slowly as he peers into Haru’s sapphire gaze. The brunette sees worry in those blue eyes, but not just worry; he sees tenderness, appreciation, and friendship. The emerald-eyed teen lifts his hand up and covers his hand over the navy-haired teen’s. Makoto squeezes Haru’s hand on his cheek and melts into the touch, closing his eyes, and relishing in the comfort offered to him.

The navy-haired teen observes the brunette cuddle into his hand snuggly and watches Makoto take comfort in his gesture. Haru lifts his other hand and places it over Makoto’s shoulder, gently pulling the brunette down towards him.

The emerald-eyed teen complies willingly, eyes still closed, he bends down toward the free-swimmer.

Haru gently places a chaste kiss on Makoto’s cheek, and rubs his cheek against Makoto’s. The navy-haired teen says with warmth, “I’m here, Makoto. All you have to do is call me…and I will come.”

The emerald-eyed teen smiles genuinely with a slight flush on his ears, and says with a bit of vibrancy, “thank you Haru.” Makoto moves away from Haru to peer into his blue eyes, “I will…when I need you.”

Haru nods with a small smile, “Yamazaki is here too. Talk to him if you need to.” Before Makoto could question him about his last statement, the navy-haired teen turns around, turns the doorknob, opens the door and leaves with a small wave.

Makoto watches Haru leave, and the door close as he is left with his thoughts. The brunette’s eyes were wide with shock at Haru’s last words. He thinks, _‘eh? Did I miss something between those two? Or is it that Haru’s worry for me trumps whatever dislike he holds for Sousuke?’_ The brunette lightly laughs at the thought. He wonders if Sousuke and Haru could eventually become friends of some sort. However he remembers that Sousuke is in love with Rin. Makoto’s smile fades into a frown. He thinks, _‘maybe friendship isn’t in the stars for Haru and Sousuke. They can be around each other…I wonder…how Sousuke is holding up being around Haru.’_

The brunette’s mind shifts to his talk with Takeshi as he thinks about love. Makoto closes his eyes feeling grief stricken as his mind plagues him with words said between him and his ex.

While Makoto and Haru headed to the front door, Sousuke drank another glass of water, refilling the water pitcher and putting it away. The raven-haired teen puts his glass in the dishwasher and as he closes the door to the dishwasher, he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He leans against the kitchen counter and fishes his phone out of his pocket.

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Yo! How was your dinner with family? Also, do you know where Haru is? He hasn’t been answering my texts. ]

The teal-eyed teen smiles gently knowing that Rin had texted him back. As he reads the message, Sousuke’s smile disappears and he huffs at the message. The raven-haired teen thinks, _‘Always 'Haru.' Is there ever a time you don’t think about him?’_ He looks around the kitchen and notices the room is clean, and that there are dishes in the dish drying rack next to the sink. He texts Rin back.

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

Dinner with family was crap. My dad invited an associate of his and his daughter. She kept talking to me, asking me too many personal questions. Besides the company, the food was good, and that’s about it. Haru is leaving my place now. He picked up Makoto after his talk with his ex. If you need to talk to him, call him. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Sorry about that man. That sucks. At least she wasn’t trying to get into your pants. And…shit! O_O That talk was today? ]

The raven-haired teen frowns at the comment about the girl he had met earlier today.

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

Wouldn’t surprise me. >.> Yes. That talk happened today. Call Nanase. He knows more than I do. ]

Sousuke hears the front door close, and he looks up and over towards the direction of the hallway after he sent his text to Rin. He waits a couple minutes for Makoto to appear from the hallway, but doesn’t see or hear anything.

The teal-eyed teen puts his phone back in his pocket as he lifts himself off the kitchen counter and walks over to the hallway. He takes a step into the hallway and looks down towards the front door. The raven-haired teen notices Makoto standing slightly to the side, in front of the door with his back towards him.

Sousuke walks over to Makoto and says, “Makoto? You ok?”

The brunette is pulled away from his thoughts as he looks over his shoulder to meet teal eyes. Makoto says softly, “Sousuke…I’m ok.” The emerald-eyed teen turns around and tries to give his trademark smile to the raven-haired teen. 

The teal-eyed teen watches Makoto and notices that the brunette is trying too hard to make him believe that the backstroke swimmer is ok. He raises an eyebrow and says, “you can’t fool me, Makoto. No matter how hard you try, I can see it all over your face.”

Makoto rubs the back of neck, looking away with a small frown on his face. He says dully, “yeah. Sorry. I meant no disrespect. I thought…maybe I could fool myself.”

Sousuke grabs Makoto’s hand and leads him away from the entryway.

The brunette stumbles slightly, catching himself from falling into Sousuke’s broad back. He wasn’t expecting the raven-haired teen to grab his hand and lead him into the apartment. He says with bewilderment, “Sou…Sousuke. Wha…what are you doing?”

The raven-haired teen says nothing, leading the brunette into the living room and stopping right in front of the coffee suede couch and says rigidly, “Makoto, sit.”

The brunette looks up at Sousuke’s profile with shock, “wait a minute. Why? What are we do…”

Sousuke glances over at the emerald-eyed teen with boldness, “sit down, Makoto. I’ll explain in a moment.”

The brunette’s mouth hangs open but he can’t seem to say anything under such a confident gaze. Makoto closes his mouth and looks away as he sits down without another word.

Sousuke waits a moment before heading towards the television in the living room. Makoto watches the raven-haired teen set up the T.V. for some videogame play. The brunette shifts his weight on the couch, sitting back into the solid plush and soft fabric underneath him.

The emerald-eyed teen presses his back into the couch, letting his head fall back slowly and allowing the cushy surface to cradle his neck and head. He closes his eyes briefly, taking a deep breath and just allowing himself to be one with the atmosphere around him.

As Makoto takes deep breaths, he notices that his energy level is very low. He’s not tired yet, but he feels like doing nothing. There have been a few handful of times when he felt down, but he always was able to pick himself up somehow.

Maybe the last couple of weeks are finally catching up to him. Or is it because he always had friends that he could depend on and distract him from becoming completely blue. But this, this kind of problem is different than every other kind of problem that he ever had to face. Takeshi, he wanted to keep him all to himself, separate him from his friends.

Makoto sighs deeply as he realizes that in a sense, he did separate himself from his friends. He didn’t tell them about Takeshi, leaving him to experience everything with Takeshi as something that was only for them. Makoto never told anyone about his relationship, not until Rin had asked about it during their skype chat. The brunette was always able to go to any of his friends and tell them about his problems. He wonders how this situation came to fruition considering the fact that he usually shares his thoughts and stuff with his friends so effortlessly.

Sousuke comes back with two Playstation 4 controllers, sitting down next to the brunette. Makoto notices the pressure of the seat of the couch shift, and he lifts his head off the back of the couch.

The raven-haired teen gently bumps Makoto’s knee with his, extending his hand with one controller in it as he says, “here. We are gonna play. I was gonna make you talk earlier, but I decided that I’d rather earn it. So, we will play _Guilty Gear_ , versus mode, five battle sessions. If I win the most battles, you talk. If you win, you choose what you wanna do. Fair enough?”

Makoto sits up, and takes the controller from the raven-haired teen. He looks to the side and glances over at Sousuke who is staring back at him. The brunette’s eyes waver slightly under Sousuke’s cool teal eyes. He thinks, _‘wha? Earn it? Wait…this reminds me of the times…when Sousuke and Rin would compete with rock-paper-scissors, well sort of. Sousuke…is this your way of diffusing the negativity I’m feeling?’_

The emerald-eyed teen smiles softly, a real authentic smile. Not like the one Sousuke saw just a while ago by the front door. The raven-haired teen holds his breath briefly at the sight of Makoto smiling gently.

Makoto looks down at the controller in front of him and says delicately, “thanks. I’ll take you up on your challenge. If I win…I get to cook you dinner before I leave this place.” The brunette looks back up at the teal-eyed teen with a devilish smirk on his features. He thinks, _‘Sousuke…you and Haru…just made this day more tolerable for me.’_

The raven-haired teen slightly moves his torso back with the brunette’s request if he wins. Sousuke’s lips part in shock, his eyes glisten in disbelief. He thinks, _‘whoa. Shit. I better win. For the safety of my kitchen and Makoto’s hands. Who knows what he will do in the kitchen. I’ve already heard that Makoto is no cook. Dammit. He got me good. I guess I’m never giving him full reign like that again. Not without some limitations. Ok. Winning is now my goal.’_

Sousuke composes himself and smirks at the brunette, “you’re on. But I’m not losing. Prepare to talk, Makoto.” The raven-haired teen loads the game on the T.V. and sets up the versus game sessions.

Makoto gives the raven-haired teen an amused smile before setting his sights on the T.V. and picking his first character. The brunette chooses _Faust_ and Sousuke chooses _Bedman_.

Sousuke wins the first battle session with _Bedman_ easily. The raven-haired teen raises his arm up with a fist in victory, “yes! I got this!”

Makoto furrows his eyebrows lightly and says, “you just got lucky. Choose someone else for the next one.”

The raven-haired teen chooses _I-no_ and Makoto chooses _Millia Rage_. The battle is close, and they have to fight a third round of their battle session. Makoto wins with just a sliver of health left.

Makoto sighs in relief, “Ah. I won. You almost had me that time.” He chuckles, “Looks like I’m one step closer to make you dinner, Sousuke.”

The teal-eyed teen grunts at the loss and playfully glares at the brunette, “we aren’t done yet, Makoto. I’ve got time to beat your ass.”

Makoto giggles as he chooses _Axl-Low_ for his third battle session. Sousuke titters at the brunette’s selection and says, “him, huh? Well then, I’ll pick…” The raven-haired teen clicks on _Venom_. 

The brunette wins victoriously with his selection and he slightly jumps in his seat when the announcer in the game claims _Axl-Low_ as the winner.

Sousuke clicks his tongue and bows his head downwards at his loss. He says with confidence, “you won’t win the next one. Shit. We are at 2 to 1. How the hell did you get so good with _Axl_?” Sousuke raises his head to stare at the brunette next to him, gently hitting his knee with the emerald-eyed teen’s.

Makoto gazes over at the raven-haired teen and chuckles, “I don’t know. Maybe he just calls to me. After all, I think he’s a cutie.”

The teal-eyed teen raises his eyebrows and says with amusement, “he calls to you? Seriously?” He ponders the rest of the emerald-eyed teen’s statement and says, “figures you’d like blonds…and a foreigner too.”

Makoto gasps at the incredulous statement from the raven-haired teen. He slightly flushes at the ears and says, “wa-wait a minute. What do you mean by that? I don’t just like blonds or foreigners. _Axl-Low_ has such an interesting plotline. He’s from England, got caught up in some time machine thing and went to the future. Now he just wants to go back to his time period. I think it’s sweet. Besides, he’s the only one wearing shorts…and…he has nice legs.”

Sousuke bursts out in laughter at the last admission from the brunette. He flings his body back into the couch, holding his stomach as his deep voice rumbles throughout the living room.

Makoto furrows his brows slightly as he watches the teal-eyed teen laugh at his comment. He watches Sousuke’s face, tilted back as he roars in laughter. The emerald-eyed teen pouts and grumbles cutely, “why is that so funny? I was being honest.”

The teal-eyed teen opens his eyes slightly and catches the pout on the brunette’s face. He lifts himself up from the couch and says in a joyous tone, “because…you were so honest. That’s why it was funny. You don’t hold back. I wasn’t expecting you to just state your attraction to a 2D character.”

The emerald-eyed teen flushes in complete embarrassment. He looks down to avoid Sousuke’s teal eyes and says in a small voice, “wha-wha? I…I didn’t mean…not like…oh my god! No…I mean…crap. It does sound like I’m attracted to a 2D character.”

Sousuke gently hits Makoto’s knee and says, “hey, if it makes you feel better, I used to have a crush on _May._ Not her physically…plus she looks too young…even if she is officially 22 years old. I mean her personality. She’s the kind of person who is vibrant, funny, and caring. She reminds me of…” The raven-haired teen looks down and curses himself inwardly. He continues a little more carefully, “someone. It doesn't matter. I just like her personality…that’s all.”

Makoto observes the teal-eyed teen and when he stops mid-sentence, the brunette knew who he was referring to. He thinks, _‘I’ve see you play ‘May’ before. And…it’s Rin. She reminds you of Rin…when he was younger. I agree, she kinda does. Rin used to smile all the time, and didn’t care about how stupid things sounded…he just said them.’_

The brunette nods and says, “it’s ok. I think I know what you mean. Well, let’s finish this.” Makoto chooses his next character and clicks on _Slayer._ Sousuke follows suit and chooses _May._

The brunette was a little preoccupied during the battle, and lost. He saw the raven-haired teen use move sets for _May_ that included her famous dolphin attack. It reminded him of Haru,the dolphin that _May_ uses. It’s a blue dolphin, just like the one that Haru uses during his soaking times in the tub.

He sighs in defeat, “ugh…I can’t believe I lost.” He wonders why he wasn’t trying as hard as he did the previous times. Is it because of what Sousuke said about Rin and _May_? Is that why he couldn’t muster his full strength to fight the 2D female character?

Sousuke does another victory cheer and says, “yes! We are matched now. Next one will be the deciding factor.” The raven-haired teen grins at the brunette.

Makoto chuckles nervously, “uh, yeah. Now I’m staring to get really nervous.”

Sousuke chooses _Sol Badguy_ for his last battle. Makoto quirks an eyebrow and decides to pick _Ky Kisuke_ for his last character. The two classic match-up characters for the final fight.

Sousuke glances over at Makoto and says, “oh? Ky, huh? Looks like we are going for the classic battle for this game. Alright, prepare to lose Makoto.”

Makoto laughs sheepishly as the fight begins. The battle was close. They end up doing a third round for the battle, and the brunette loses. Sousuke still had half his health in that last round, which makes the emerald-eyed teen pout dramatically and falls into the cushy couch beneath him. He says, “ugh…I lost. Guess I’m not making you dinner.”

Sousuke gets up and takes Makoto’s controller as he says, “alright, that’s that. No more videogames for tonight. When you have composed yourself, let’s talk about what happened today. I’m gonna put these away.”

The raven-haired teen walks away from the brunette, turning off the console and putting the controllers away. The emerald-eyed teen closes his eyes as he waits for Sousuke to come back over to the couch.

Before Makoto knows it, the raven-haired teen sits back down on the couch and says, “Makoto. Do you remember how we were sitting here not that long ago, talking about my dreams?”

The brunette’s eyes open swiftly as he lifts his head and looks to the side to stare at the teal-eyed teen next to him. Makoto sits up and shifts his weight, lifting his leg up on the couch in a cross-legged position while he places the other leg over his ankle. He faces Sousuke and drapes his arm over the top of the couch and says, “I remember, Sousuke. I wouldn’t forget something like that…it was so important for you, and for me. Why do you ask?”

Sousuke gazes into the brunette’s green eyes and says, “you told me not to deny my feelings. So, I’m asking you to do the same. It’s ok to feel sad, you know. Just, don’t bottle up inside…yeah. You know…I’m not good at this sort of thing.” Sousuke looks away briefly as he thinks, _‘actually…you didn’t say that while we were talking about my dreams. It was when we shifted the conversation to…well…Rin. My feelings for Rin. I wonder…if he caught that.’_

The brunette looks down as Sousuke talks, really taking in the teal-eyed teen’s words. Makoto smiles briefly and says, “we don’t have to do this, Sousuke. And…I don’t think you are quite accurate about that. I said that when we were talking about what I noticed…between you and Rin. About your feelings for Rin.”

Makoto takes a moment to collect his thoughts before he says quietly, “you know, I asked Takeshi the same question you asked me. About what’s important in a relationship. I thought about what you said that night at my apartment. About my standards, crossing my line. Did…did you know? Did you know then…that my relationship with Takeshi would end?” The brunette looks up to meet cool teal eyes. The emerald-eyed teen gazes into those greenish-blue eyes, losing himself in those clear and open orbs like an ocean that envelops you gently. 

Sousuke listens to the emerald-eyed teen talk. Surprise hits him when he realizes that the brunette had remembered the exact moment Makoto mentioned the denial of feelings part of their conversation before. He silently curses himself for not being straightforward, but he really didn’t want to say the words the brunette had said.

When the brunette mentions their conversation back at Makoto’s apartment, he takes in every word he says carefully. The brunette looks up at him and he can see those emerald eyes glimmer in uncertainty. He holds Makoto’s gaze wholeheartedly, not wanting to abandon the teen in front of him. He says gingerly as he coolly stares into those glistening green eyes, “it doesn’t matter what I think, Makoto. I asked you those questions because you were lost, and you asked me for guidance. All that matters is what you decide to do. You…”

Makoto interjects as he places his hand over Sousuke’s, squeezing the raven-haired teen’s hand that was resting on his thigh, “it may not matter to you, but it matters to me. You’re right about things being my choice, but I’m curious about your thoughts then. I want to know if I have turned a blind eye towards my friends…like Haru. Please…tell me the truth that you refused to tell me then.”

Sousuke frowns slightly and says firmly, “Alright. I’ll tell you, but first you have to tell me what happened. I’m not just going to give you my thoughts if things are still up in the air for you.” Sousuke places his other hand over Makoto’s hand and squeezes gently.

Makoto sighs as he looks down, taking his hand back as he rubs his neck nervously. He says sluggishly, “Ok. Where do I start?” The brunette closes his eyes as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He recalls the conversation he had with Takeshi. He remembers being nervous at first, and things were going well, or as well as it could have gone at the beginning. But somewhere along the line, the conversation went sour, and they argued.

Makoto takes in a shaky breath and says, “It started ok, at least civil. But things changed as we talked. He kissed me, and I think I let him eventually. I…I remember wanting to just let him give me a good time, forget all the bad stuff, and just immerse myself in all the good stuff we had. But, if I did that…our problems would just surface again at a later time. We talked as if getting back together was an option. He…he confessed to me.”

The brunette shrinks into himself, bringing his arms down to rub his arm in a self-soothing manner. He clutches the black fabric around his biceps and says in a broken voice, “he told me he loved me. He said that he fell for me. And…and I couldn’t return his feelings. How…how could I be so cruel? I couldn’t lie and tell him I had feelings for him. But, I rejected him. I…” Makoto wipes the tears that threaten to fall down his face.

Sousuke listens and watches the brunette fall apart in front of him. The raven-haired teen frowns deeply as he hears Makoto’s raw and rough voice fall from his lips as he spoke. He observes the emerald-eyed teen wipe his eyes and he shifts his weight to face the brunette. Just when the raven-haired teen was about to raises his hands to gently caress Makoto’s shoulders, the emerald-eyed teen speaks again.

Makoto gasps as he covers his eyes with his hands, continuing, “I told him, that I need things from him. To accept my friends, all my friends, and also trust to continue our relationship. We argued. He said he wanted all of me. I knew he has a hard time with trust, and sharing…but he said he didn’t trust anyone. He refused to answer my question, about my friends, but he was angry about sharing me with my friends. He told me about Sugawara and Kurosawa. That, that he fooled around with them. I told him I could have forgiven him, if he was just cheating, but…not with all the other problems. I, I left him. I told him it was over. I…I…”

Sousuke places his hands firmly on Makoto’s shoulders and squeezes gently. The brunette sobs brutally as he grasps Sousuke’s sweater in his hands and plops his head on the raven-haired teen’s shoulder. Makoto shoulders shake terribly as he continues to let all his sorrow pour over on the teal-eyed teen’s shoulder.

Sousuke firmly places his arms around the brunette, rubbing his back with one hand trying to comfort the emerald-eyed teen. He thinks, _‘what a mess. That damn jerk confessed. Makoto…shit. Just, let it all out then. I really don’t like seeing you cry. I can see why Nanase gets upset when you are not happy. Ever since I heard that he was pestering you, I had a bad feeling about the guy. Then seeing him at the café confirmed my dislike for him. I’m sorry Makoto. I really did believe that your relationship with that jerk wasn’t a good one. Maybe I’m being overprotective now, but even then he pissed me off and I didn’t even meet the guy. Dammit…you are too nice a guy to be with a prick like him. If Rin found out the details…shit…he would fly here just to smack that asshole.’_

Makoto whimpers harshly as he tries to control his sobs, “I’m…sorry. Sou…Sousuke. I’m…sorr…” The emerald-eyed teen clutches the raven-haired teen’s sweater tighter as he inwardly curses for not being able to apologize appropriately for crying in front of the teal-eyed teen. The brunette feels a strong hand rub his back soothingly.

The raven-haired teen says softly, “it’s ok, Makoto. It’s ok. Let it out. When you are ready to hear my answer, I will give it to you.”

Makoto tries to take a few deep breaths, but they come out as sharp gasps. He unfurls his hold on Sousuke’s sweater as he rubs his eyes and nose with his hand. The brunette tries to calm his nerves again by taking deep breaths, but this time he is able to swallow down the painful gasps that threaten to fall through his lips.

Sousuke gets up and grasps Makoto’s hand gently, “c’mon. Let’s wash your face with a warm towel. Sometimes that makes me feel better. Just having the heat on your face.”

The brunette doesn’t meet Sousuke eyes, he just nods in agreement. Makoto feels the raven-haired teen pull him up to his feet and lead him to the washroom. The emerald-eyed teen continues to rub his face with his hand, but when he feels Sousuke’s hand gently squeeze his hand, he looks down to stare at their connected hands.

When they get to the washroom, Sousuke let’s go of the brunette’s hand and says, “wash your face. I’m going to find a wash cloth for you.”

The emerald-eyed teen slowly turns on the water, adjusting the hot and cold knobs as he places one hand under the stream of water until it feels warm. Makoto cups the water in his hands, bending down as he splashes the warm liquid over his face and wiping his face with his hands. Feeling the warm water sweep over his face somehow calms his nerves, and he feels a little better as he continues the repetitive action.

He decides to actually wash his face with some face wash. He picks up a tube of citrus face wash and squirts the clear-yellowish tinted liquid into his hand. Makoto rubs the cleanser in his palms and lathers it all over his face before rinsing it off the face wash with warm water.

Sousuke opens a few drawers in the washroom and finally finds a couple of clean washcloths in the bottom drawer. He picks up the heather grey washcloth and closes the drawer. He gets up and turns to look at the brunette.

The raven-haired teen watches Makoto wash his face with some of the citrus cleanser by the sink and rinse his face gingerly. The teal-eyed teen notices how the water splashes carefully around Makoto’s facial features due to the brunette’s hand movements, and how the water falls from his face and down into the sink below. He notices how streams of water and rivulets fall from his nose, lips, and chin specifically.

Sousuke shakes his head lightly and extends his hand forward as he says, “Makoto, here.”

Makoto looks over at the teal-eyed teen and notices the grey washcloth in Sousuke’s hands. The brunette turns off the faucet and grabs the fluffy grey material from the raven-haired teen, closes his eyes as he rubs his face in the soft plush terry cloth with both hands. After he feels that most of the water absorb into the washcloth, he drops one hand and gently sweeps the soft cloth over his forehead, his cheeks, and neck.

Sousuke watches the brunette with a strange captivation. He notices how the emerald-eyed teen slowly pats and rubs his face with the grey cloth, gently soaking up the excess water on the backstroke swimmer’s olive complexion.

The teal-eyed teen’s lips part slightly as Makoto rubs and pats his neck tenderly. Something about the action just seems really alluring. The raven-haired teen tears his eyes away from the brunette, cursing himself for having inappropriate thoughts.

The raven-haired teen walks over to Makoto and says calmly as he extends his hand out to the brunette, “here. Let me warm up that towel for you. Just lean against the counter and I’ll place the towel over your face.”

Makoto opens his eyes slowly and is met with teal blue orbs. He nods as he extends his hand forward with the grey washcloth. Sousuke takes the grey material and turns on the faucet, submerging the balled up cloth under the spray of warm water.

The brunette turns until his butt is against the chilly marble topped sink counter, resting his hands on either side of him, gently clutching the side of the cool countertop. Makoto tilts his head back, looking up at the ceiling as he closes his eyes, taking a few deep breaths in hopes that he isn’t going to start crying again.

Sousuke turns off the faucet and wrings out the excess water out of the grey washcloth. He looks over to the side and notices Makoto’s closed eyes as he leans his back against the countertop. The raven-haired teen unravels the towel in his hands and says, “I’m going to put it over your face.”

The brunette was about to open his eyes, but decides against it, he nods gently and waits for the material to be placed over his face. Sousuke places the warm-hot towel over Makoto’s face smoothly. A small moan escapes the brunette’s lips, and the raven-haired teen turns around and leans his back against the sink countertop. He says softly, “It feels good, huh?”

Makoto relishes in the warmth that exudes from the towel over his face, allowing the slightly steamy cloth overwhelm his senses. He feels like he is being enveloped by a nice warm blanket that pulls out all of the coldness from his body. He mumbles, “mmm.”

Sousuke smiles to himself as he hears Makoto’s response. He says more seriously, “are you ready to hear my answer?”

Makoto sighs under the fabric and says softly, “yes.” The brunette swallows slowly, waiting to hear the raven-haired teen’s response to his question.

Sousuke rubs his neck and looks down as he answers, “I didn’t know that your relationship would end. However, I did speculate that your relationship with him wasn’t good. There were red flags that came up for me that night we talked at your apartment. It’s one of the other reasons I asked you to come to my place, besides doing it for Rin. I mean…”

The raven-haired teen sighs and says softly, “it wasn’t just what I knew that night. But also from what I overheard from your side of the conversation…with Nanase and your boyfriend that night you cried at your place.”

Makoto pulls off the grey towel off his face and stares at the raven-haired teen’s profile. The brunette asks, “red flags? You saw red flags?”

Sousuke glances over at the brunette and stares into those curious green orbs. He says mildly, “things that were warning signs. Waiting around for you, waiting in front of Nanase’s apartment, injuring Nanase, not listening to you, demanding things from you, and the way he treated Nanase at the café as well as me. He disregarded your friends…well Nanase. You aren’t a difficult guy to talk to, Makoto. So for you to have problems communicating with this guy, seemed a little off to me. You said that night that you needed him to accept your friends. Considering what he has done, he already said through his actions that he doesn’t care about them. I doubt he even apologized for punching Nanase in the face. If he didn’t apologize or didn’t feel any remorse about it, then his intentions were to harm him in some way. Not everyone is a nice guy like you, Makoto.” 

As the raven-haired teen talks, the brunette winces as the words sting him through his core. He shifts his eyes downwards towards his feet as he wraps his arms around himself, feeling a heavy sadness around his chest. He chuckles bitterly, “I see. I think I did turn a blind eye on too many things. I wanted to believe that everything would work out, that he would open up to me and my world. When we were together, everything seemed so good…but when others were in the picture…it just wasn’t the same.”

Sousuke walks over to the brunette and places his hands on Makoto’s shoulder gently. The emerald-eyed teen looks up with troubled eyes. The raven-haired teen says, “stop. You don’t have to do this right now. There’s only so much a person can take before one breaks down. You’ve been through enough for now. At least you know where he stands…and where you stand. C’mon, let’s head to bed.”

Makoto peers into those teal eyes and for some reason, he asks, “if I…if I had run back into his arms…forgiven him…continued our relationship….what would you think of me?”

The raven-haired teen stares into those uncertain and gloomy green eyes and says, “it doesn’t matter what I think. But, I’ll entertain this for now. If you were willing to give up everything that was important to you, and he made you happy…then I would say that you are in love with him. If you felt that deeply, then I guess I would be sad to see you go. Considering that he wants to keep you all to himself.”

Makoto’s eyes widen with shock and he says in a whisper, “you wouldn’t be angry with me?”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow and asks, “would you be angry at yourself?”

The brunette tilts his head in confusion and opens his mouth to say something, but closes it as the comment he was going to say was irrelevant to the question the raven-haired teen asked.

Sousuke heads to the door of the washroom and says, “c’mon, Makoto. Let’s head to bed.”

Makoto looks over at the raven-haired teen and says, “I’ll head to bed in a moment. I just want to moisturize my skin.”

The teal-eyed teen says, “ok. I’ll check on you before I go to sleep then.” Sousuke walks out of the washroom and heads to his bedroom.

The brunette sighs and looks down at the grey, now cold and damp washcloth in his hand. He thinks, _‘I’m overthinking things. Would I be angry with myself? I don’t know. It’s a good question. I’m sure Haru is worried. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.’_

Makoto turns around and places the washcloth on the marble countertop. He reaches for a white jar of moisturizer, unscrews the top, dips his fingertips into the white creamy lotion and rubs it into his skin. He closes the jar of moisturizer before he looks at his reflection in the mirror. He notices that he looks worn out and thinks, _‘Sousuke…you said something like…if I was willing to give up everything…then I’m in love with him. I wonder if that’s how you feel about Rin. You gave up your dream, or the small chance at your dream to pursue something else. Rin’s way of swimming. Did you think that too? Giving up everything important for Rin…the one you love?’_

The brunette sighs as he looks down at the white enamel sink and continues his thinking process, ‘ _Takeshi…he said he loved me. I told him what I needed, but he wasn’t willing to give up everything important for my sake, or whatever. I don’t know. He told me he loved me…it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t believe him. I’m sure he has his own definition of love. Ugh…Sousuke’s right. It’s time for bed. Too much thinking.’_

Makoto walks out of the washroom, turning off the lights as he heads to the guest bedroom of Sousuke’s apartment. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** November 21st, Friday, 9:03 pm **

****

Makoto locks the front door to the café, preventing any other patrons from coming in.

Kita places a hand on the brunette’s shoulder and says, “hey, Makoto. Why don’t you head out now. Watanabe and I can clean up everything. You’ve done enough for today.”

The emerald-eyed teen turns to stare into Kita’s violet eyes and says, “eh? But I can still finish up here.”

Watanabe leans over the counter and says loudly, “Tachibana-san! Don’t think I haven’t noticed…you have been down all day today, even yesterday when you were making up for Monday. We have the same history class and you were totally out of it during the lecture yesterday. Leave the cleaning to Kita and I. You go home and cheer up.” 

****

Makoto winces and sighs with defeat as his shoulders slump forward, “is it that noticeable?”

Kita takes the keys from the brunette’s hand and places it in his pocket. He turns the emerald-eyed teen around, placing his hands on Makoto’s back as he pushes the backstroke swimmer towards the counter. He says, “yes. But, it’s only because I’ve seen you work. You just seemed more sluggish than usual. Look, we all have our bad days. Don’t take it personal Makoto. You covered for me when I was tired last week…I’m returning the favor.”

The brunette doesn’t really fight Kita, instead he allows the shorter man to push him towards the counter, but he whines, “but…I want to work. I still have energy…plenty. I can’t have you…”

Once Makoto is close to the counter, Watanabe grabs the brunette’s hand and pulls him behind the counter, leading him to the door to the backroom, “no more buts, Makoto. Why are you so stubborn right now? Kita and I are just looking out for you. You look out for us…let us do the same for you, Tachibana-san.”

Watanabe tries to pull Makoto through the door, but the brunette stops and pulls the redhead towards him, “wait…hold on. I want to ask Kita-san something before I leave. Is that ok, Watanabe-san?”

Kita sighs as he crosses his arms and says as he looks away, “alright. What is it? And…I’d feel better if you call me Eiji. You know…since I use your first name.”

Watanabe’s green eyes widen and she pouts, “awww. You guys are going on a first name basis. That’s mean. I’ve known Tachibana-san longer!”

Kita scoffs lightly and says, “well, we aren’t on a first name basis, Watanabe.”

The redheaded girl gently pries herself off of Makoto’s grasp and lightly smacks Kita’s shoulder, “that’s different. I only see you here at the café when we are working.”

Makoto turns around to watch the two bicker about silly things and he chuckles lightly, raising one hand to cover the sound that escapes his lips.

Kita and Watanabe stop their bickering and look over to find Makoto laughing.

Watanabe smiles gently and says, “that’s the Tachibana-san I know. Alright, alright. I’ll let you boys talk for a little bit. Get out of here, so I can do my job right.” She winks at the tall brunette as she shoos the two boys out of the café and into the backroom, closing the door to prevent either of them from coming in.

Kita and Makoto walk over to the break room. Kita sits down at the table and Makoto walks over to the lockers inputting his combination into the lock.

Kita says as he crosses his legs and arms, “so, what is it?”

Once Makoto inputs his combination and pulls the lock down, he says, “I was wondering if you knew a substitute for cinnamon. I’m trying to make a friend a good cup of chai that meets his flavor criteria. He likes it spicy, and not too sweet. But I found out that he doesn’t like cinnamon. I tried taking the cinnamon out and substitute it with star anise, but he said it was missing depth, which I felt the same way. Do you have any ideas?”

The brunette opens his locker, placing his lock on the top shelf as he takes out his clothes to change into. He glances over at Kita and notices that the onyx-haired man who now has his index finger and thumb around his chin appears to be in deep thought.

Kita says after a few moments in a serious tone, “is it a specific kind of cinnamon? I ask because there are a handful of different kinds, and they are all slightly different. Not sure if you knew about that. Most stores will only carry a couple of them, and of course there are different grades too.”

Makoto sits down and takes off his work shoes as he listens to Kita’s explanation. He says curiously, “oh? Is that so. Well, I don’t know if it’s a specific kind of cinnamon. All I know is that he doesn’t like cinnamon flavored things…like cinnamon candy and whatever cinnamon he used for the cinnamon challenge.”

Kita frowns and quirks an eyebrow, “Hmm. Well if it’s the common kind of cinnamon, then it’s probably cassia anyway. Then in that case, you must be talking about _Cinnamomum burmamnii_ also known as Korintje cassia. Most likely grade C…well it could be grade B. The flavor that comes through with this kind of cinnamon is strong, astringent and can be bitter. Grade A isn’t as bitter. In fact it’s sweeter and has a milder taste…and it’s also more expensive.”

Makoto places his shoes in his locker, taking out his black sneakers. He gets up and starts to undo the waist apron around his torso, but when he hears some sort of technical term slip out of Kita’s lips, he stops and stares at the onyx-haired man with confusion. He thinks, _‘eh? Wha? Cassia? Wait…grades? There are different grades? This just got complicated…and it’s going over my head.’_

Kita pauses as he continues thinking and continues as he rubs his chin, “hmm. If he doesn’t like strong cinnamon flavor, then _Cinnamomum loureiroi,_ which is also known as Saigon cinnamon along with _Cinnamomum aromaticum_ or Chinese cassia are also out of the question. Hmm…of course those are less bitter varieties, but are very strong and spicy.

Makoto listens and tries to comprehend what Kita is saying. He thinks, _‘eh? Wait…I know Saigon cinnamon. Oh…not that. What is Chinese cassia? What is cassia!?! I’m so confused.’_

Kita uncrosses his legs and shifts his weight to cross his legs in the other direction as he continues, “hmm…I’m thinking the best choice would be _Cinnamomum verum_ also know as Ceylon cinnamon. It’s less sweet, more complex and has a slight citrusy undertone. It’s not the same as Korintje cassia, which is what most people know as ‘cinnamon’ flavor. Ceylon cinnamon is much more mild, has a delicate flavor, has a softer crumble to it, so it blends better. Also it’s low in coumarin, which is better for the liver.”

Makoto knits his brows as he continues to try and understand Kita’s explanation. He thinks, _‘ok, ok. So…Ceylon cinnamon. That’s what I should try. Eh? Couma…what?’_

Kita looks up to find himself starting into confused emerald eyes and he smiles softly, “ah. Sorry. Too many technical terms, I always forget to tone that down when it comes to food. I was thinking out loud. Long story short, I think you should try Ceylon cinnamon in the next chai you make. You know what, I can get you some. Ceylon cinnamon is not very common here in Japan, so I’ll give you some the next time we see each other.”

Makoto rubs the back of his neck and smiles sheepishly, “ah, Ki…I mean, Eiji-san you sure know a lot about food. I should have asked you in the first place. And, thanks Eiji-san. You’re the best!” The brunette smiles sweetly at the violet-eyed man.

Kita uncrosses his legs, gets up, walks over to the brunette to pat Makoto’s bicep a few times as he says, “no problem. Get out of here, and go home. I’ll see you next week.”

The brunette gives Kita his trademark smile before the short, onyx-haired man turns around and walks over to the door.

Kita turns the doorknob and pulls the door open, but before he continues to walk through the door, he turns his head slightly and says over his shoulder, “By the way…happy belated birthday. Watanabe told me your birthday was on Monday. Take care, Makoto.” He waves before the violet-eyed man leaves closing the door behind him.

Makoto watches the door close and chortles to himself. He continues getting out of his work clothes as he thinks, _‘Ceylon cinnamon. Thank you Eiji-san. I hope Sousuke will like it. I will find out when the time comes.’_

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** Friday, 11:10 pm **

****

Sousuke is in his bedroom, on his laptop reading an email from Nitori. The silver-haired teen was asking all sorts of questions in regards to diet and advice about how to keep Momotaro from bring back more beetles into the dorm room.

Sousuke sighs as he reads about Pyuunsuke #3, Kaburielle, and Date Masamushi. He face palms as he reads the silly names of the beetles Momotaro collects.

Before the raven-haired teen could reply back to Nitori, he notices that he has an incoming call on skype from Rin.

The teal-eyed teen answers Rin’s call, “Yo! Rin. What’s up?”

Rin appears on Sousuke’s laptop screen and he grins at the raven-haired teen, “yo! Nice to see you, man. I just wanted to check up on you. It’s been a while since we last skyped each other.” Rin reaches for his water bottle and takes a swig from it.

Sousuke smiles at the redhead, “how is your training? Keeping up?” The raven-haired teen shifts his weight on the desk chair in his room, resting his ankle on his knee as he leans back.

Rin clicks his tongue and says, “hey! I’m keeping up with my regimen. I’m doing really well over here. But I won’t know for sure until I race Haru.”

The raven-haired teen’s smile fades at the mention of Nanase. He turns his head to the side as he crosses his arms, “yeah. Well, make sure to keep up with your diet and exercise. And make sure to pay attention to aches and pains in your body.”

Rin moans as he slouches forward slightly, “Man! Still the worrywart, aren't you. I’m fine, really. I’ll make sure to pay attention to my body and all that wonderful stuff. Hey, um…I’m curious. How is Makoto doing? Your take on it.”

The teal-eyed teen shifts his eyes over to the crimson-eyed teen on the screen and says, “hmm? What do you mean? Haven’t you talked to Makoto?”

Rin huffs as he scratches his cheek lightly, “I did. Yesterday and today. He told me what happened…sorta. Just that he broke up with his boyfriend after the talk on Wednesday. I can tell he’s trying to be his usual self, but he’s a little off.”

Sousuke faces the redhead fully and says, “Rin, let him be for awhile. He just broke up with his boyfriend. It was devastating for him, his first relationship. I’m going to trust him to tell me when he needs my help, and if I see that he needs support, I’ll give it to him. I know you aren’t here physically to get that sort of reassurance, just have a little faith in him. Considering he was having a hard time getting out the door today and yesterday, I think he’s doing pretty well.”

Rin clicks his tongue, “alright, alright. Gee, you really are taking care of Makoto. I mean, I saw some of it…heard about it. But after hearing you say all that, I guess I shouldn’t worry so much. Just, Makoto can be a little gullible sometimes. That’s what I worry about.”

Sousuke chuckles, “he’s your precious friend, right?”

Rin huffs as he rubs the back of his neck, looking away from the screen, “well, yeah. Dude…you didn’t have to say it so bluntly. I mean, you are too. So, yeah.” The redhead blushes lightly after saying something so embarrassing.

Sousuke eyes glisten as his lips part slightly watching the beautiful redhead get embarrassed. The raven-haired teen chuckles at first, and then roars in laughter holding his stomach.

Rin turns his head quickly to stare at the raven-haired teen laugh, he frowns slightly, “oi. Oi. Oi! Stop that! It’s not funny, dude.” He sighs as Sousuke continues laughing, “dammit. If I were there, I’d kick you.”

Sousuke tilts his head back trying to cease his laughter. He runs his hand through his raven locks gently as his laughter dies down. He thinks, _‘damn. I think I’m still in love with him.’_ The teal-eyed teen moves his head downwards to gaze at the slightly peeved redhead in front of him. He says apologetically, “sorry. Don’t cry, Rin.”

Rin frowns with a slight pout, “I’m not crying. I have dry eyes.”

Sousuke titters lightly, “yeah, right. You’re crying on the inside, dude.”

Rin’s eyes go wide, glistening for a moment before he looks away clicking his tongue and crossing his arms, “Che. I’m not." 

Sousuke waves a hand in the air in defense, “alright, Rin. You’re not.”

Rin gives the teal-eyed teen his signature shark-like grin, uncrossing his arms, “reminds me of old times. I really miss you guys. I can’t wait to see you next month. Did you get things settled for the trip to Nagoya?” The redhead grabs the water bottle and takes another swig of the cool liquid.

The raven-haired teen nods once and says, “yeah. I worked it out with my dad on Wednesday. My stepsister was a little upset that I wasn’t staying in Tokyo. She’s planning on taking a trip somewhere with some friends.”

Rin tilts his head slightly as he runs a hand through his red locks, “Seems that you and your stepsister are kinda close. I can see why she would miss you, especially since you’ve always been spending the holidays with Gou and I…or with Gou during the time I was in Australia before. Anyway, did you think about what your plans are for the future? You know, a major?”

Sousuke scoffs lightly at the mention of Yumiko missing him. The caramel-eyed woman always pestered him about spending time with her during the holidays, saying something along the lines of wanting to have a family-like holiday. The teal-eyed teen frowns at the mention of a major. He thinks, _‘ugh…really Rin? I haven’t quite decided yet.’_

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath as he looks down into his lap, cracking his knuckles, “I don’t know yet. I haven’t thought about it really. I’ve been studying and dealing with doctors appointments, physical therapy, and the occasional rehab stuff. My dad thinks some kind of sports medicine career is best for me, but I know he wants me to go into business so I can partake in some position in his company. My stepsister suggested athletic training.”

Sousuke shrugs and continues, “I don’t know what I want.” He looks up to find Rin leaning forward in his chair, his elbow against the desk as he rests his chin in the palm of his hand.

Rin stares at Sousuke with seriousness and faith as he says, “I’m still waiting, for you Sousuke. I still believe in you. You’re still working hard on your shoulder. I just feel like somehow you will make it though if you want to swim.”

Sousuke closes his eyes as Rin says the last part of his sentence. He takes in the redhead’s words and hears the sincerity in the crimson-eyed teen’s voice. He takes a deep breath, longingly wanting to fulfill his promise to himself, his best friend, his…someone special. But that dream shattered a long time ago, there is no turning back. He remembers telling Rin that he would think about it, meeting the redhead on the international stage, but he only meant that half-heartedly. He didn’t want to make the crimson-eyed teen cry if he told him the truth.

Rin can see the raven-haired teen having a little internal struggle within himself, and continues gently, “are you still thinking about it?”

The raven-haired teen opens his eyes, uncertainty written all over his face, “I would be lying if I said I weren't. I do…want to swim. I really do, Rin. I have put in a lot of hard work just so I can get into the pool, but I haven’t gotten clearance from my doctor yet. I…have my doubts.”

Rin takes in a deep breath as he continues to peer into those teal orbs, “I know. I see it in your eyes, Sousuke. I will wait for you, no matter what. Even if you decide to do something else, I will always wait for you.”

Sousuke smiles lightly, feeling warmth in the fact that his friend carries so much certitude in him, forlorn in regards to the fact that he most likely will never be able to fulfill his dream, his promise, and abandoned because in a sense he has given up and Rin is the only one moving on as he is being left behind.

The raven-haired teen gives the redhead a pleased expression, “alright. I’ll continue thinking about it.”

Rin smiles with a little satisfaction, “glad to hear it. Hey, can I ask you something?”

Sousuke looks at the redhead curiously as he shifts in his seat, bringing his leg down and does a few shoulder rolls, “yeah. Shoot.”

Rin leans back in his chair as he cracks his neck, “it’s about the time we stopped talking. What happened? Why did you stop contacting me? A whole month, dude. I was really worried. You didn’t even return my calls, or my texts.”

The raven-haired teen frowns deeply, looks away as he stops the shoulder rolls, and places his hands in his lap. He thinks, _‘damn. I was hoping this topic wouldn’t come up so soon. What do I say? Shit. Am I going to have to come clean? How do I tell him that I was sick of hearing about Nanase. And then he had to open the door about their relationship…and their sexual encounters. I just…couldn’t take it anymore. Not without feeling like shit afterwards. Hmm…Makoto told me not to deny my feelings…and I told him the same the day before yesterday. Crap…I really didn’t want to say anything to Rin about this, but…maybe it’s time he knew.’_

Sousuke gazes into crimson eyes with steady teal eyes as he says sternly, “I’ll tell you, but only if you really want to know the answer, Rin. Once I tell you, there is no going back. I was hoping this topic would come up at a later time, but it seems that won’t be the case. Once I tell you the reason, it could change things between us.”

Rin stares into those teal eyes with fixation. He has seen this expression before, and usually it’s serious. The redhead takes into consideration everything they have been through, and the severity of Sousuke’s expression. He thinks, _‘he’s serious. I can’t imagine anything changing our friendship. However, I can picture things changing within our relationship dynamics. Hmm…I believe in our friendship. Nothing can destroy the bond we have with each other. I want to know. If it’s something I can prevent in the future, I would like to keep a dialogue between us, and not have to endure the silent treatment again.’_

Rin leans forward, placing both forearms on his desk as he says with confidence, “I believe our friendship can withstand anything. Whatever it is, tell me. I want to know. I will not endure another period of silence from you. I will not stand for another time when you will deliberately avoid me. We are best friends. I’ll take the challenge.”

Sousuke takes a deep breath and mentally prepares himself for Rin’s reaction to what he’s about to disclose to the redhead. Rin doesn’t know. The raven-haired teen already knows that his feelings are one-sided, and that the crimson-eyed teen will not return his feelings. He closes his eyes temporarily, collecting his thoughts and building up the courage to voice out his feelings to the one he has treasured his whole lifetime.

Rin observes the raven-haired teen become quiet and patiently waits for the teal-eyed teen to answer his questions and give him an explanation for his silence.

Sousuke opens his eyes and peers into crimson orbs as he says naturally, “Rin, there was something I wanted to tell you before I left Iwatobi, after we graduated. But, things happened and I continued to stay silent about it. You and Nanase was something I wasn’t expecting. I don’t necessarily approve of Nanase, and I don’t really accept your relationship with him. I stopped talking to you because I got sick and tired of hearing about Nanase. I wanted to be a good friend and listen to your concerns, but the more I heard about the pair of you, I got angry. So, I ignored you. But, that’s not the only reason. Rin, I’ve been in love with you for a long time now. I wanted to confess to you after we graduated, but you already had someone by then.” 

Rin listens intently to Sousuke words, letting the meaning behind those words sink into his mind. As the raven-haired teen continues to talk with conviction, the redhead becomes stunned as this is the first time he is hearing all this.

After the teal-eyed teen finishes, the crimson-eyed teen looks away, processing the information given to him. He thinks, _‘whoa. I had no idea. He, he’s had feelings…no…he loves me. How did I not see this? How long? Wait. More than that, he doesn’t accept my relationship with Haru. He stopped talking to me because I wanted to talk to him about my relationship with Haru. Ah, shit. All this time, without my knowledge, I’ve been hurting him. Sousuke. Why didn’t you tell me? What do I say now? I wanted to know why he stopped talking to me…dammit! This is going to change our relationship.’_

Sousuke runs a hand through his hair as Rin remains silent on the other end of the laptop screen. He knows that what he said is a lot to take in. The raven-haired teen looks away, runs his hand through his hair again until his hand reaches the back of his neck, rubbing it gently, “Rin. I know…this is a lot to process. You asked. I answered. It may not be the answer you were expecting. And I don’t anticipate a response from you, either.”

Rin shakes his head and says hesitantly, “I hear you. But, you deserve an answer from me.” The redhead runs a hand through his red locks, but stops midway to gently scratch his scalp with his fingernails as he ponders his response to the raven-haired teen.

A few minutes pass, before the redhead speaks again, “Sousuke. I’m sorry, on several levels. I’m sorry I didn’t notice…your feelings. Even though I didn’t know about your feelings, I’m sorry I hurt you by talking about my romantic relationship with Haru…to you. I’m sorry…I am unable to reciprocate your feelings. You…”

Sousuke shakes his head and raises a hand up to stop the redhead from continuing. The raven-haired teen frowns as he says mournfully, “stop, Rin. You don’t have to apologize. I already knew…you wouldn’t return my love for you. Just…tell me one thing. Do you love him? Nanase?”

With a comfortless sigh, Rin swallows and says slowly as he holds Sousuke’s gaze, “I do. I love Haru with all my heart. I can’t live without him.”

Sousuke closes his eyes, and rubs his temples as a pained expression graces his features. A part of him knew and feared that Rin would say something like that. The certainty in those crimson eyes was enough to stab him right in the heart. He thinks, _‘damn. I know I don’t have to understand…but I just can’t help wondering why everyone is so smitten with Nanase. I know Nanase has an amazing aptitude for competitive swimming, but…ugh! Why did you have to say it like that, Rin. You are the second person to say you can’t live without him. Your words…it hurts more.’_

Sousuke says with a shaky voice, “yeah…I was afraid that would be the answer. I knew…I was postponing the inevitable. Just…”

Rin swallows down a lump in his throat as he waits for Sousuke’s response. When he notices the raven-haired teen with such an agonizing visage, the redhead can’t stop the tears that stream down his face. He thinks, _‘dammit! I never wanted to be the one to hurt you like this. How could I have missed this? Oh my god, Sousuke! I’m so sorry.’_

Rin sobs on the other end, raising his forearm over his face to shield himself and Sousuke from any more pain. He says through hoarse cries, interrupting the raven-haired teen, “Sousuke. Dammit.”

The teal-eyed teen’s eyes widen when he hears Rin’s sharp cries. His hand sheltering him from looking at the redhead on his laptop screen. Sousuke clicks his tongue, upset with himself for making the crimson-eyed teen wail in tears.

Slowly the raven-haired teen removes his hand from his eyes and he furrows his eyebrows somberly. He witnesses the redhead with tears streaming down his cheeks, his forearm over his eyes, and loud cries escaping his lips. Sousuke curses himself internally for making the redhead sob in pain. He says carefully, “Rin. Please. Don’t cry. I will get over this. I just need some time, Rin.”

The redhead barely hears the raven-haired teen over his wails, but he does hear Sousuke’s voice. He grasps the hem of his hunter green tank top and lifts it up to his face to wipe some of the tears as he tries to calm down from the sadness he is feeling.

Sousuke notices Rin lifting up his tank top, revealing his abs to the raven-haired teen. He adverts his eyes away, shutting his eyes and disengaging the image from his mind. The teal-eyed teen doesn’t want to make things worse between them.

Rin takes a deep breath and drops the hem of his tank top, “Sousuke. I understand now. Even though…this was unexpected, thanks, for being honest with me. I think I need some space, man.”

Sousuke glances over at the redhead and says, “yeah. I think I need some too.”

Rin says softly as he looks up at the raven-haired teen with uncertain eyes, “see you later.”

Sousuke nods, “yeah…later.”

They both end the call to their skype session. 

Sousuke closes the laptop, the email to Nitori forgotten. The raven-haired teen slumps in his chair, looking down at his thighs and his feet that are planted on the cream carpeted floor. He closes his eyes momentarily as he lets the conversation that he and Rin shared play over and over in his mind. He wonders if he made a grave mistake telling the redhead his true feelings.

The raven-haired teen frowns as his back stiffens, sitting more upright, the teal-eyed teen slams a fist down on the mahogany desk. The books that were piled on the desk fall over onto the floor. Sousuke doesn’t even bother picking them up, he doesn’t care about them right now.

The raven-haired teen runs a hand through his hair and grasps a fistful of hair as the emptiness he feels in his chest consumes him. He takes a deep breath and thinks, _‘I need a shower. I can’t be in this room right now.’_

Quickly the teal-eyed teen gets up and takes his wallet and phone out of his pocket. Before he does anything else, his eyes flutter over to his phone again and he thinks, _‘I better text Makoto. I’m taking his bed tonight. He can sleep in here.’_

Sousuke grabs his phone and messages the brunette.

[To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

Hey. I’m sleeping in your room tonight. Sleep in mine. I’m not in any mood to sleep in my bed. I’m gonna take a shower and head straight to bed. If I don’t see you before then…just yeah. ]

The raven-haired teen tosses his phone on he desk and he heads to the shower room to cool off.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** November 23rd, Saturday, 8:30 am  **

Makoto winces at the sound of something ringing over and over again. He starts to stir in his slumber as his hand flings out of the blanket that was gently cradled in the warmth of sleep. The brunette groans as his hand touches random things, but not his phone. The backstroke swimmer comes to the realization that he set an alarm for the morning because he doesn’t want to get to Haru’s place late. He has to get to Haru’s by ten in the morning for their usual workout.

The brunette doesn’t want to open his green eyes just yet, but he can’t seem to find his wretched phone that keeps ringing and ringing. Makoto grumbles as he continues to fumble with random things that aren’t the source of the ringing. He finally surrenders sleep to the land of consciousness as Makoto opens his heavy eyes and props himself up on his elbow, looking at the nightstand for his phone.

Makoto gripes as he realizes his phone isn’t on the nightstand and he throws the blankets off his body, shifts on the bed as he brings his body up in an upright position, and plants his feet on the floor while he is sitting on the bed. The emerald-eyed teen furrows his eyebrows as his left foot is on something that isn’t the carpet.

The emerald-eyed teen leans forward and moves his left foot to find his phone on the floor. The brunette sighs as he reaches down, picks up the phone, and shuts his alarm off. He looks at the time, it’s 8:34 am.

Makoto groans as he plops himself back on the light blue pillow he was sleeping on. The brunette shifts his weight, closing his eyes, snuggling into the pillow as he takes a long whiff from the pillowcase. Makoto smiles as he thinks, _‘mmm. It smells nice…citrusy, spicy…and a little sweetness? There’s something else too, but I can’t tell what it is. Oh, lavender maybe. Like laundry detergent or something like that. No, there’s something else too. Like…a masculine scent?’_

The brunette opens his eyes and takes a look at the pillowcase beneath him, and the nightstand. He knits his eyebrows momentarily until he remembers that he’s sleeping in Sousuke’s bed. The emerald-eyed teen shifts his body until he’s lying on his back and moans lightly as he thinks, _‘wow…his bed is really comfortable. I just want to lay here and never get up. It’s more comfortable than the bed in the guestroom. Ugh…but I better get up. And I should put on my jeans too. I think I need to charge my phone. I don’t think Sousuke would appreciate seeing me in my briefs if he wakes up.’_

The brunette gets up reluctantly, sitting on the bed as he plants both of his feet on the plush carpet, stretching and yawning. He arches his back, rolling his neck a few times before getting up and walking over to the desk chair to pick up his folded jeans, unravel it and stick his legs through them.

After buttoning and zipping up his pants, Makoto looks over at the bed as he rubs his face gently. He thinks, _‘ah. I better make his bed.’_

Makoto picks up his phone and places it in the back pocket of his jeans as he makes Sousuke’s bed.

After making Sousuke’s bed, Makoto grabs the rest of his clothes that he wore yesterday that were neatly folded on the desk chair and walks out of Sousuke’s room. He walks over to the guest bedroom and gently knocks before turning the doorknob and walking in.

He slowly approaches the desk and takes a look over to the bed. The brunette observes the raven-haired teen sleeping on his back with his face turned towards him.

Quietly, Makoto puts the clothes he’s carrying on the desk, next to his laptop and takes out his phone from his back pocket connecting his phone with the charger that he left hooked up to the surge protector on the desk.

Makoto tiptoes over to his duffle bag on the floor by the foot of the bed and tries to look for some clothes so he can take a shower along with his workout clothes for the gym. Once he grabs all the articles of clothing he needs, he silently walks back over to the desk, pulling out the desk chair as he plops his workout outfit on it for now.

The brunette hears a sharp gasp come from the raven-haired teen behind him, and he jumps with a bit of fright as he wasn’t expecting the teal-eyed teen to make any noise. He almost dropped the clothes he was holding, and he curses softly as his foot hits the leg of the desk chair.

Makoto bites his lip to prevent himself from making any more noise as he hops on one foot in hopes that the pain dissipates. He winces lightly and looks back to find Sousuke frowning deeply in his sleep. The brunette’s eyes widen slightly as he tilts his head to the side wondering what the raven-haired teen is dreaming about.

The emerald-eyed teen notices that Sousuke’s arm is out of the covers and he is clutching the blankets harshly as he moves his head to the other side with a pained groan.

Makoto knits his eyebrows with worry as he turns around and places his clothes on his laptop. He decides to walk over to the raven-haired teen and gently sits on the bed next to the sleeping teal-eyed teen.

The backstroke swimmer notices that Sousuke’s breathing is uneven, there is a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead, and his face contorts between a relaxed state and a pained one. Makoto can tell that Sousuke must be having a bad dream. The brunette swallows as he debates with himself in regards to waking the raven-haired teen. He hears Sousuke make a strained grunt and the emerald-eyed teen decides that the raven-haired teen needs to wake up.

Gently, Makoto places both of his hands around Sousuke’s bicep, feeling the warm clammy flesh around the palm of his hand as he shakes the teal-eyed teen, “Sousuke. Sousuke. Wake up, Sousuke.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The raven-haired teen wakes up to find himself sitting down and his arms behind his back. The teal-eyed teen tries to move and realizes that his hands are restrained by cool metal rings around his wrists, and his arms are around a large metal pipe. He can hear a loud stream of water coming from somewhere. He looks up and sees a waterfall filling the room that he occupies at a rapid rate. He looks down to find that he is wearing a dark blue police uniform and that the water is right below his waist.

Sousuke gets up, and looks behind him as he struggles with the handcuffs and pipe behind him. He hears his name being called and the teal-eyed teen looks up to see Rin, his partner, running over to him, “Sousuke! Shit! We have to get out of here. This place is going under and we don’t hav…”

The two teens hear a loud thud, and something breaking which results in the waterfall becoming bigger and a torrent of water falling into the room. Before they know it the water is right at chest level.

Rin desperately tries to kick and pull the pipe behind the raven-haired teen, but it doesn’t give out. The redhead curses loudly as he continues his assault on the stupid pipe behind Sousuke, leaving dents in the metal pipe, but nothing substantial.

The raven-haired teen tries to pry the handcuffs off of himself, painfully grunting and cursing as the handcuffs refuse to budge.

Before they know it, both teens have to take a sharp intake of air as they become immersed in water. Rin continues to kick and pull at the pipe behind Sousuke. The raven-haired teen tries to wring his hands out of the handcuffs.

Rin stops his attacks on the metal pipe and looks at the raven-haired teen. Sousuke looks up to see crimson eyes staring into his teal orbs. The redhead tries to say something through his gaze, but the raven-haired teen can’t tell what he’s trying to tell him.

Before he knows it, Rin swims up to the top and leaves Sousuke by himself. The teal-eyed teen continues to try and pull himself out of the handcuffs to no avail. The water that surrounds him becomes darker, almost black. Sousuke panics as he feels the pressure in his lungs telling him that they desperately need air.

Sousuke looks up hoping to find the redhead, but it’s so dark he can’t see anything. The raven-haired teen curses himself for not understanding Rin’s message just moments ago. What was the redhead trying to tell him with his eyes?

Suddenly, Sousuke feels alone, abandoned, and despondent. The teal-eyed teen stops fighting, losing the will to struggle against the confines around his wrists. His lungs give out to the pressure of withholding oxygen, and he lets out a terrible gasp. Bubbles escaping his lips, as he violently lets the air within him out into the water.

Feeling hopeless, Sousuke looks up one last time longing to see the redhead appear. Instead, he sees a small light appear out of the darkness, and hears a faint caring voice saying, “Sousuke. Sousuke. Wake up.”

The raven-haired teen can’t make out the voice, but it sounded kind, sweet, and worried. That voice gives the teal-eyed teen the energy to fight the confines one last time. With all his strength, he breaks the chain that connects the handcuffs and reaches out for that small beaming light, wanting to meet this voice that saves him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Makoto continues shaking the raven-haired teen lightly, and he’s about to say something until Sousuke bolts up, reaching a hand out to grasp something, and panting wildly.

The brunette quickly leans backward and to the side closer to the bed’s edge to dodge the teal-eyed teen’s arm. Makoto’s heart feels like it literally jumped out of his chest as he wasn’t expecting Sousuke to sit up so quickly. The emerald-eyed teen places a hand over his racing heart, trying to calm his nerves.

Makoto shifts his weight further down the foot of the bed to give Sousuke some space. The emerald-eyed teen watches the raven-haired teen panting in front of him and he says with concern, “Sousuke, are you ok?”

The teal-eyed teen registers a voice asking him a question, and he processes it in his mind as he tries to calm down from the panic he felt earlier. Sousuke brings the hand that is extended out towards Makoto over his face, rubbing his eye gently as he softly heaves, “Rin…I’ll be fine.”

Makoto swallows slowly as he realizes that Sousuke just called him ‘Rin.’ He thinks, _‘Sousuke. Were you dreaming about Rin? Even in your dreams, you think of him too. Your love for him is deep. Oh, Sousuke.’_ The brunette notices that the raven-haired teen’s face contorts into anguish as he grunts and clutches the blanket with the hand on his lap.

The brunette decides to comfort the teal-eyed teen. He gets up and walks over to the head of the bed, moving the pillows over to the other side of the bed as he sits down behind Sousuke with one leg in a cross-legged position.

Makoto gently says to the raven-haired teen, “I know Sousuke. Relax. It was just a bad dream.” Makoto raises his hands and gingerly places one hand on the crook of the raven-haired teen’s neck and shoulder as he raises his other hand to the base of the nape, his fingers running through the teal-eyed teen’s short hair as he rubs Sousuke’s flesh with his thumb and fingers. In a slow rhythmic motion, Makoto kneads the raven-haired teen’s skin between his fingers in hopes that Sousuke’s breathing becomes calmer and that his muscles become more lax.

Sousuke pinches the bridge of his nose trying to calm his nerves. He hears a sweet, mellow voice telling him to relax and he tries taking a few deep breaths, but they are short and ragged.

Suddenly, the raven-haired teen feels a welcoming pressure on his neck followed by a soothing massage at the base of his head. The raven-haired teen holds his breath momentarily as he allows the physical contact on the nape of his neck to progress. Sousuke releases his hold on the bridge of his nose, dropping his hand down to his lap as he exhales deeply.

The raven-haired teen keeps his eyes closed, tilting his head downward, relishing in the feel of warm fingertips slowly applying gentle pressure on his neck. Sousuke moans lightly as he gets lost in the tenderness he is receiving. He thinks, _‘this massage, it feels so good. Mmm…this is nice.’_

Makoto notices the teal-eyed teen soften under his touch and he smiles comfortingly. He hears a soft moan from the raven-haired teen and the brunette slightly flushes on his ears as he swallows and focuses his attention to start massaging Sousuke’s neck with his other hand as well. After a few minutes, Makoto asks, “feeling better?”

Sousuke’s breathing becomes more regulated and even, his heartbeat goes down as he continues to savor the pleasant ministrations on the back of his neck. The raven-haired teen becomes slack and when he hears the brunette’s voice, he realizes who is giving him such a comforting feeling. The teal-eyed teen says, “Makoto? Mmm. That feels really good. You don’t have to keep this up.”

Makoto chuckles, feeling a little embarrassed and a little relieved that Sousuke likes the neck rub he is giving the raven-haired teen. When he hears the teal-eyed teen moan again, Makoto’s cheeks become pink.

The brunette moves his hands down to the crook of Sousuke’s neck and shoulders, giving the raven-haired teen a solid kneading with his hands, “you’re right. I don’t have to, but I want to. You’re still a little tense.”

Sousuke moans again feeling strong hands work on his muscles, “mmm. Yeah…well ok. Thanks.” The raven-haired teen opens his eyes slightly and takes a deep breath.

Makoto’s heart skips a beat when he hears Sousuke’s deep moan again. He swallows as he tries to keep his mind on the task at hand. The emerald-eyed teen tilts his head as he stops after a minute of massaging Sousuke’s shoulders, feeling a little flustered. He rests his hands on the teal-eyed teen’s shoulders as he says, “umm…care to tell me about your dream?”

Sousuke moves his head slightly to the side when he feels Makoto’s fingers cease movement. He frowns slightly at the question the brunette asks him. He moves his head to face the foot of the bed as he rubs his face gently with both his hands, “not really. Don’t worry about it. It was just a dream.”

The emerald-eyed teen pouts at Sousuke’s response. He looks over to the side and notices the orange cat in an orca suit plush toy on the nightstand next to him. Makoto picks it up with one hand, staring into the plush toy’s cute face, thinking, _‘I wonder if it was a really bad dream or a reoccurring dream. I hope this doesn’t mean he’s going to close up on me or something. Oh, I hope not. Hmm, I wonder. Maybe you can help Mr. Orca-cat.’_

Makoto grasps Mr. Orca-cat with his left hand and snakes his arm over Sousuke’s left shoulder with the plush toy in hand as the brunette rests his chin on the raven-haired teen’s shoulder, “ok. Well you don’t have to tell me. I'm going to lend you Mr. Orca-cat here…and you can tell him whatever you need. Since he’s such a nice kitty-cat, he will keep all your secrets. Mr. Orca-cat won’t even tell me. So, he’s gonna keep you company until your current bad dreams go away. And when you feel like you don’t need his assistance, you can give him back to me. Ok?”

Sousuke feels an arm over his shoulder, followed by Makoto’s chin and a cute plush toy in his line of vision. The raven-haired teen slightly moves back by the sudden movements from the emerald-eyed teen. He knits his eyebrows in confusion as Makoto makes this suggestion of the raven-haired teen keeping the plush toy while he has bad dreams. Sousuke thinks, _‘what? He named it? Mr. Orca-cat? Oh…what the? Keep my secrets? And he’s gonna stay with me until my dreams go away? Makoto…’_

The raven-haired teen snorts at the silliness the brunette is spewing out, but at the same time he feels warmth from the suggestion. The teal-eyed teen says as he takes the plush toy from Makoto’s hand, “Is that so? Mr. Orca-cat…that’s his name? Where do you come up with this stuff?”

The brunette chortles bashfully as he takes his arm and chin off the raven-haired teen, placing his hands in his lap, “well, I thought Mr. Orca-cat was a fitting name, even though it’s not very creative. And, I have two younger siblings, so I have to keep things entertaining for them, well, sort of.”

Sousuke snickers as he squeezes Mr. Orca-cat in his hands, “I see. I don’t think you should leave him with me. I got him for you, so you should keep him.” The raven-haired teen stares at the orange cat with the ridiculously cute face and upturned kitty-like smile with a strange sort of amusement.

Makoto sighs and says carefully, “I know. And I want to leave him with you for a while. You looked really distressed in your sleep, and I was worried. I’ve been sleeping with Mr. Orca-cat ever since you gave him to me. He’s been keeping my bad dreams at bay, at least I’d like to think so. Besides, I’m going to have to leave your place and…”

Sousuke interrupts as he squeezes Mr. Orca-cat, “do you want to stay longer? You can. I don’t mind.”

The brunette’s lips part as he hears the raven-haired teen’s question. He thinks, _‘Sousuke, I don’t want to take advantage of your hospitality. You really have done so much for me. I don’t know how I’m going to repay you. I really should head back to my own apartment.’_

Makoto closes his eyes and says seriously, “Oh, Sousuke. I would love to stay here with you. I, I think I got used to living with you. But, I really shouldn’t avoid my own place any longer. I think I will miss having someone…no, ‘you’ around.” The brunette thinks, _“I think I will miss you, your presence especially. I didn’t realize how much I enjoy having someone around in the common areas of my personal space. Even having someone barge in on me…I miss that.’_

Silence erupts between the two teens. Sousuke and Makoto lost in their own thoughts. After a couple of minutes, Makoto remembers that he has to go to Haru’s apartment and asks, “um…I’m going to have to get ready to head to Haru’s. You want to join Haru and I for a workout?”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows and frowns deeply. He’s glad that Makoto can’t see his face as he says, “I’ll pass. You better get ready to go.”

Makoto sighs sadly before he gets up and walks over to the desk, putting his work out clothes in his backpack. He picks up his clothes to change into, looks over at Sousuke and notices that the raven-haired teen is looking down staring at Mr. Orca-cat as he gently rubs the plush toy with his thumbs. The brunette says, “alright. Please, keep Mr. Orca-cat. Return him to me when you feel like you don’t need his services. And um, text me Sousuke. If you need something, I can pick up whatever since I’ll be out.”

The brunette watches the teal-eyed teen continue to rub Mr. Orca-cat as if he didn’t say anything. Makoto dejectedly sighs and takes a step towards the bedroom door before he hears Sousuke’s deep voice, “yeah. I’ll text you if I need anything. Have a good workout.”

Makoto looks back to find that the raven-haired teen hasn’t moved from his spot, nor has he even bothered to look up at him. The brunette says, “ok,” before walking through the bedroom door and heads towards the shower room.

The raven-haired teen waits about a minute before he looks up at the empty room. He looks back down at the happy orange cat in an orca suit as he thinks, _‘Nanase. Seems that everyone that I care about is taken by you. I really dislike people like you Nanase. Someone who just has raw, natural talent…always, you always looked like you never had to work hard to swim as good as you do. I had to work hard to get where I was with swimming, I love swimming. But Rin needs you, so I recognized that raw talent you have, even if I didn’t like it. Just for Rin. Shit. I want to hate you so bad, but after seeing how much you care about Makoto…I can’t. I somewhat understand why people like you so much. I don’t know. I’m conflicted by all this. Just, right now…I don’t want to see you, Nanase.’_

Sousuke sighs as he pets Mr. Orca-cat gently. He thinks, _‘Huh, you remind me of him. Seems like I may have picked you because you smile just like Makoto does. Funny, how that works out in the end. Looks like you and I will be together for awhile…but I won’t keep you from your proper owner.’_

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

**  
November 28 th, Friday, 9:06 pm **

Makoto is cleaning up the espresso machine since _Momento Café_ is now closed. Watanabe is out sick with the flu, so the brunette was more than happy to cover her shift for the evening.

A couple of minutes ago, he remembers Eiji telling the brunette that he will be cleaning the bathroom. Makoto is by the counter continuing to clean the espresso machine as his thoughts reflect back to the events of the past week.

Makoto remembers going back to Sousuke’s apartment on Saturday, after Haru and the brunette had a late lunch at a ramen shop near Haru’s school gym facilities. When the brunette got back to Sousuke’s apartment, he noticed that the raven-haired teen seemed a little better, but appeared to be brooding over something.

Makoto packed up his things on Saturday evening, and Sousuke wouldn’t let up on allowing the brunette to leave by himself. So, the raven-haired teen joined the brunette on the train ride and the walk home to his apartment. Even though the backstroke swimmer told the teal-eyed teen to stop helping him clean up things in his apartment, Sousuke ignored him and cleaned the kitchen and bathroom into a vibrant spotlessness.

The emerald-eyed teen forced Sousuke out for dinner and they went to a sushi restaurant three blocks away from Makoto’s apartment. The brunette tried to have a decent conversation with the raven-haired teen, but Sousuke didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk. After their dinner, Makoto tried to encourage the teal-eyed teen to come up to his apartment to watch a movie, but Sousuke said he was tired and left to his own apartment.

That night, Makoto had a difficult time sleeping, and only got a few hours of sleep before Haru came by and forced him out of bed. Makoto was glad that they had Monday off due to observing Labor Thanksgiving on the 23rd so he took his time getting ready to take on the day.

The emerald-eyed teen texted Sousuke everyday to check in on him. But all he got were short replies back, expect for Wednesday. Sousuke sent him a text message letting him know that he set up his physical therapy appointment for Saturday, the 29th, at 2:00 pm. Makoto was quick to reply that he will meet him there at that time to join him for the appointment. After, their texts went back to simple replies, which made the brunette sad.

On another note, Makoto hadn’t been able to handle the loneliness he felt when by himself, in his own apartment. He really got used to Sousuke’s company, and he even asked Haru to stay with him a couple of nights during the week. Makoto tried to figure out why he can’t be in his apartment without feeling cold, and the thought of Takeshi kept coming up.

The emerald-eyed teen started dating the blond back in May, but they started seeing each other a lot in April too. In fact, Takeshi would come over to his apartment frequently just to keep him company as the brunette didn’t want to bother Haru with his worries.

As the brunette cleans the counters, he remembers Takeshi, and how they briefly saw each other Thursday after his history class. Makoto was going to the library to return the cookbooks he borrowed before. As he was heading to the library, he spotted Takeshi and Sugawara in front of the library stairs. The brunette remembers feeling panic, as he turned around and decided to go through the library’s side door instead, but as he was descending the few steps that he climbed up, one of his classmates called to him from the top of the staircase.

Makoto felt horror stuck him as he slowly turned around to face the bubbly green-haired girl with rimless glasses. It was then he took a chance to look up to find those coffee orbs staring in his direction.

Makoto recalls the green-haired teen pulling him up the staircase asking for help with her topic for her history paper. The brunette said that he could help her for an hour, and then he had to go, as he said this, he took another risky chance to look over at Takeshi. The blond had his eyes set on the brunette, and it seemed like he never took his eyes off him once he knew of his presence.

After he helped the bubbly Tsukuda-san, he left the library only to find Takeshi waiting for him in front of the glass double doors. Makoto tried to pass by without saying anything, but the blond grabbed his forearm and pulled him aside to talk, well, more like argue. The brunette asked the coffee-eyed teen again if he could accept his relationship with his friends, and of course Takeshi refused to answer, which peeved the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto hears Eiji come out of the bathroom disrupting his thoughts and say, “Makoto. I’m going to clean the floors now.”

The brunette smiles at the dark-haired man and says, “ok, Eiji. Do you want any help?”

Eiji scoffs lightly and says, “Pfft. Makoto, you really are a workaholic sometimes. I’ll pass since you offered. Just relax a bit if you’re done. But, don’t leave yet. I have something for you.” The violet-eyed man grabs the mop and bucket to start mopping the floor.

Makoto smiles widely at the mention of the long-haired man with a ponytail having something for him. He says excitedly, “really? You got me some of that Ceylon cinnamon!? Eiji-san…you are the bestest!”

Eiji roars in laughter at Makoto’s enthusiasm, “yes. I got you some Ceylon. Take your time finishing up behind the counter, Makoto.” The violet-eyed man smirks slightly at the emerald-eyed teen as he starts mopping up the floor.

Makoto chuckles as he continues cleaning up behind the counter, washing kitchen utensils and putting them away. The two become quiet as they work, and the brunette picks up where he left off with his thoughts.

What Takeshi had told him after refusing his questions concerned the brunette. The blond almost kissed him again and when the emerald-eyed teen chastised him for doing something like that in public, Takeshi’s eyes became desperate as he said, “I’m not giving you up, I love you. One way or another, I will have you back.” Makoto remembers feeling his blood run cold and hot at the same time with such a statement from the coffee-eyed teen. Before the brunette could say or do anything, the blond left without glancing back at the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto sighs as he remembers those words from Takeshi. To have someone love him so much to make such a bold statement did make him feel wanted, but at the same time it made him feel dread inside. He thinks, _‘what did he mean by that? Is he going to try and break my resolve or something? I don’t know, but it scares me a little. I don’t want to worry about this now. I’m more worried about Sousuke. Oh! I still have his keycard…maybe I’ll go visit since Eiji got me some Ceylon cinnamon.’_

It’s been almost a week since he’s seen the raven-haired teen, and Makoto feels a smile grace his features when he thinks about visiting the teal-eyed teen. Besides just checking up on Sousuke, he really wants to spend more time with him too.

After Makoto finishes up cleaning behind the counter, he pulls out his phone from his pocket and writes a text to Sousuke.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

Hey! I’m going to be off work soon. I just remembered that I still have your keycard. So, I’m going to stop by and give it back. Also, I’d like to try something with you if that’s ok. Let me know. ]

The brunette re-reads his message and decides that’s it’s ok. He checks his other messages and replies back to Kisumi and Rei. After he’s done with his messages, Makoto was about to put his phone back into his pocket until he feels his phone vibrate. He looks at his phone and reads the message.

[To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

Oh. I forgot about that. Yeah, come by when you’re done. I’m home already. Just let me know when you are heading to the train station. And, what is this thing you want to try? ]

The brunette chortles lightly, and his heart swells slightly at the thought of Sousuke giving him more than just a phrase through text.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

Alright. I will do that before I leave. As for what I want to try…that is a secret. ^_~ The only way you will find out is when I see you. Look forward to it. ]

Eiji comes by to pour the water out from the bucket into the utility sink and then rinses it, “alright. Done.”

Makoto puts his phone in his back pocket as he takes the mop and asks, “did you wring it out already?”

Eiji nods, “yup. You can put that away…and this too.” The violet-eyed teen gives Makoto the bucket he just cleaned out.

The brunette smiles, “you got it.”

After Makoto and Eiji change out of their work clothes, Eiji gives Makoto a few chai recipes, the sweet, complex, and mildly fragrant cinnamon, and a little battery powered milk frother with little kittens on the handle. Makoto smiles at the tiny kitties on the handle of the frother.

Eiji says, “you can keep the little frother. I just picked it up at the dollar store while I was there. You can use it if you want it more like a chai latté. Similar to the way we make them here.” Makoto beams and resists giving Eiji a huge hug for all of his help, “Eiji! Thank you so much. You are awesome!”

Makoto and Eiji make sure everything is turned off for the evening and head out of the back door. Makoto locks the back door when Eiji asks, “Makoto, you know if you are ever free on a Friday evening, my friends and I go to a karaoke bar. Just thought I’d like to extend an invitation to you if you ever want to join us. You can bring your friends too. My friends and I don’t mind. In fact, the more the merrier.”

The brunette looks over at Eiji with kind eyes as he says, “I’d love to, but with finals coming up and the holidays, I’m going to have to pass. But, after all that, yes…I will consider it. I’ll ask Haru and Sousuke about it too.”

Eiji smiles as he pats Makoto on the shoulder, “alright, sounds good to me. Take care Makoto, and see you next week.”

The two wave good-bye and part their separate ways. Makoto decides to go to a convenience store on the way to the train station to pick up a few ingredients to make Sousuke some chai. Once the brunette is done make his purchase, he pulls out his phone and texts Sousuke.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

Heading to the train station. See you soon. ]

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** Friday, 10:11pm **

****

Makoto walks into Sousuke’s apartment complex and sees a man with black-rimmed glasses reading a book behind the concierge’s desk.

The brunette smiles as he recognizes Oda and says, “Good evening, Oda-san.”

Oda registers the voice and looks up with a smile of his own, “Ah. Tachibana-san. Here to see Yamazaki-san tonight?”

Makoto chuckles, “yes. How has he been doing? I mean…I haven’t been staying with him the last week, so I’m just a little worried about him.”

Oda nods and says quietly, “Yamazaki-san has been doing fine, as far as I know. I only work during the evenings, and I haven’t seen him very many nights this week. Is something going on that has you worrying about him?”

Makoto shakes his head, “no. I was just wondering. Well, have a good night Oda-san.” The brunette waves at the older man.

Oda bows lightly, “good night, Tachibana-san. Please take care.”

The emerald-eyed teen nods with a light bow and heads to the elevator. He takes out his wallet and pulls out the keycard from one of the slots. As soon as the elevator doors opens, Makoto walks in, slides the card through the reader, and presses '15.' Makoto watches the numbers above the elevator doors glow one by one until he reaches his destination.

The brunette walks out of the elevator and heads towards Sousuke’s apartment door. When he finally stands in front of the door, Makoto raises his hand to knock on the door, but stops partway through the action. He thinks, _‘hmm. I don’t think I’ve ever done this before. Well, I should knock even if I have the key. I am visiting Sousuke, so it’s the proper thing to do.’_

Makoto follows through with his action, knocking on the door rhythmically. He waits a minute before knocking on the door again. After a couple of minutes, Makoto decides to open the door with his key. He slides the keycard through the reader and turns the door handle gently.

The emerald-eyed teen walks through the door, closing it behind him, putting the keycard in his back pocket, and turning on the light. He takes off his shoes, and points the tips of his sneakers towards the door. Makoto puts down his bag of groceries and his backpack before shedding off his green cargo jacket, black scarf and gloves and placing them on the entryway hook.

Makoto picks up his backpack and grocery bag as he slowly trots down the hallway, “Sousuke? “

He notices that the kitchen light is on and heads into the room, but Sousuke isn’t there. Makoto decides to put down his backpack and grocery bag on the kitchen counter, and takes out the half-gallon of milk to put into the fridge. After closing the refrigerator door, the brunette takes a quick glance into the dining room and living room. He finds nothing out of the ordinary and decides to go down the bedroom hallway.

Makoto notices that Sousuke’s bedroom light is on, and heads towards the raven-haired teen’s bedroom. The door is partly ajar and the brunette slowly opens the door and quietly walks into the bedroom. Just as he was about to announce his presence, the emerald-eyed teen sees Sousuke in front of the closet mirror doing some kind of exercise while watching himself through the mirror closely.

Sousuke has a tall file cabinet close to the closet, and he has a stretchy band over the handle of the file cabinet. Sousuke is holding the knot of the band in his hand as he pulls the band in a smooth motion, and releases the tension by moving his arm closer to the file cabinet. The raven-haired teen continues this motion repeatedly.

Makoto watches the teal-eyed teen for a few minutes before he knocks on the wall next to him to let Sousuke know that he’s there.

When Sousuke hears the knock, his teal eyes scan the room through the mirror and he notices the brunette standing near his desk. He says as he drops the stretchy band, “yo, Makoto. How was work?”

The emerald-eyed teen smiles gently as he rubs the back of his neck, “um, it was ok. I usually don’t stay this late on Fridays, but I covered for Watanabe-san tonight since she’s sick. What was that exercise you were doing?”

Sousuke walks past the brunette to grab his glass of water. He turns around to answer the emerald-eyed teen’s question, “that was just something I do everyday. It’s a shoulder strengthening rotation exercise, nothing that exciting. I just want to make sure I have the proper form.” Sousuke raises the glass in his hands to his lips as he takes a long sip from his glass.

Makoto watches the teal-eyed teen take a sip from his glass and his gaze moves downwards toward Sousuke’s neck, his adam’s apple specifically. The brunette stares at the bobbing of the teal-eyed teen’s adam’s apple, feeling a slight flush on his ears before tearing his eyes away from the appealing sight. He thinks, _‘Am I checking him out? I won’t deny that Sousuke is attractive, very attractive…but we’re just friends. And…he loves Rin. Yeah, I’m not his type at all.’_

The brunette distracts himself by reaching a hand in his back pocket, sliding out the keycard and extending it to the raven-haired teen, “your key, Sousuke. I wanted to return this to you.”

Sousuke brings the glass down from his lips, and places it on the desk behind him. He walks over to the brunette and gently pushes Makoto’s hand towards the backstroke swimmer’s chest, “keep it. I actually don’t mind if you check up on me. Or if you need a place to crash, you can come here if you want.”

Makoto stares up into those teal eyes as Sousuke comes closer to him. He tries to take a step back, but the brunette’s back hits the wall behind him as the raven-haired teen presses his hand with the keycard towards the emerald-eyed teen’s chest. The backstroke swimmer takes a sudden inhale through his nose and he can’t help but notice that Sousuke must have taken a shower recently as he can smell the citrusy shampoo lingering on Sousuke’s hair. He sees teal eyes with a mildly dark expression, but they’re calm. Makoto says a little nervously, “um, are you sure? I mean, I am grateful that you trust me with your personal space. I wish I could do the same, but I don’t have another copy of my key.”

The brunette smiles comfortingly at the thought of the raven-haired teen offering his home to him. He looks down at the keycard in his hand and asks, “Can…can I ask you something Sousuke?”

Sousuke takes half a step back and says calmly, “sure. What is it?”

Makoto puts the keycard in his front pocket as he looks up, “how has Mr. Orca-cat been treating you?”

The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen at the question, and laughs amusingly, “good, I guess. I haven’t had any bad dreams since then.”

Makoto beams, “good, keep him just a little longer…just in case. C’mon. I want to make you something.” The emerald-eyed teen grabs Sousuke’s hand and instantly the brunette feels electricity run though him. He takes an abrupt inhalation of air, but clears his throat as he leads Sousuke out of the room, and through the bedroom hallway.

Makoto unintentionally squeezes Sousuke’s hand in his, feeling the palm of their hands connected together, and he flushes pink. The brunette is glad that Sousuke is unable to see his face as he leads the raven-haired teen to the kitchen.

The teal-eyed teen feels Makoto’s warm skin over his hand as the brunette wraps his hand with his. Before Sousuke knows it, he is being led out of the bedroom and into the hallway. When the backstroke swimmer squeezes his hand, he feels a simmering heat soar through him, and warms his chest. Sousuke swallows as he gazes at their connected hands, wanting to squeeze Makoto’s hand for some reason. Before he finds the courage to do so, they are in the kitchen and the brunette gently disengages his hand with his.

Makoto bring his hand over his chest, rubbing his thumb over the palm of his hand as that electricity he felt lingers on his skin. Quickly he takes a few steps towards his backpack and grocery bag, taking out the items he bought, “Um, Sousuke, so tomorrow…shall I just meet you at the medical building, or meet you here at your apartment?”

Sousuke leans against the counter, looking over at the brunette’s profile as he takes things out from his bags. The raven-haired teen rubs his fingers across the heel of his palm, still feeling that surge of heat on his skin. The question Makoto asks breaks his line of thought and he says, “why don’t you stay here tonight. It’s past ten. You can just borrow my clothes. They’ll fit you.”

Makoto glances over at the raven-haired teen and their eyes meet. The brunette feels something strange when he looks at Sousuke and he smiles sheepishly as he says, “I guess I could do that. But, what about, um…you know.” Makoto turns around as he opens the refrigerator to grab the milk as he continues, “underwear?”

Sousuke stares at the brunette, but something is different. The raven-haired teen can’t put his finger on it, but Makoto looks different to him somehow. When the emerald-eyed teen asks about the underwear, the teal-eyed teen can’t help but laugh. As soon as Makoto asks about the underwear, he recalls what happened when the emerald-eyed teen saw him in Makoto’s superman briefs. The embarrassment on Makoto’s cheeks, the flustered actions as he tried to cover his face, and of course spitting out his water. Sousuke remembers it was quite the sight to see, it was funny.

The raven-haired teen says with a smirk, “oh? Is that all you’re worried about? Well, don’t worry. I still have your superman briefs. You can claim them back now.”

Makoto almost dropped the carton of milk when he hears about the superman briefs. He thinks, _‘shit! Did he have to bring that up! I wasn’t expecting him to come into my room in like that. Oh my god! That was so embarrassing.’_ The brunette throws a playful glare over his shoulder, cheeks flushed red at the mention of the superman briefs, “ok, ok! You don’t have to tease me about it.”

Sousuke chortles as he shifts his weight on one foot, crossing the other leg over, he asks, “so, what are you making?”

Makoto grabs a pot from one of the cabinets below, “oh, some chai. I want to try it with you this time. I got some advice from a co-worker of mine. He was so kind to give me a special ingredient and a couple of other things.”

The brunette puts the pot on the range and turns around, “you know what, go sit down over by the island or the dinning table. You’re going to make me nervous.”

Sousuke chuckles as he stares at the emerald-eyed teen looking a little flustered. He puts his hands up in defense and says, “alright, alright. I’ll go watch some T.V. or something.” The raven-haired teen walks out of the kitchen into the living room, turning on the T.V., and watching some random show.

Makoto watches Sousuke saunter out of the kitchen. The brunette takes out one of the recipes that Eiji had given him earlier that caught his eye out of his backpack and starts preparing the ingredients.

After the emerald-eyed teen finishes making the chai over the range, he turns off the gas by turning the knob, and moves the pot over to the other side of the range as he walks over to the cabinets above, pulling out a tall black mug and a short white mug.

Makoto grabs a strainer, holding it over the mug as he pours the hot, fragrant liquid over the mugs with care. The brunette realizes that there is extra chai and scurries to find a pitcher. The brunette finds a pitcher in one of the cabinets next to the dishwasher, and he holds the strainer above the pitcher, pouring the liquid carefully into the container before putting the lid on loosely.

The brunette puts the pot, strainer, cutting board and utensils into the sink before he grabs the tea tray in the dish drying rack. Gently the brunette places the mugs on the tea tray and carries it over to the living room.

Makoto notices that Sousuke is flipping through the channels and when their eyes meet, the teal-eyed teen hits the mute button and places the remote on the couch next to him. The brunette bends his knees slightly to put the tea tray down on the glass coffee table in front of the couch as he says, “here. I hope you like this one better than the last batch I made you.” The emerald-eyed teen sits down next to Sousuke and says, “but, give it a couple of minutes, it’s really hot.”

Sousuke leans forward and places his elbows on his thigh, looking over at the brunette, “ok. How have you been holding up? With being back at your apartment and stuff?”

The raven-haired teen takes a glance over to the mugs on the tea tray and he can see hot stream gently stir into the cool air. He extends one of his hands over the black mug on the coffee table to see how hot the beverage is, and it is indeed quite hot for drinking.

Makoto gently bumps his knee with Sousuke’s as he smiles timidly, “hey. I told you it was hot, silly. Um, well…it’s ok I guess. I miss having your company for sure. It’s really lonely there. I didn't realize how much I miss having someone with me. My…ex came over to my apartment a lot, so it’s a little strange knowing that he’s never going to be around. Haru had stayed over with me for a couple of nights.”

Sousuke huffs lightly when the brunette bumps his knee, and he places his hand back on his knee. The teal-eyed teen’s expression becomes serious as Makoto talks about his experiences back at his own apartment. The raven-haired teen says carefully, “hmm. Maybe you and Nanase should have found a place together. That way you wouldn’t have this problem.”

Makoto smiles weakly and looks down at his feet, “well, Haru is used to being by himself. I think he enjoys having his own personal space, even though he doesn’t say anything about it. Besides, I wanted to know how I could handle being by myself. I guess not so well.”

The raven-haired teen watches the brunette look down with a bit of a solemn expression. Sousuke notices Makoto’s eyes slightly waver under the current topic. His mouth forms a thin line as he thinks, _‘why don’t you speak up about your needs more, Makoto? I’m sure you were curious about living on your own, but it seems like you had an inkling that it wouldn’t work out so well in the end. Hmm, I guess I would rather live alone than look for a roommate…but Makoto and I aren’t that similar. I can handle being on my own without someone being around. I wonder…’_

Sousuke asks daringly, “what about staying with me? After your lease is up. You could pay rent if you want, and that way you won’t be alone.”

The brunette turns his head quickly towards Sousuke, staring straight into the raven-haired teen’s teal eyes. Makoto notices the serious look in his eyes and breaks eye contact to think about the suggestion. He looks down at his hands in his lap as the emerald-eyed teen ponders, _‘did, did he just offer his place to me? I don’t know what to say…I mean, is that even going to be ok with his family? This place was meant to be Sousuke’s home at some point. I can’t say I’m not tempted by the thought. I really felt more at home here after awhile, just something about knowing someone is close by gives me comfort. Also, Nagisa and Rei are planning to go to university here. I said I would help them find an apartment, and they are making some plans to come here before graduating to check out some places.’_

The raven-haired teen observes Makoto’s silence for a few moments before he leans forward and to the side, putting more pressure on his thighs with his elbows as he tries to get a glance of the brunette’s face. He unintentionally bumps the emerald-eyed teen’s knee as he finally gets a glimpse of Makoto’s face.

Sousuke notices the backstroke swimmer in deep thought and he smiles warmly, “hey, don’t hurt yourself overthinking it. It’s just a suggestion. You have time to think about it. If you consider it seriously, let me know. I’ll ask my dad about it. I don’t think he will make a fuss about it anyway. Yumiko might actually like the idea of someone staying with me, and she likes you.”

Makoto glances over to find Sousuke looking up at him, and he smiles with embarrassment. The brunette says coyly, “I’m tempted. I do like your company, and I think we get along for the most part. But, I don’t want to impede on you, Sousuke. This is your home, not just an apartment. I don’t want to bother…”

Sousuke bumps his knee again as he interrupts, “oi. Stop that. I wouldn’t offer unless I thought about it carefully. Besides, I, um…enjoy your company too. So, it’s not just you. You sorta made me realize that I was kinda lonely too. And, you respect my privacy and all that, so, yeah.”

Makoto flushes lightly as the raven-haired teen tells him that he enjoys his presence and the brunette’s eyes glisten with contentment as he smiles sweetly at teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke eyes widen slightly as he gapes at the brunette. There is something about the way the emerald-eyed teen gazes at him that makes his heart skip a beat and his cheeks warm up. The raven-haired teen sees clarity and happiness within those green eyes and he realizes that it’s because of what he said.

The teal-eyed teen breaks eye contact as the image of the beaming brunette is ingrained in his mind. He thinks, _‘whoa. That, that was something. His smile, it’s angelic…but the blush on his cheeks…that really got me. Damn…what the hell is going on with me?’_

The raven-haired teen clears his throat, focusing his attention on the mugs on the glass coffee table as he says calmly, “you smile so brightly, it’s blinding. Just…think about it. I’ll respect your choice either way.”

Makoto chortles as he bumps Sousuke’s shoulder lightly, “ok. I’ll think about it. You know, the more I get to know you, the more I see this sweet guy come through. I can’t believe I’ve never noticed it before. I’ll keep in mind that I should smile more around you.”

The raven-haired teen glances over at brunette with a disapproving look on his face, “oi! That wasn’t an invitation for you to smile more.” The teal-eyed teen face palms as he rubs his forehead with the palm of his hand, “ugh! You made me say some real corny shit.”

The brunette falls back on the couch, holding his stomach as he laughs cheerfully, his legs bent and hanging in the air as he continues to roar with laughter. Makoto tries to control his fit of laughter, but just falls on his side, gasping for air, “oh my god! Hahaha! I was teasing! Don’t take it personal, Sou…Sousuke!”

The raven-haired teen grimaces slightly at the sight of Makoto laughing at his dispense. A small laugh escapes his lips as the brunette falls on his side, laughing. He thinks, _‘it’s nice seeing you laughing. I’ll let this one slide…this time.’_

Sousuke looks over at the chai on the coffee table again, reaches for the handle of the black ceramic mug and brings the steamy beverage up to his lips. He closes his eyes as he takes a whiff of the strong spices and creaminess that assault his sense of smell. The teal-eyed teen places the edge of the mug on his bottom lip as he raises the cup gently to take a decent sip of the chai.

The raven-haired teen relishes in the spicy flavors and the creamy texture. When he gulps down the hot beverage, he thinks, _‘whoa! This is amazing! I don’t get that icky cinnamon flavor, but I can sense that depth that usually comes with cinnamon. I don’t know what it is, but it’s really good. The star anise isn’t too strong this time, and it’s a gentle licorice flavor. There’s honey in this, but not too much. Wow. He really did get this right, for my taste.’_

Sousuke takes another sip of the chai, enjoying the spicy flavors of ginger, cloves, gram masala, pepper, cardamom, star anise and nutmeg. After taking a third sip, the raven-haired teen brings the cup down from his lips as he stares at the liquid in his cup, “Makoto. This is amazing. I’m…really impressed with this. It’s delicious.”

The brunette notices Sousuke sipping the chai and pushes himself up to watch the raven-haired teen. Anxiety starts to fill his gut as the emerald-eyed teen observes the teal-eyed teen closely. Makoto examines Sousuke’s facial features to get an idea of what the raven-haired teen could be thinking. Again, Makoto observes Sousuke’s adam’s apple move up and down as he takes another sip from the cup without a word. The brunette’s green eyes are glued to Sousuke’s face as the teal-eyed teen takes a third sip. Makoto thinks, _‘three sips without saying anything. I wonder…what that means. Does he like it? Or is he trying to tell me what needs to change? I’m so curious now…I want to know his thoughts.”_

When Sousuke brings down the cup from his mouth, Makoto places his hands on Sousuke’s thigh in anticipation of what the raven-haired teen is about to say. The brunette’s eyes waver with delight when he hears nothing but praise and he says without much thought, “thank goodness. I was really worried you were trying to tell me what it’s missing.”

The emerald-eyed teen lightly bumps his forehead on Sousuke’s shoulder as he continues, “I’m so glad. I finally found something that is up to par with your taste. You have no idea…how happy I am right now.” Makoto smiles blissfully with relief.

Sousuke looks down at his thigh and notices that Makoto has grasped the thin black material of his sweatpants, and suddenly he feels a delicate pressure on his skin. He looks over to find a head of brown-olive hair on his shoulder and a declaration of happiness with Sousuke’s assessment of the beverage in his hand.

The raven-haired teen blushes tenderly at the statement Makoto makes with a small smile. He thinks, _‘he really has put a lot of effort into making something special for me. It paid off. Heh…it’s really sweet. I needed this. Rin still hasn’t called me or anything. Somehow, I feel better with Makoto around.’_

Sousuke decides to tease the brunette. He says tauntingly, “you better drink yours…cuz I might steal it for myself.”

The brunette’s head shoots up at Sousuke’s comment, “eh? Hey! I have to try it too! I want to know what Sousuke’s tastes are like!” Makoto scurries towards his cup of chai, leaning over to the glass coffee table, shifting his weight so he is sitting on the edge of the couch, and picks up the white mug with both hands.

Makoto lifts the mug to his lips and calmly blows on the steamy liquid cradled in the mug. He instantly picks up the scents of spiciness, particularly the strong aromatic essences of ginger, cardamom, and cloves.

The brunette takes a decent sip of the beverage and let’s the flavors mingle on his taste buds. The emerald-eyed teen inadvertently moans in delight as his palate can distinguish the depth from the Ceylon cinnamon without the strong astringent and slight bitterness that the familiar flavor of cinnamon carries. Makoto can feel the kick of spiciness from the ginger, cardamom, clove, garam masala, pepper and nutmeg; the sweetness from the honey; the muscatel spiciness from the Darjeeling tea; and the smooth creamy texture from the milk.

Makoto takes another decent sip from his white mug savoring the spicy notes, and realizing that he actually likes this level of spiciness from the chai in his hands. He looks over at Sousuke with a frivolous and foolish smile on his face, “mmm. This is really good. I’m surprised. I usually prefer my chai sweet, but this is so good.”

Sousuke watches Makoto make haste towards his mug of chai and chuckles at the childish sight. He notices how the brunette quietly takes in the scent of the chai with a novel expression on his face. The raven-haired teen thinks, _‘you’re childlike innocence is really endearing. Almost like this is the first time you are trying a chai.’_

The teal-eyed teen was about to bring his black mug back up to his lips, but then he hears a mushy kind of moan come from the brunette next to him and he stops his movement to inspect Makoto. He notices the brunette take another sip before the emerald-eyed teen’s eyes meet his teal orbs with a sort of dopey-like expression. Makoto’s droopy eyes shimmering candidly and with gratification; Sousuke feels a gush of warmth tickle through his body leaving him flushing at Makoto’s smiling visage.

Sousuke stumbles, “you, uh…hav-haven’t tried it? I mean, you made it, so, yeah.” The raven-haired teen tears his eyes away from the brunette looking down at his half-filled mug.

Makoto sighs lightly, looking down at his own mug, “well, I didn’t try it yet. I wanted you to try it first…you know have the first impression. I’m glad, you like it. I’m going to have to thank Eiji-san. He’s the one that suggested a certain ingredient, and he gave me a few recipes. I just happened to find this one more interesting.”

Sousuke sips his chai, enjoying the deep flavors, “so, what’s the special ingredient? This one has the depth that was lacking from the pervious one you made, but I can’t pinpoint the ingredient at all.”

Makoto looks over at the raven-haired teen and presents him with his trademark smile, tilting his head to the side, “my secret. I’m not giving it up.”

The teal-eyed teen looks at the brunette incredulously, tightening his grip on his mug a little, “whoa! Are you telling me that after all that you aren’t gonna share it with me? What if I want to make it myself?”

The brunette sticks his tongue out and titters, “too bad. If you want some, you will just have to ask me to make it for you.” Makoto gets up and says, “you want a refill or anything? I think I want to fill up my cup…and this time I will use the frother.”

Sousuke eyes widen at the sight of Makoto sticking his tongue out at him. The teal-eyed teen thinks, _‘shit! You little devil! Hmm…next time I’m watching you make it. Just you wait.’_ When the brunette gets up and asks his question, the raven-haired teen looks down at his cup, then looks up with a grin, “yeah. Fill me up.”

Makoto smiles as he takes the black mug from Sousuke and trots off to the kitchen to refill their drinks.

Sousuke observes the brunette walk towards the kitchen and sighs gently. He thinks, _‘you are like a ball of sunshine sometimes, Makoto. Huh…I really missed your company this week. I really should have asked you to come over sooner.’_ The raven-haired teen leans back into the coffee colored couch, waiting for the brunette to return with the perfect chai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Again, thanks for your patience. Here is another long chapter, and as much as I wanted to have other things happen in the story, I felt that a few things needed to take place first. There is a particular scene that I had to save for the next chapter. 
> 
> I got some inspiration from the dream in the Mook, but his dream deviated in this story ^_~ But the implication is that he has had that dream before. 
> 
> Also for anyone wanting to know more about the videogame, Guilty Gear Xrd Sign, please feel free to look at: http://guilty-gear.wikia.com/wiki/Guilty_Gear_Xrd_-SIGN-
> 
> Thanks so much for your support and patience. Happy Lunar New Year to those that celebrate (The year of the sheep). ^__^


	10. Chapter 10

** November 29th, Saturday, 11: 17 am **

Sousuke opens the washer and moves his wet clothes into the dryer. Once all the clothes are in the dryer, he opens up a cabinet to grab a dryer sheet and plops it on top of his wet clothes in the dryer before closing the door to the machine. Sousuke pushes the power button, turns the knob to the proper setting for a large load. He inhales deeply and enjoys the fresh scent of the dryer sheets filling the room.

The raven-haired teen turns around and walks out of the laundry room. As he walks through the kitchen, Sousuke feels his phone vibrate in his stonewashed jeans. Sousuke stops and slips his hand in his back pocket, pulling his phone out as he leans on the kitchen counter taking a look to see who is calling him. The teal-eyed teen’s eyes widen as he sees Rin’s name pop up on the caller I.D. Quickly, Sousuke answers the call, lifting the phone up to his ear, “yo, Rin.”

Sousuke feels his heartbeat quicken, and he silently releases a shaky breath as he waits for Rin to say something on the other line. They haven’t talked for exactly a week, well almost. The last time they talked was Saturday night last week, and today is Saturday morning. The raven-haired teen tightens his hold on the cool granite kitchen counter as he continues to expect a response from Rin.

On the other side of the line, Rin’s back muscles tense as Sousuke answers after the third ring. The redhead clears his throat, “yo, Sousuke. Uh, how have you been? I just wanted to talk to you, man. After we talked last week and all…I just couldn’t leave things like that.”

Rin is in his dorm room sitting on his desk chair, leaning over his wooden desk with his math notebook open on a blank page as he doodles random things to calm his nerves. The redhead swallows as he slowly moves his pencil along the smooth white lined paper in front of him.

Sousuke closes his eyes as he smiles gently, “I’m ok, Rin. I was more worried about you. I said a lot of things that you weren’t prepared to hear, regardless if you asked. I…I didn’t tell you because I knew you would cry, Rin. And, I was afraid of the answer. I’m sorry, Rin. I just…hope this didn’t ruin our friendship.”

The raven-haired looks up at the white ceiling as he opens his eyes, loosening his hold on the kitchen counter. Sousuke shifts his weight to the small of his back, propping himself on the counter. He thinks, _‘I really am sorry Rin. You asked then, and I thought…for a moment I thought it was time to tell you the truth about my feelings. My intention was never to hurt you, but I knew…deep down I knew it was a mistake. You cry about everything, Rin. You care so much about others…about me…it’s one of the reasons I think I fell for you. You…were my light. I wanted to protect you and your dreams no matter the cost.’_ The teal-eyed teen sighs lightly as a frown graces his facial features. Sousuke thinks further, _‘shit. I’m not over you yet. Even after you said you love Nanase…dammit. I’m frustrated with myself.’_

Rin sighs deeply on the other end of the phone, loosens his grip on the pencil in his hand as he taps his index finger on the notebook on the desk. The crimson-eyed teen closes his eyes and says hesitantly, “Sousuke. I was the one worried about you. That whole month you didn’t talk to me. I freaked out a little, but Gou said you were fine since you were talking to her a few times during that month. So…I thought it was something I did. I didn’t know you had those kinds of feelings for me, dude. I mean, shit. How do I say this without giving the wrong impression?”

Sousuke gets off the kitchen counter and walks to his bedroom as he says, “Rin. Stop. You did nothing wrong. I didn’t tell you things, and that’s my fault. You don’t need to explain anything. I know you won’t return my feelings. You love Nanase. As long as he makes you happy, I can accept your feelings for him even if I don’t approve of him…yet. Your happiness is important to me, well…your dream trumps your happiness, but since that is something that isn’t on the line, I’m not worried about that.” Once Sousuke enters his bedroom, he sits on the side of his bed. 

Rin huffs on the other end, forming a fist with his hand that was tapping the notebook just moments ago. The redhead furrows his eyebrows, his lips press together into a thin line as he says, “hold on Sousuke. Before we get into the details, there is something that I want to address with you. You said you didn’t want to tell me because you were afraid to hurt me or make me cry. You said something similar last week too, that you wanted to tell me before graduation, but then…it just didn’t happen. This is too similar to the reason why you didn’t tell me about your shoulder last year. Sousuke. I know you mean well, and that you want to protect me, but how am I suppose to protect you when you deliberately withhold information from me. Instead, you have been quiet, waiting or avoiding. If you want us to maintain some kind of friendship, I need you to open up to me…trust me with your feelings, even if it means I cry about it! Dude, you mean a lot to me. I love you bro.”

Rin groans as he face palms, “Man! You know what I mean when I say that right? Like…a bro.” Rin throws his fist down on the desk, and a loud thump is heard through the speaker on the phone, “dammit! Why is this so hard for me to express right now? Just…yeah. Please tell me you know what I mean.”

Sousuke flops onto his back, partially lying down on the bed as he legs and feet hang off the side of the bed. The raven-haired teen listens to the redhead and his eyes widen as the crimson-eyed teen mentions last year. He thinks, _‘crap. Is it really like last year? When I withheld my injury from Rin? I think he’s right. I told him the same thing…that if I told Rin about my shoulder, that he would cry about it. That’s why I didn’t tell him then. And I did the same thing again. But, is it because I don’t trust Rin with my feelings, or is it because I don’t want him to worry about me? I always thought that I just didn’t want him to worry about me. But, he’s saying that I don’t trust him. That’s not true. I do. I just didn’t want to burden him with my problems.’_

The raven-haired teen listens to the rest of the redhead’s words and lightly chuckles at Rin’s honesty and his troubles with expressing himself. Sousuke says with curiosity, “oh? You love me like a bro, huh? So, not romantically or sexually. But, bromantically?”

Rin blinks a few times as he let’s the words the raven-haired teen said penetrate his mind. He thinks, _‘eh? What did he just say? Bro…bromantically? Is that even a word? I mean…’_ The more Rin tries to wrap his mind around the idea of a bromance with Sousuke, he can’t help but laugh on the other end of the line.

Rin throws himself on the back of his chair as he holds his stomach in a roar of laughter.

Sousuke smiles as he hears Rin’s canorous merriment. The raven-haired teen gently bumps the heel of his palm against his forehead as he chuckles with the redhead on the other line. The teal-eyed teen’s chest feels lighter with Rin’s laughter filling his ear. He says amusingly, “oi. Oi. It’s not that funny. I’m just trying to understand what your saying, Rin. Really, I was joking. I don’t know if that’s what you meant, but you mean like…”

Rin clears his throat as his laughter dies down. The redhead rubs his stomach as he interrupts the raven-haired teen, “wa-wait. Sousuke. I don’t think you are far off. I mean, well…let me think out loud with you for a moment. You are right about the romantic and sexual part. But the bro part, bromantically? I care about you deeply, and your opinions matter to me. You are my bro, and…no one else is like a bro to me. So a bromance, I can dig that. We have a bromance, a deep friendship.”

Sousuke titters on the other end as he runs his hand through his hair, “Rin. Dude. That was deep. I can’t help but think someone helped you out with this. Who did you talk to?”

Rin grins on the other end, feeling like they made a little breakthrough with their relationship. He says a little nervously as he scratches his cheek, “uh, I talked to Mikoshiba-buchou. We still contact each other from time to time, but not as frequently as he would like. But, he knows I’m busy too. Mikoshiba-buchou may be silly at times, but he gives some solid advice. I didn’t feel comfortable bringing this up to anyone else besides him.”

Sousuke sighs in relief. He thinks, _‘oh good. I thought for sure that he talked to Makoto about this. But since he didn’t, I don’t have to worry about that. Seriously? He still calls him buchou?’_ The raven-haired teen says with amusement, “buchou, huh? He really left an impression on you.”

Rin smiles gently as he looks up at the ceiling, leaning farther back into his desk chair, “yeah. I still call him buchou. I don’t think I will be able to call him anything else.”

Rin tilts his head as he thinks back on their conversation and says, “whoa, wait a minute. Let’s step back. We didn’t address the problem I brought up earlier. You know, the one about you keeping your feelings and thoughts to yourself instead of sharing them with me? If we are going to continue our bromance, Sousuke, you will have to open up to me more. I know you said that you don’t want to make me upset, but sometimes that happens. I need to know that you will bring stuff up with me too. That we have a two-way street and not a one-way street.”

Sousuke takes a minute to really think about Rin’s proposal. He thinks, _‘he’s right. We didn’t talk about that. Can I just open up to him? I want to. I will make it happen. I want Rin as my friend…as my bro.’_

The raven-haired teen rubs his scalp as he says, “Let me tell you what was on my mind about my shoulder and that month too before we talk about the future. Let’s start with my shoulder. I never meant for you to think I didn’t trust you, Rin. I just didn’t want to burden you with my problems. I thought I could keep it under control, sorta. But of course, that didn’t happen in the end. As for the month I stopped talking to you. I don’t have any good reason besides that I was just upset hearing about you and Nanase. That was my fault. I didn’t know how to tell you my feelings then, and I just thought spending less time with you would help. But then somewhere along the line, I just avoided talking to you because I was afraid…of hurting you.”

Rin exhales through his nose as he shifts in his seat, crossing his legs, “I hear you. I understand what you mean. I hate seeing you upset too, man. You don’t show your tears, but your mood changes. It’s subtle, but I can tell when you are really upset about something sometimes. But, dude…I want a dialogue with you.”

Sousuke huffs as he says firmly, “I want you to do the same, man. Maybe not about Nanase, not yet anyway. But about other things, yes. You didn’t tell me when you were struggling during your second year in high school. I just came to see one of your competitions that one time, and I found out that you were lost, Rin. You have no idea how devastating that was for me, as your friend, I felt like somehow I failed you.”

Rin’s eyes widens as he allows the information to seep into his mind. He thinks, ‘ _shit. It’s not just Sousuke. I’m doing the same with him too. I didn’t really tell him my troubles then, but that’s because I didn’t know what the problem was myself. And I didn’t want to burden Sousuke about a problem I didn’t understand very well. This has to change. Hmm, so regardless if I understand the problem, if something is bothering me, I should tell him about it. And hopefully, Sousuke will do the same. As long as it’s not about Haru…well for now.’_

The redhead rubs his face with a bit of frustration with himself, “alright. Shit. Sorry, Sousuke. I had no idea, but you’re right. I will do the same. I promise.”

Sousuke smiles sweetly on the other end of the line, “you have a deal, Rin. I promise…to tell you things that bother me. Even if it means you will cry about it, you big crybaby.”

Rin smiles gingerly on the other end of the line as tears threaten to fall down his face. The redhead feels a strong wave of relief wash over him that a deep sigh escapes his lips as he rubs his eyes with his hands, “Sousuke. I’m…thank you. I’m really happy to hear that. That we worked this out.”

The raven-haired teen lips part as he hears a little heaviness and stress in Rin’s voice. Sousuke sighs and says softly, “hey…go ahead and cry, Rin. I have committed to this, I might as well prove it now.”

Rin laughs as he wipes the tears away. He says playfully, “Sousuke, you bastard! I’m not crying! Just…something in my eye.”

Sousuke roars in laughter with Rin’s denial, feeling a soaring contentment fill his chest. The raven-haired teen holds his stomach as Rin laughs with him, dispelling all ill feelings the teal-eyed teen felt over the week. Sousuke had been very worried about talking to Rin, and also the possibility that the redhead would refuse to talk to him ever again. Relief captures the raven-haired teen’s essence and he feels more like himself again. The teal-eyed teen really doesn’t like being on bad terms with the redhead, and after last week, he really didn’t know where they stood with each other.

The redhead is the first to break their amusement and says with cheer, “we good, Sousuke?”

Sousuke snorts playfully, “yeah…bro.” The raven-haired teen smiles as he runs his hand through his hair lightly.

Rin snorts and chortles, “dude. If I were there, I’d kick you…and then give you a fist bump. Now that we are officially bros, how are things with you Sousuke?”

Sousuke sits up, places his left arm behind him as he leans back a bit, “Not much. Lectures at school are boring as hell. Nothing all that spectacular there, just been studying when I feel like it. I’m thinking of taking a photography class next trimester. Since Yumiko has a DSLR camera at her place. She said I can borrow it if I take the class. Both Makoto and Yumiko have this idea that I take good pics, so I figured why not. Well, Makoto is coming with me to physical therapy today.”

Rin nods as he listens to Sousuke. He tilts his head and a small smile creeps up upon his face, “oh? You and Makoto? I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. You two have become super close it seems, especially if you are allowing him to go to physical therapy with you.”

Sousuke clicks his tongue, interrupting the redhead, “well there is a story to that. I told you how I found Makoto in the pool downstairs in my apartment building, right?”

Rin knits his eyebrows as he pinches the bridge of his nose trying to recall the event the raven-haired teen mentions, “oh. That’s right. That happened like a couple weeks ago or something. Like, Makoto visited the ‘idiot’ and was really upset about it…cuz they broke up. You found him swimming in terrible shape, right?”

Sousuke nods and says, “yeah. I was worried about it and went in after him to get him out of the pool. Makoto apologized for his behavior, but I said that I wouldn’t accept his apology until he came with me to my physical therapy appointment.”

Rin runs a hand through his hair, “whoa. Really? You said that?”

Sousuke huffs lightly, “Rin. It’s not that big a deal. Besides, we became friends.”

The redhead lifts one eyebrow with surprise and curiosity, “oh? Friends, eh? I thought you said that you and Makoto had nothing to talk about? What about that little statement, huh?”

Sousuke face palms and laughs, “alright, alright. I was totally wrong about all that. I was just being an ass to get you and whomever you wanted to check up on me off my back. Makoto is cool. I enjoy his company. So, I’m glad you gave that goofy idiot my phone number and all that.”

Rin snorts as he leans his elbow against his desk, “so, you two are friends now? You aren’t just borrowing one of my friends anymore?”

Sousuke chuckles as he leans his elbow on his thigh, leaning forward a little bit, “yeah. Makoto and I are friends now. We have come to an understanding with each other. I didn’t realize Makoto thought so deeply about things. I mean, he figured out things about me that I didn’t want anyone to know about and he doesn’t judge me for it either. I guess that’s why I’m ok with him coming with me to my appointment today.”

Rin grins on the other end as he props his chin on the palm of his hand, “yeah. Makoto is a solid friend. Thanks by the way. For taking care of him. I know you took him into your home because of me. But, maybe that’s not true anymore. Since you two are friends now.”

Sousuke looks over to his nightstand and peers into the black beady eyes of Mr. Orca-cat before smiling like an idiot, “you’re right. I did do it for you in the beginning, but it’s different now. I’m not giving Makoto back to you, no way!”

Rin cackles on the other end, “man! Makoto really left an impression on you. I’m glad. Beware, Sousuke. Makoto can work some serious magic if you aren’t careful. I swear, if it weren’t for Makoto, I don’t think I would have been able to come to terms with my dad, you know.”

Sousuke leans over to pick up Mr. Orca-cat with his hand and places it into his lap as he stares at the smiling orange plush in an orca suit, “Hmm. So, he has worked his magic on you too. I don’t think he can break down my walls so easily, Rin. But I will say, Makoto is special.” The raven-haired teen tilts his head as he realizes what he just said. He closes his eyes and says, “dude. Stop making me say corny ass stuff.”

Rin laughs on the other end of the line until Sousuke hears the redhead curse and say, “oh, damn. It’s past 2 pm. Crap. I have to go, bro. I promised my teammate Liam that we would hit downtown today. Let’s talk another time.”

Sousuke titters, “alright. Talk to you later.” They both hang up. The raven-haired teen checks the time on his phone. It’s just seven past noon, so he still has time to eat a little something and maybe fold the laundry before picking up Makoto from the gym.

The teal-eyed teen plops his phone on the bed and focuses his attention on the plush on his lap. He takes Mr. Orca-cat into his hands and gently squeezes the toy thinking about all the times Makoto had comforted him. A smile graces his features as he thinks, _‘Makoto…seems like I’m not the only one that appreciates your friendship and company. I’m glad we got to know each other.’_

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

** Saturday, 1:08 pm **

Makoto and Haru walk over to the locker area after their quick showers in the communal shower room. The brunette opens his locker and places his small shower caddy inside the locker as he picks up his backpack, pulling out a cloth bag with clothes inside and places them on the bench behind him. The emerald-eyed teen places his backpack on the hook inside the locker as he goes through the clothes inside the cloth bag.

The brunette starts looking for the underwear that Sousuke had packed for him earlier that day. He pulls out a bright blue pair of boxer briefs and unravels the folded fabric. Makoto’s eyes widen as he is met with bright blue and red boxer briefs with red trim and a superman logo on the crotch.

The brunette thinks, _‘oh my! These…these are the ones I let him borrow. He, he gave them back to me…like this? Oh! That’s right! He said I could claim them back, I forgot. The last time I saw these boxer briefs, Sousuke was…’_ The emerald-eyed teen’s face blossoms into shades of pinks and reds as he recalls the image of Sousuke in his apartment, leaning against the wall in nothing but superman boxer briefs with small rivulets of water slowly streaming down his toned muscles as he runs his hand slowly through his damp, wet hair with half-lidded eyes.

Next to the brunette, Haru is about to pull on his pair of dark brown jeans but stops as he watches Makoto stare at some underwear in his hands. The sapphire-eyed teen raises his eyebrows momentarily before saying loudly, “Makoto, what are…”

Before the navy-haired teen could finish his sentence, the emerald-eyed teen shrieks and jumps to the side dramatically with a deep shade of red all over his face. Haru just stares at the brunette blankly and says, “Makoto. What are you doing?”

Makoto hides his face with one hand as he laughs at himself in complete embarrassment. He says awkwardly, “Ha-Haru. You scared me. Sorry. I was just thinking…uh, yeah. Thinking about something.” The brunette scurries to pull the superman boxer briefs over his legs and around his hips taking the towel off and folding the towel before placing it on the bench.

Haru furrows his eyebrows as he puts his undershirt over his head, “hm. Are you having dirty thoughts?”

Makoto fumbles with his dark green jeans, having a hard time putting his leg through the first opening as his face explodes into a darker shade of red, “e-eh? N-no! Wh-why would you sa-say that?” The brunette finally gets one leg into the sleeve of his pants and works on getting his other leg into his pants.

Haru side glances over at Makoto and notices how the brunette struggles with his pants and with his words. The free-swimmer can’t help but smile with his eyes as he says nonchalantly, “hmm. I take that as a yes. Don’t tell me you were checking out Maeda-san, the tall brunette that was talking to me just a while ago? After we swam in the pool.”

Makoto finally gets his pants on and buttons himself up. When Haru’s words register into his mind, the emerald-eyed teen stares at Haru with disbelief. He thinks, ‘ _eh? He noticed that? I was being very subtle about that. But that isn’t it Haru. I was thinking about…’_ The brunette looks away and laughs sheepishly, “ah. You noticed that? Sorry. I was thinking about something else. Maeda-san is…he’s something. I think he was more interested in you.”

Haru puts on his white and blue v-neck sweater, “hmm. I didn’t notice that. He has a girlfriend. He showed me pictures once. He’s a baseball junkie. He swims only to keep his mind off baseball. He told me that he’s impressed with my speed in the water. I don’t pay much mind to him. He talks too much. What were you thinking about?”

Makoto sits down and puts on his socks, “um…I let Sousuke borrow my underwear. I just forgot that it was the pair I’m wearing now. I just reminded myself that I owe him a pair of boxers. It’s embarrassing…that’s all.” The brunette grabs his shoes and puts them on.

Haru nods and the two teens dress in silence. After they finish up in the locker room, the two teens head out towards the front of the gym facility. Makoto pulls out his phone to check the time. It’s 1:20pm. Makoto pulls out his phone and texts Sousuke.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

I’m waiting inside of Haru’s gym. Hope you got here ok. ]

Haru watches Makoto pull out his phone and text someone. The navy-haired teen looks out the glass window in the front of the building and notices that it’s windy outside. He says, “tell Yamazaki to be careful driving around the city. It’s pretty windy out there. Also, don’t stay out too late. I heard that it’s going to rain.”

Makoto glances over at Haru and says, “oh. I will Haru. Thanks for the reminder. I didn’t check the forecast for today.”

Makoto receives a text, and checks his phone.

[To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

I’m here. ]

The brunette smiles and says, “Sousuke is here. Let’s go.”

Haru nods and follows the brunette out the door of the gym facilities, and into the chilly winds. The navy-haired shivers as the cold wind bites through his clothes and ruffles his slightly damp hair. Haru pulls his aquamarine wool scarf close around his nose and mouth as he continues to follow the brunette towards a man on a grey motorcycle, holding a blue and yellow helmet with cat ears between his legs. Haru watches Makoto walk over to the man on the motorcycle with curiosity.

As Makoto walks over to the man on the motorcycle, the emerald-eyed teen smiles at Sousuke as he notices that the raven-haired teen is dressed in a black and grey cargo jacket, a black scarf, black gloves, and grey and white boots.

Makoto says, “Sousuke. Did you wait long?” A moderate gust of wind crashes into the brunette and he visibly shivers as he takes the helmet from Sousuke.

The raven-haired teen shakes his head, “no. I just got here. Where’s Nanase? Did he leave already?” Sousuke pulls off his helmet as he unzips his cargo jacket, takes off one of his gloves to pull out his phone from the inside breast pocket.

Makoto tilts his head at Sousuke’s question and looks back to see Haru staring at the two teens. The brunette waves at the free-swimmer and says, “Haru?”

The navy-haired teen walks over towards the two tall teens and stands next to Makoto as he says, “Yamazaki, be careful on the streets. Good luck with your appointment. I’ll let you two go.”

Sousuke looks up as soon as he gets a hold of his cellphone and stares into those sapphire eyes. He thinks, _‘hmm. I thought I would be annoyed seeing Nanase, but I’m not. Interesting. I hope it stays this way, for now.’_ The raven-haired teen says, “Nanase. I will. I’ll make sure Makoto is safe. And, thanks. Take care.”

The navy-haired teen nods to Yamazaki before Makoto embraces him in a big bear hug as the brunette holds on to the helmet with one hand behind Haru’s back, “talk to you later Haru.”

Haru tries to nod, but is restricted from such movement because the brunette is hugging him tightly, “okay, Makoto. Please…that’s enough.”

The emerald-eyed teen lets go of the navy-haired teen as he laughs sheepishly, “sorry. I’ll see you later Haru.”

The two teens wave at each other as the sapphire-eyed teen walks away towards the train station. Makoto puts on his helmet and readjusts his scarf as he asks Sousuke, “do you have the directions down?”

The raven-haired teen huffs lightly, “oi. Don’t start with that. And, yes. I got it down.” Sousuke starts the navigation on his phone as he puts it back into his breast pocket. He zips himself back up, slides his glove back on and puts his helmet over his head.

Makoto chuckles as he places his hands on Sousuke’s shoulders and gets on the motorcycle behind the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke tilts his head and says loudly, “hold on tight, Makoto.” The teal-eyed teen starts his engine as he feels Makoto’s arms firmly around his waist before speeding off towards the medical building.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

**Saturday, 1:53 pm**

Makoto and Sousuke walk side by side up the street towards the large medical building entrance. Makoto follows the raven-haired teen, and is just a half step behind Sousuke.

When they enter the building, Makoto is hit with a strong wave of warmth and the scent of cleaners as they walk down the hallways. The brunette glances over at the raven-haired teen and notices that Sousuke has an intimidating stare as he walks through the hallway. The brunette thinks, _‘I wonder if he’s nervous or something. He doesn’t seem very happy to be here. Hmm…maybe I’ll know more once I see what Sousuke’s physical therapy entails.’_

Makoto continues following Sousuke down the hallway until they turn left into a large waiting room area. They walk over to the reception’s desk and Sousuke says, “hi. I’m here to see Hamasaki-san. I’m his 2 o’clock appointment. Yamazaki Sousuke.” The raven-haired teen pulls his gloves off, stuffing them into one of his pockets as he unzips his black jacket to pull out wallet and slipping his identification card out of one of the slots.

The receptionist takes the card briefly with a small bow as she checks the schedule on the computer. The young woman smiles at Sousuke and glances over at Makoto, “will your friend or family member be joining your session?”

Sousuke nods stiffly, “yes, he will be joining the session.” The young woman gives the raven-haired teen his identification card back and he puts it back into his wallet.

The young woman turns to Makoto and says, “may I just have your name, sir. You don’t need to pull our your I.D. We just need to document who comes into the medical building.”

Makoto smiles gently as he bows and says, “yes. My name is Tachibana, Makoto.” 

The young woman inputs the information into the computer, “thank you. Please, Yamazaki-san, Tachibana-san…have a seat. Hamasaki-san will be with you soon.”

Sousuke turns around and Makoto follows the raven-haired teen to a pair of seats near the doorway they went through. The raven-haired teen sits down carefully onto the black fabric seat. Makoto sits down next to Sousuke as he slides his gloves off, unravels his scarf, pulls over his backpack, and places the articles of clothing in his backpack.

The brunette looks over to Sousuke and asks softly, “um, would you like me to take your scarf, Sousuke? I don’t mind putting in my backpack.”

Sousuke’s eyes drift over to the brunette and a small smile graces his features, “sure. Thanks.” The raven-haired teen undoes his scarf and folds it up gently.

Makoto watches the teal-eyed teen, and is glad to see a smile on his face instead of the intimidating presence the raven-haired teen was exuding before. When Sousuke is done folding his scarf, the brunette takes the soft black fabric from the raven-haired teen and places it in his bag.

The teal-eyed teen leans forward in his chair as he watches the brunette put away his scarf in the emerald-eyed teen’s backpack. When the brunette is done, their eyes meet and they gaze at each other with uncertainty. Makoto smiles sweetly at Sousuke as he asks softly, “nervous?”

The teal-eyed teen shrugs as he breaks eye contact with the brunette, looking over at the receptionist’s desk, “not really. I’ve done this so many times. Just, frustrated.”

Makoto nods to himself as he hugs the backpack on his lap, “I…see. I wish there were some encouraging words I could say right now, but…”

Sousuke huffs as he shakes his head, side glancing over to Makoto as he interrupts, “nah. Don’t worry about it. There’s nothing you can say really. It is what it is. Just…sucks.”

Before the two teens could say anything more, a man with medium shaggy light blue hair and amber eyes walks in. He looks over at Sousuke and smiles at him, “ah. Yamazaki-san. I see Yumiko-san isn’t with you today. Please follow me.”

Both raven-haired teen and Makoto look up at the man talking to them. Sousuke gets up first and says, “Hamasaki-san. My friend Makoto will be joining us today.”

Hamasaki looks over at the brunette as he gets up as well. The two guys stare at each other briefly as the emerald-eyed teen smiles and bows. Makoto says, “I’m Tachibana Makoto. It’s nice to meet you Hamasaki-san.”

The shorter man chuckles lightly, “what a pleasant surprise. Alright, follow me, Yamazaki-san, Tachibana-san. We will be room 5 today.”

Sousuke and Makoto follow the amber-eyed man into a room with a few exercise machines, an open spaced area with a large foam like mat, and a bed like thing in the corner to help with stretches.

The brunette looks around with astonishment, but finds a chair to sit on as he watches Hamasaki and Sousuke talk about physical therapy exercises. Makoto puts his backpack down on the floor next to his feet as he sheds his cargo jacket off.

Hamasaki says, “Yamazaki-san, for the exercises today, why don’t you go ahead and change into something more flexible. I’ll wait outside.” Hamasaki walks out and closes the door.

Sousuke looks over at the brunette and says, “I packed another pair of sweatpants when I got your stuff together this morning. Um, do you think…”

Makoto picks up his backpack as he interrupts the raven-haired teen, “yeah, you did. I was wondering why I had two pairs with me. I have them at the bottom of my backpack to separate the two. Here.” The brunette pulls out the extra pair of sweatpants for the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke walks over and says, “hold onto those for a moment. I have to take off my shoes.” The raven-haired teen bends down and unzips his boots, slipping his feet out of their confines before getting back up and unbuttoning his pants in front of the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto puts his backpack down on the floor again, placing the sweatpants on his lap. When he looks back up at Sousuke, the raven-haired teen has already unzipped his stonewashed jeans. The brunette blinks a few times slowly processing the fact that Sousuke’s large hands move over to the sides of his waist, hooking his thumb over the top of his jeans. Makoto notices that the raven-haired teen is wearing seigaiha patterned boxer briefs in shades of blue, with a black band around his hips.

When Sousuke pulls his pants down, Makoto looks away with tinted pink cheeks. He thinks, _‘crap! I just made a big deal out of this, didn’t I? Oh! I hope he doesn’t notice. And just earlier I was picturing him in the superman briefs I’m wearing. Standing in my bedroom doorway, practically naked…just out of the shower and looking all sex…’_ Makoto face palms to prevent any other inappropriate thoughts of the teal-eyed teen popping up in his mind.

Sousuke folds his pants and hands it to Makoto. He notices that the brunette is lightly blushing and quirks an eyebrow at him, “um, something wrong?”

The brunette glances over at the raven-haired teen and shakes his head vigorously as he takes Sousuke’s jeans and hands the sweatpants over to him, “n-no. Not…not really. I-I was just…umm. I will just put your jeans in my bag, yeah.”

Sousuke gives the brunette a confused look, unfolds the sweatpants he was given and slips his legs through the pants, “hmm…looks like something is bothering you. Tell me.”

Makoto sighs as he puts the jeans in his bag and shields his eyes from Sousuke’s view. He thinks, ‘ _damn. I don’t want him to worry. I should just tell him.’_ He says hesitantly, “um. It’s just as you were, um, taking off your pants. I remembered you in my apartment. You know, in my underwear. I-I just remembered how embarrassed I was and…well…yeah.” 

Sousuke titters as he pulls off his jacket and hands it over to Makoto, “oh? Do you always get so flustered when you see guys in underwear?”

Makoto sees a jacket in his limited line of vision and gently grabs the jacket as he twists his torso in his chair, placing the jacket over the back of the seat, “um…well…” The brunette’s mouth hangs open for a moment before he continues, “I-I don’t thinks so. Not in the locker room anyway. Ma-maybe it’s safer to say that ‘could’ be true outside of the locker room.”

The raven-haired teen decides to tease the brunette as he pulls his cerulean merino wool sweater off his body, leaving his white ribbed tank top on, “is that so? Ever get that way around Nanase? I’m sure you’ve seen him practically nude all the time.”

Makoto eyes widen as he looks up at the smirking raven-haired teen. The brunette thinks, _‘eh? What kind of question is that? Hey! That’s a little unfair. He knows about my past, about my feelings in regards to Haru…of course I thought about him that way.’_

The brunette looks away as he swipes Sousuke’s sweater from his hands, “That’s not fair, Sousuke. You know that answer to that.” Makoto sighs as he folds the sweater and places it in his lap as he says quietly, “I used to…not anymore. Our relationship isn’t like that.”

The raven-haired teen realizes that he crossed a line and sighs as he rubs the back of his neck. He says apologetically, “sorry. I didn’t mean to make you upset, Makoto. Just…forget about it. I’ll go get Hamasaki-san.”

The brunette turns his head, watching the raven-haired teen trot over to the door and knock on it a couple of times. Makoto looks down at Sousuke’s sweater and thinks, _‘oh…did I upset him. He apologized because I got upset. But...’_

Before the emerald-eyed teen could ponder any further, the light blue haired-man comes back in and directs Sousuke to sit down on a chair as the physical therapist inspects his shoulder.

Makoto looks over at Sousuke’s face, and he sees that blank expression on his face. The brunette sighs silently, not wanting to interrupt the session between Sousuke and Hamasaki.

The emerald-eyed teen just observes everything that takes place for the raven-haired teen. Shoulder exercises on the machines, and other kinds of exercises on the floor mat too. Some of the techniques Makoto had seen before while Sousuke was in his room, and he realizes that the raven-haired teen has put a lot of diligent effort into his form, as Hamasaki would comment from time to time how great his form is when doing all his exercises.

The brunette looks down at the cerulean sweater in his lap and gently slides his hand across the smooth, silky texture of the wool sweater. He thinks, _‘I think I understand something. You are a hard worker, Sousuke. Even when you don’t want to do something, you still find the strength to do it. I wonder…if you are doing all this for yourself, or for Rin? Maybe both? Or…is it because you love swimming?’_

Makoto stares at the beautiful shade of blue on his lap and frowns slightly as he thinks about Sousuke’s dreams. The brunette recalls the teal-eyed teen giving up his first dream for a second dream. What about now? Sousuke had completed his second dream, but where does that leave the raven-haired teen with now?

Makoto realizes that Sousuke never said anything about a current dream that he is striving for, and that makes the brunette’s heart shift deeply. He thinks, _‘Sousuke…I don’t think you ever gave up your first dream. You said that you gave it up. If that were true, wouldn’t you be looking for a new dream?’_

Makoto shakes his head as he looks up to find Hamasaki and Sousuke talking. The brunette gets up slowly, placing the sweater that was in his lap onto the seat of the chair. The physical therapist notices the emerald-eyed teen’s movements, “ah. Tachibana-san…you think you can keep an eye on Yamazaki-san while he does his exercises from time to time? I don’t mean to put you out Tachibana-san, but sometimes it’s good to have an extra set of eyes.”

The brunette smiles and nods as he takes a few steps towards Sousuke and Hamasaki, “I don’t mind. I can tell Sousuke does a wonderful job already. I’ve seen him do some of these exercises before…in his room. He really does have great form.”

Hamasaki chortles, “is that so? Well, maybe Yamazaki-san doesn’t need an extra set of eyes if he’s doing fine on his own. I’m glad to hear that from you, Tachibana-san.”

Sousuke looks away as he rubs the back of his neck a little uncomfortably.

Hamasaki says, “well, that’s all for today. Schedule a time with me for next week, Yamazaki-san. Go ahead and use this room to change. I’ll take my leave now.”

The brunette watches the light blue-haired man start to head for the doorknob and he says hurriedly, “um, Hamasaki-san? Do you think you can show me the restroom? Since Sousuke has to change, I figure I could use the facilities.”

Hamasaki turns around and smiles, “I can do that, Tachibana-san. Please follow me.”

Makoto glances over toward Sousuke and says, “I’ll be right back, Sousuke.”

The raven-haired teen nods as he heads towards Makoto’s backpack.

Makoto follows Hamasaki towards the men’s restroom and says with confidence, “Hamasaki-san. Can I ask you a few questions? About Sousuke.”

The shorter, amber-eyed man turns around to look up at the brunette, “hm? Sure. What seems to be the problem, Tachibana-san?”

The brunette looks to the side, takes a deep breath before staring into those curious amber eyes, “When can Sousuke start swimming? I noticed that he’s doing really well in physical therapy. Well…you said that his form is great and all that, so I just figured that was the case.”

Hamasaki smiles and says, “You are the first person to ask that question. When Yumiko-san comes to the sessions, she’s more concerned about the progression of his shoulder. There is no guarantee when it comes to certain injuries, and Sousuke did tear his rotator cuff. Honestly, I think he’s been ready for some training in the pool for about a month and a half now. Starting with the breaststroke of course.”

Makoto’s eyes widen and a beautiful smile graces his features, “really? So, he can swim?”

Hamasaki puts his hand up and shakes his head, “hold on, Tachibana-san. This is just my professional opinion. Yamazaki-san will need clearance from his primary doctor before I can implement that kind of treatment. I will need a letter from Yukimura-sensei first.”

The brunette smile fades as he hears the news. Makoto crosses his arms, and asks, “so, Sousuke will need Yukimura-sensei’s permission first. Does Yukimura-sensei know about your professional opinion?”

Hamasaki shakes his head and says, “no, not yet. I have told Yamazaki-san and Yumiko-san about my opinion, but I have not heard anything from either of them.”

Makoto bites his lip as he thinks, ‘ _why? Why is this happening? If Sousuke can start swimming, wh…oh! Yumiko-san or Sousuke’s family, maybe? Maybe they have some concerns about Sousuke swimming again. But, I really think he wants to swim. No. I know he wants to swim. There is no way he would want to know Rin’s way of swimming if he didn’t have some sort of love for the sport. There must be a way.’_

The brunette asks hesitantly, “do you think it would be possible…to contact Yukimura-sensei? Just to let him know where you stand about all this. Sou-Sousuke…I know he wants to swim.”

Hamasaki places a hand on his chin, gently rubbing his fingers against his chin over and over as he ponders the brunette’s question. After a few moments, Hamasaki says, “ok. I will contact Yukimura-sensei and let him know my opinion on the matter. There is no harm for either party, but in the end Yamazaki-san and his family will be the ones to make the final decision on this matter. Yukimura-sensei will provide me the information necessary in regards to this. But, Tachibana-san, a word of caution. I know you are advocating for Yamazaki-san, and I agree with your assessment on the matter, but try not to get yourself involved in things that do not concern you. Yamazaki-san’s father is a very strict and stubborn man.”

Makoto smiles at first and then frowns as Hamasaki lightly scolds him about sticking his nose in someone else’s business. The brunette looks down, rubbing his neck as he says, “sorry. Thanks for the advice, Hamasaki-san.”

Hamasaki gives the brunette a small smile, “I hope you will take my words seriously. Let me show you the restroom. It’s just down this hallway.”

The two guys walk down the hallway until Hamasaki directs Makoto to the men’s room. Makoto wraps his hand around the door handle of the restroom before he says, “Hamasaki-san?”

The light blue-haired man turns around, “yes, Tachibana-san?”

The brunette turns his head to meet amber orbs, “will Sousuke ever swim the butterfly again?”

Hamasaki stares at the brunette momentarily before his eyes darken slightly at the question. He sighs softly and says with deadpan, “I’m afraid I cannot say at this time. The possibility is very unlikely. Just like the possibility of Yamazaki-san never being able to swim competitively.”

Makoto eyes waver as Hamasaki speaks, and he breaks eye contact with the physical therapist as his hand tightens around the metal door handle of the bathroom. The brunette closes his eyes and knits his eyebrows. That wasn’t the answer he wanted to hear.

Hamasaki sighs as he continues, “there is also the possibility that he can swim competitively. I have seen it happen only a couple of times, myself. It’s a possibility, nothing more. Please take care Tachibana-san.”

The brunette looks over to find Hamasaki walking away from him. He says in almost a whisper, “thank you…Hamasaki-san. Thank you…for that little bit of hope.”

Makoto walks into the restroom quickly wanting to go back to check on Sousuke.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

** Saturday, 4:35 pm  **

Makoto and Sousuke are back in Sousuke’s apartment. After the appointment they came back to the apartment complex and Makoto suggested getting something to eat before heading upstairs. They walked about 4 blocks away to a sushi restaurant that Sousuke frequents, but the raven-haired teen wasn’t in a talkative mood. The two teens basically ate in silence, and walked back to Sousuke’s apartment in an awkward kind of silence as well.

Makoto is in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a mug of hot barley tea. The emerald-eyed teen made Sousuke his own cup of barley tea, but the teal-eyed teen refused to come drink with the brunette. He looks over to the laundry area and watches the raven-haired teen fold the laundry. The brunette pouts slightly and says, “Sousuke? Is something wrong?”

The teal-eyed teen looks over his shoulder and says, “no, why?” Sousuke returns to folding the laundry in front of him.

Makoto takes a sip of the hot beverage in his white mug, “it’s just that…you have been really quiet after your appointment. I know it wasn’t something you wanted to do, but I thought it went well.”

Sousuke grunts as he thinks, _‘ugh. Seriously? You have no idea, do you? I’m in such a bad mood after all that. Just…this always happens when I go see the doctor, the physical therapist, and the rehab specialist. I hate it. I always feel like I’m wasting time, and nothing ever happens.’_

The raven-haired teen turns around and walks over the brunette in the kitchen and stares at Makoto with dark eyes, “I just…look. I am sick and tired of going to medical buildings and hospitals. It’s been months now, and still nothing. I’m just frustrated, okay. Makoto, I don’t want to talk about this. I just wanted you to see what I have to put up with. And now that you have, maybe you can understand my frustration.”

Sousuke places one hand on the kitchen counter as he rubs his temples with the other. Makoto just stares at the raven-haired teen with a bit of shock as he was just admonished for his opinion. The brunette knits his eyebrows as he tries to comprehend Sousuke’s words. He thinks, _‘the whole point of me going to Sousuke’s appointment was for me to have some idea of the things he had to put up with. Maybe I’m missing something.’_

The brunette looks at the raven-haired teen and says, “Sousuke. Let me tell you what I saw before you start telling me your side. I haven’t been through all the appointments with you like Yumiko-san probably has. I can only speak on my own experience, which in my opinion…you did really well. Hamasaki-san said your form was great several times. I’ve even seen you do the same exercises with the same diligent and careful effort you put forth today. I am impressed with your progress, Sousuke. And maybe that is something you don’t want to hear because…”

Sousuke grunts as he places both his hands on either side of Makoto, interrupting the brunette’s speech. The emerald-eyed teen grasps his mug with both hands, bringing the cup closer to his chest as he leans back.

The raven-haired feels the cool marble title of his kitchen counter top and says firmly, “Makoto. I didn’t bring you with me to hear praise. I fucked up. And this is the price I have to pay for my mistake. All that shit I have to do is because I overworked myself. This can happen to anyone, and I wasn’t being careful. So, you swimming in the pool without properly stretching freaked me out, okay. I was upset with you. Why would you even think it’s ok to get into the pool so carelessly?”

The brunette frowns as he pushes Sousuke’s left shoulder firmly so he can put down his cup of hot tea. He squeezes the raven-haired teen’s shoulder as he glares at Sousuke, “I apologized for my behavior. I knew I was acting recklessly after the fact. I was in pain, Sousuke. I can’t take back what I have done, but I never, ‘never _’_ meant to hurt you. If I had known what ticks you off, I wouldn’t have even considered swimming in the pool. I would have done something else.”

Makoto looks down at his feet below and says a little more delicately, “how long are you going to keep hurting yourself, Sousuke? You won’t even take credit for your hard work.”

Sousuke moves back and Makoto’s hand drops to his side. The raven-haired teen just stares at the brunette in front of him. He thinks, _‘what the hell just happened? Why hasn’t he just dropped this, yet? Shit…I didn’t mean to attack his character, but I did freak out when I saw him in the pool. But, what the hell? What is he yapping about? My hard work? Don’t make me laugh, Makoto. Everything I ever worked for is gone. I just want to get into the pool…all this just to get into the water again…but never compete.’_

Sousuke looks away as he puts a hand on his hip, running a hand through his hair roughly, “what the hell are you talking about? My hard work? That’s all gone now. Everything I care about is gone. Rin left. My shoulder is fucked up. There’s nothing left.”

The raven-haired teen glowers at the wall he can see in the distance and curses before he pinches the bridge of his nose savagely.

Makoto observes the teal-eyed teen and as he watches and listens to Sousuke, the brunette’s gaze becomes petrified. He thinks, _‘wait…Sousuke. Please. No.’_

The brunette hurls himself over to Sousuke, scooping his arms around his body, squeezing their chests together, and wrapping his arms around Sousuke’s back as he rests his hands on Sousuke’s shoulder blades. Makoto nuzzles his chin against the raven-haired teen’s shoulder as he says softly, “it’s not. I see your hard work, Sousuke. Yumiko-san sees your hard work. Rin believes in you too. He never left you. Your shoulder just needs some love, Sousuke. Did Hamasaki-san say you could never swim? I didn’t hear him say anything like that. You are so amazing…to go through all of this by yourself. Just…”

Makoto vision starts to blur, he squeezes the raven-haired teen tightly, not wanting to let him go. The brunette thinks, _‘stay with me, Sousuke. Please. You don’t have to bear all this by yourself. Let me support you. And when Rin comes back to Japan, please let him support you too. Haru would do the same for you, I know he would. Nagisa, Rei…Momo and Nitori…all your teammates in Samezuka, they all would.’_

Sousuke is thrown off guard as the brunette leaps onto him, hugging him tightly. The raven-haired teen takes a step back to collect his balance, and flings an arm around the emerald-eyed teen’s shoulder unintentionally. The teal-eyed teen listens to Makoto’s tenderly sweet voice and when he feels a substantial pressure around his body, the raven-haired teen can’t help but flush lightly by the generous embrace he is receiving.

The teal-eyed teen thinks, _‘now…I feel bad. You sound so delicate and honest Makoto. I swear…you really are something. Rin is right. You possess some kind of magic; it’s so strange. I’m not amazing…really…’_

Before Sousuke could formulate a proper response to the brunette, Makoto speaks up again. The brunette closes his eyes as a few tears stream down his cheeks, “I have a confession, Sousuke. I did something I probably shouldn’t have, and I want to come clean with you. You deserve that and so much more. I…I…”

Makoto opens his eyes and loosens his squeeze on the raven-haired teen as he says carefully, “I asked Hamasaki-san some questions, when he was directing me to the restroom. I wanted to know, when you could start swimming again. Hamasaki-san told me that he told you and your family. I, I asked him if he could pass along his professional opinion to your primary doctor. I’m sorry, Sousuke. I just wanted to see you…happy.”

The brunette drops his hands and takes a few steps backwards until his back hits the kitchen counter with his head hung down low, his bangs shielding his face from Sousuke’s scrutiny. Makoto wipes his cheeks with his hands as he takes in a shaky breath, waiting for the raven-haired teen’s acrimony.

The teal-eyed teen hears the brunette speak, his eyes widen as he loosens his grip on the brunette’s shoulder. When Makoto walks away from him, Sousuke feels cold without the backstroke swimmer’s warm embrace surrounding his body. Sousuke takes a deep breath as he process this new information that Makoto just disclosed. He says with an even voice, “what did he say?”

Makoto turns head his head to the side, hugging himself, “he said that he would contact Yukimura-sensei. And that the decision is ultimately yours…and your family’s.”

Sousuke rubs his neck as he watches the brunette. He says with a hint of vulnerability, “why did you do it?”

The emerald-eyed teen turns around, placing both his hands on the kitchen counter, looking down at the shiny black marble, “you looked so bored and frustrated today. Those exercises…you’ve done them so many times before. Hamasaki-san kept saying that your form was good, and it’s the same here when you do them. I was curious, since you weren’t struggling. If maybe, you could move on to something closer to your goal…swimming. I can tell you want to swim, Sousuke. You wouldn’t be working this hard…if you really didn’t care.”

The raven-haired teen sighs and he doesn’t know how he feels. He’s moved by the fact that Makoto would go this far for him, to ask his physical therapist about his next step in treatment. He also feels annoyed by the fact that Makoto asked his physical therapist without his presence since it’s not his business to meddle with. However, Sousuke can’t deny the fact that he wants to swim, and the brunette had picked up on that fact.

Sousuke walks over to Makoto and pays close attention to the brunette’s backside. He notices the brunette is looking down towards the marble countertop, and he can hear the backstroke swimmer sniffling. Slowly, the raven-haired teen raises his arm and places his hand on the emerald-eyed teen’s shoulder firmly as he says, “my father…doesn’t want me to swim. He wants me to leave that part of my life behind me. He’s worried about my future.”

The emerald-eyed teen’s back stiffens momentarily and lets Sousuke’s deep voice fill his ears as he absorbs the meaning of his words. The brunette looks over his shoulder and is met with glum teal eyes, and Makoto’s green eyes waver as he empathizes with the raven-haired teen. He places his hand over the teal-eyed teen’s hand on his shoulder as he turns around to face the raven-haired teen, “what do you want, Sousuke? I want to hear your voice in all of this.”

Sousuke looks away from those angelic green eyes, huffs lightly as he says reluctantly, “I…I want to swim. After everything, with you guys, with Rin…I realized how much I love swimming. Rin taught me how to swim. I, did it all for him, you know. And for the longest time, I thought that was enough for me. But after last year, I found out I was wrong. I love swimming, and it has nothing to do with Rin. I was angry for realizing this so late, after my injury. I found my dream, and I can’t even…”

Makoto smiles sadly and squeezes Sousuke’s hand gently as he stares at their connected hands, “what you want is just as important as what your dad wants. I know how influential our parents’ desires are, and they do define a part of us. I am the same way. I thought my mom would be angry with me for leaving Iwatobi, and the last thing I ever wanted was to make her cry. She cried when I told her my plans to come here to Tokyo. But, she told me it was because she was afraid. Afraid to see me leave and that I would forget everything that made me who I am today. Do you think your dad is afraid? Afraid for you?”

The raven-haired teen gazes at the emerald-eyed teen and considers the meaning in those words. Sousuke sighs as he says with reflection, “hm. I guess that could be true. I’ve never thought about it that way.”

Makoto looks up into Sousuke’s teal eyes and says, “you think you can talk with him about it? I don’t know how your relationship with your dad is like. Maybe Yumiko-san can help you. Or, you can always count on me too.”

Sousuke gives the brunette a small smile, “you are persistent when you want to be. You just don’t give up, do you? I’ll talk to my dad. You’re right. I do want to swim. I guess I’m just gonna have to prove to my dad that I’m worth it.”

Makoto furrows his eyebrows and says quickly, “but, you are worth it.”

The brunette blinks as realization sinks in that he said something touching. The two teens stare at each other with shimmering eyes. Makoto’s ears start to burn a bright red as his hands start to feel a little clammy. Sousuke’s lips part slightly as his heart races, staring into Makoto’s earthy green eyes. Both teens look away at the same time, and they each take back their hands feeling a simmering warmth lingering on their joined hands just moments ago.

Makoto laughs nervously and says, “sorry. I know I say sappy things, but I meant what I said. So, I won’t take it back.” The brunette rubs his arm up and down trying to calm the burning heat in his chest. He thinks, _‘what is happening? Is there something going on that I’m not aware of? I mean, this only happens when my…oh. Wait. Am I developing feelings here? But, he’s in love with Rin. I can’t develop feelings for Sousuke. No…that can’t happen.’_

Sousuke titters as he rubs the back of his neck, “yeah, but you aren’t the only one. Thanks, for being honest. I’ll talk to my dad about it. Yumiko will probably help with that.” The raven-haired teen thinks, _‘that…was something. Damn…my heart won’t stop pounding. I mean all I did was look at him, and he was holding my hand. It’s probably nothing. Just us getting caught up in some deep stuff.’_

The brunette looks back on the counter and remembers that he made tea for Sousuke. He turns around and picks up the black mug with both hands, turning on his heel again as he extends the tea to the raven-haired teen, “here. Have some tea, Sousuke.”

The teal-eyed teen smiles as he grasps the handle of the mug, “thanks.” Makoto let’s go of the mug and watches the raven-haired teen drink his tea. The brunette says, “um, you think I can go with you to your doctor’s appointment too? I…I would like to support you, if it’s ok.”

Sousuke takes a moderate sip, “well, I see my doctor on Wednesday, 3:00 pm. You’re working, aren’t you?”

Makoto picks up his white mug and contemplates his schedule. He thinks, _‘he’s right I do have work on Wednesdays. But…I just covered for Watanabe-san. I don’t think she will mind covering for me. I’ll ask her, if she can’t do it, I’m sure she knows someone on one of the other shifts who could cover for me.’_

The brunette says, “I’ll go. I covered for a friend, and I’m certain that she will do the same for me. I’ll let you know by Monday.” The emerald-eyed teen smiles at Sousuke as he takes a sip of barley tea, relishing in its comforting toastiness.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 3rd, Wednesday, 12:58 pm **

As Makoto gets off the elevator on the fifteenth floor, Makoto receives a text from Sousuke.

[To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

Don’t bother knocking. Just come right through the door. I know you’re coming. ]

The brunette smiles at the text and slides his phone into his medium wash blue jean back pocket. Makoto quickly walks over to Sousuke’s apartment, pulling out the keycard in his cargo jacket pocket as he slides the thin plastic through the card reader and turns the doorknob.

Makoto closes the door as he puts the keycard into his front pocket, and places his green plaid umbrella in the bin with the other umbrellas. He pulls off his black leather boots, puts his green backpack down by the entryway closet as he sheds out of cargo jacket, placing it on the hook and putting his grey knitted scarf over the jacket and shoving his gloves into one of the deep pockets of his cargo jacket.

The brunette slings his backpack over his shoulder as he walks through the hallway. A yummy scent fills the air and Makoto trots over to the kitchen to find Sousuke platting some food into a shallow bowl.

Makoto chuckles and says, “oh? You made lunch? Impressive. You know…if you told me you were making food, I would have come faster.”

Sousuke recognizes Makoto’s gentle voice and turns his head to give the brunette a smirk, “too bad. If you came sooner, the food wouldn’t be done. You have good timing today.”

Makoto puts his backpack down on the floor closer to the hallway and against the wall so it doesn’t get in the way when they walk in and out of the kitchen. The brunette rolls up the sleeves of his red, black, and white plaid shirt with thin yellow stripes as well his black long sleeved shirt underneath, “do you need any help carrying anything into the dining room?”

Sousuke nods and says as he plates the second bowl, “yeah. That tray over there on the other side, go ahead and put the bowl with our drinks and carry it over. I’ll bring this bowl over when I’m done.”

Makoto does as he’s told and carries the tray over to the dining room, taking off the tall glasses of water from the tray, placing them on the table, and he does the same with the bowl as well. The brunette looks down at the rustic dish in front of him as he sits down waiting for Sousuke to sit down. He says, “you made nikujaga. Did I tell you that this is one of my favorites?”

Sousuke comes over with his bowl and a couple of spoons as he sits down across from the brunette. He says, “I remember you mentioning it sometime. I think it was that one time Nanase and I cooked together. Anyway, I forgot to tell you. Yumiko will be joining us for my appointment. She’ll be meeting us at the medical building because her class goes till 1:30 pm. I told her she didn’t need to come with us, but my dad wants her to be there.” The raven-haired teen extends his hand over to Makoto with a spoon in his grasp.

Makoto smiles and takes the spoon from the teal-eyed teen, “thanks. I don’t mind. It would be nice to see Yumiko-san again. Is that right? Hmm, I guess so.”

Sousuke glances over at the brunette and smiles, “go ahead and dig in, Makoto. Tell me what you think.” The raven-haired teen wraps his hand around his glass of water and takes a sip.

The brunette beams brightly, “I will.” The emerald-eyed teen takes his spoon into his hand and scoops up a generous portion of potato, carrot, onion, and beef. Makoto blows on the food gently before taking a bite. The brunette is instantly hit with the sweetness from the carrots and onions, creamy fluffiness from the potato, the umami flavor that comes from the potatoes that absorbed the dashi, sake, mirin, and soy sauce. Makoto nods as he savors the flavors of the homey dish.

Makoto says, “this is pretty good, Sousuke. Mmm. I haven’t had nikujaga in a long time. Reminds me of home.” The brunette continues eating in contentment.

Sousuke snorts, “I haven’t seen you turn down any kind of food, yet. But, I’m glad it reminds you of home. That’s quite the compliment.” The raven-haired teen eats the food in front of him.

After the two teens eat their food, Makoto insists that he cleans up the mess in the kitchen after Sousuke places the leftovers in a container and puts it in the fridge.

Makoto puts on a white apron and makes sure that his sleeves are rolled up as he turns on the faucet to clean up the dishes.

Sousuke takes a seat by the kitchen island as he watches the brunette wash the dishes in the kitchen. He asks, “so, who covered your shift today?”

Makoto smiles as he puts one of the washed glasses in the drying tray, “Watanabe-san is covering for me today. She told me that her debt to me has been paid off.”

The brunette looks up to find Sousuke scrolling through his phone, “are you nervous?”

The raven-haired teen stops fiddling with his phone and looks over at the emerald-eyed teen scrubbing one of the bowls as he rests his elbow on the marble countertop and plops his chin onto the palm of his hand, “a little. Why do you ask?”

The emerald-eyed teen glances over at Sousuke and says gently, “I just want to know where you are at today. Would it make you feel better if I held your hand throughout the appointment?”

Sousuke is taken by surprise by Makoto’s words and stares at the emerald-eyed teen washing the pot in the sink. He says spontaneously, “hah? What am I, a little kid? I don’t need you to hold my hand. I’m, I’m not scared or anything. It’s just the stupid doctor.”

After the raven-haired teen processes his own words, he smacks his forehead and rubs his scalp with the realization that he just sounded like an ungrateful child protesting. The teal-eyed teen groans lightly as he swallows noticing his cheeks have a slight burning sensation. He thinks, _‘ah, crap! Am I blushing or something? Ugh…that’s embarrassing.’_

Makoto giggles lightly at Sousuke’s response as he washes the lid of the pot. He looks up to find Sousuke hiding his face partially and Makoto’s smile widens. He thinks, _‘aww! I think he’s a little embarrassed by my suggestion. Ran and Ren usually like it when I hold their hands during doctor appointments. I just wanted to see his reaction, really. He’s cute and…’_

The brunette’s smile disappears as he knits his eyebrows lightly and focuses his attention on the utensils in the sink. He says, “I was just wondering if it would help. If you don’t want me to, that’s fine. Just…let me know what you need. I’ll try my best to stay out of the way, but I want to make sure that your voice is heard too.”

Sousuke ponders the emerald-eyed teen’s suggestion for a few moments. He thinks, _‘let him know what I need? Huh? I never thought about that kind of thing before. Usually I just go and let Yumiko or on the rare occasions, my dad and Sakura talk to the doctors or whatever. I just sit there and listen…mostly with frustration. What if I don’t know what I need? Hmm…’_ The raven-haired teen places his chin on the palm of his hand as he continues to think about his needs.

Makoto finishes washing the dishes and washes his hands before looking up to check on the teal-eyed teen. He can see that Sousuke is in deep thought and the brunette wonders what the raven-haired teen could be thinking about. He says as he pulls out a spray bottle and a rag to clean the countertops, “Sousuke, don’t worry about what I said. Just let me know when you figure it out. If you don’t know, then maybe consider my company as support.”

Sousuke glances over at the brunette carefully spraying the natural cleaner on the countertops and wiping it down with a rag in circular arm motions. The raven-haired teen thinks, ‘ _hmm, Makoto looks good in plaid. Actually…didn’t he wear a black long sleeved polo shirt with orange asymmetrical stripes one time? I think he did. That shirt really looked good on him.’_

Makoto turns around and cleans the range and countertops on the other side. Sousuke notices how the brunette’s hips sway slightly as he cleans the marble tops. The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows as he realizes that he has been watching the emerald-eyed teen’s swaying hips and ass. Sousuke looks down at his phone that has been left on the kitchen island as he thinks, _‘shit, I think I was checking him out. Makoto…hmm. He is pretty hot, but he’s mainly sweet. I can’t believe he really got someone to take his shift today. He doesn’t have to come, even if I’m tired of visiting doctors and all that. He really goes all out for his friends.’_

Sousuke smiles as he thinks about Makoto and his strong sense of devotion to his friends. He grabs his phone and checks his email, thinking, _‘it’s honorable…how devoted he is to his friends. I wonder if that’s how he views me? I’m kinda feeling that way with him…strange.’_

Makoto puts away the bottle of cleaner under the sink cabinet and washes his hands. After the brunette dries his hands, he fishes his phone out of his pocket and realizes that Haru had texted him to call him back. The emerald-eyed teen says, “Sousuke, I’m gonna have to give Haru a quick call before we go.”

The raven-haired teen looks up to meet green eyes as he says, “oh, no problem. We won’t have to leave for another 30 minutes. Go ahead and use the guest bedroom for a private chat.”

Makoto chuckles, “thanks. I won’t be that long. I’ll be right back.” The brunette walks over to the guest bedroom to give Haru a call back.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

** Wednesday, 2:47 pm **

Makoto and Sousuke arrive at the medical building’s front entrance. Both teens place their umbrellas in the bins in the front of the medical building, and take off their scarves and gloves. Sousuke walks over to a small waiting room are just right of the front entrance. The raven-haired teen walks over to a young woman siting down wearing an unbuttoned dark pink pea coat, a magenta cashmere sweater with white hearts, black skinny jeans, and pom-pom suede cream colored Ugg boots. Yumiko’s attention is stuck in a book until the raven-haired teen says, “Yumiko.”

Makoto trots up behind the teal-eyed teen as waves at the caramel-eyed woman, “Yumiko-san. It’s nice to see you.”

Yumiko looks up and smiles up at her stepbrother and glances over at the emerald-eyed teen. She puts her book in her brown leather tote bag, throwing it over her shoulder as she gives Sousuke a one armed hug, “Sou-chan! I’m glad I didn’t have to wait too long.”

The caramel-eyed woman looks over at Makoto after hugging Sousuke and says, “Makoto-san. It’s good to see you again.”

The brunette smiles gently as Sousuke says, “c’mon. I wanna check in and get this appointment over with.” The raven-haired teen starts walking towards the elevators.

Yumiko grabs Makoto’s hand and follows the teal-eyed teen, “Sou-chan is so impatient sometimes.”

Makoto smiles as he allows the young woman with braided pigtails to pull him along, “I think Sousuke just wants to make sure he checks in.”

Yumiko giggles as she looks back at the tall brunette, “that’s one way to put it.”

Sousuke, Yumiko, and Makoto get into the elevators and remain silent throughout the trip up, and even during the walk towards Yukimura-sensei’s office.

When Sousuke turns into a room with a medium sized waiting area, Yumiko leads Makoto towards a corner of the room and sits down next to a side table, “sit down Makoto. Sou-chan is just going to check in.”

Makoto slips his backpack off his back, sits down on the other side of the side table with his backpack on his lap as he says, “what usually happens during these doctor appointments?”

Yumiko puts her tote bag down on the side table next to her and says, “oh. Well, Sou-chan checks in, then Yukimura-sensei will come out and ask him into his office. Usually I’ll stay here until the doctor is done with Sou-chan’s check-up and then I will join them for a discussion.”

The brunette nods as he listens to the caramel-eyed teen, “ok. So we are going to be waiting here until someone comes to get us.”

Yumiko nods, “that’s right. So, Makoto-san. Sou-chan told me that you usually work today, but that you had someone cover for you.”

Makoto shifts his eyes to the side as he scratches his cheek lightly, “ah, well yes. I’m a barista at Momento Café, it’s near my university. But since I covered for one of my co-workers last week, she was kind enough to cover my shift for today.”

Yumiko crosses her legs as she places her elbow on the wooden armrest next to the side table, “oh really? You work as a barista. What are your holiday specials?”

Makoto eyes shine as he says, “we have a few. A peppermint mocha, a gingerbread latte, and a white chocolate caramel pecan latte.”

Sousuke walks over to Yumiko and Makoto, taking a seat next to the brunette. The brunette and the caramel-eyed woman stop their banter to look over at the raven-haired teen.

The teal-eyed teen sighs as he leans back in the chair, glancing over at the emerald-eyed teen and his stepsister. He quirks an eyebrows and asks, “what?”

Yumiko uncrosses her legs, and crosses them over to the other side as she says, “Sou-chan, I know you’re nervous. Just calm down. At least dad isn’t here with us today.”

Sousuke huffs as he rolls his eyes, “yeah, yeah. This is just a pain.”

Makoto stares at the raven-haired teen sympathetically. The emerald-eyed teen was about to say something, but Yumiko says, “just tell Yukimura-sensei what you want. After our talk with family on Monday, you were able to state what you wanted, and I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out how to tell dad about what Hamasaki-san mentioned before. Also, Makoto-san is here to support you. I have the unfortunate task of bringing up dad’s concerns today.”

Sousuke crosses his arms slowly as Yumiko talks. Makoto looks back and forth between the Yamazaki stepsiblings, taking note of Yumiko and Sousuke’s frustrations about different perspectives. Yumiko appears to be frustrated about bringing up her dad’s concerns, while Sousuke is just frustrated being at the doctor’s office.

Makoto sighs silently and says, “my hand is still available, if you need it Sousuke.”

The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen momentarily and he turns his head to stare at the emerald-eyed teen in a dazed state. Sousuke has a pinch of pink staining his cheeks as he just blatantly gawks as Makoto.

The brunette holds Sousuke’s surprised gaze and smiles warmly at the teal-eyed teen.

Yumiko tilts her head as she just observes the two teens peer at each other. Her heart shaped lips upturn into a broad smile as she watches the two boys.

Sousuke breaks the silence and says with a bit of a higher tone than he intended, “what? You’re still saying that? I'm not a kid, Makoto. I don’t need you holding my hand.”

Makoto chuckles as he hugs his backpack a little tighter, “good. Tell the doctor what you need…and what you want. Just like you told me.”

Sousuke huffs as he looks away, “yeah, yeah. I will.”

Before anything else could be said, a nurse comes by and says, “Yamazaki-san. Yukimura-sensei is ready to see you. Please follow me.”

Sousuke looks up at the nurse and sighs. Yumiko says before the raven-haired teen gets up, “remember Sou-chan…we will join you soon.”

The teal-eyed teen nods blankly as he gets up and follows the nurse out of the waiting room.

Both Makoto and Yumiko watch Sousuke leave. Makoto notices that the teal-eyed teen rolled his shoulders gently as he was walking out of the room.

Makoto says in a quiet tone, “he’s nervous.”

Yumiko sighs as she rubs her forehead lightly, “this is typical. You should have seen him when he had to go in every day. I could tell that he was angry and sad about the whole situation. He really hated his physical therapist, and sometimes he would take his frustration out on poor Hamasaki-san. That man has patience. I don’t know how he does it sometimes.”

Makoto stares at the caramel-eyed woman and says, “I’m sure it was hard on him.”

The two fall silent. Makoto puts his backpack down, between his legs as Yumiko asks, “What happened that time you went with him to see his physical therapist anyway? I mean, Sou-chan hasn’t said anything since Hamasaki-san made his recommendations over a month ago. What changed?”

Makoto holds Yumiko’s gaze and he sighs lightly before saying, “I asked about it. And, forgive me for being so forward, but I asked Hamasaki-san if he could pass on his professional opinion to Sousuke’s primary doctor. I mean no disrespect to you and your family’s decision, I just noticed how well he was doing during his time with Hamasaki-san and I got a little curious.”

Yumiko nods and says, “but how did you know? How did you know that Sousuke still wants to swim?”

Makoto leans back in his chair and considers Yumiko’s question carefully. He says, “I can’t explain it well, but I just felt like he does. After everything Sousuke has been through, I can see that he wants to swim. Just like Rin and Haru. They all have worked so hard, and they have overcome so many hurdles. It’s not just swimming, it’s the sport too.”

Yumiko places her hands in her lap, looking down as she listens to the brunette speak. She says softly, “the sport. You mean competitive swimming, right? So, Sou-chan still wants to swim competitively. After everything he’s been through.”

The brunette looks over at the caramel-eyed woman and he knits his eyebrows, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Yumiko puts her hand up to stop the brunette from speaking, as she says, “no. Don’t apologize. I want to understand Sou-chan. I just thought he gave it up. But I may have misunderstood. Sou-chan still hasn’t told me about what happened in Iwatobi. I’m still waiting for him to tell me. But, he told you. And that’s important to me. Sou-chan can be quiet and stubborn, which makes me worry about his health. Bottling things up doesn’t solve anything…I just don’t want him to repeat the same mistakes.”

Makoto nods and says, “you love him a lot, and I think he really needs you Yumiko-san. Even though he complains, he listens. I think he knows he has made mistakes in the past.”

Yumiko places her hand on the brunette’s knee and says, “you are adorable, you know that? I’m glad Sou-chan has you as a friend.”

Makoto laughs sheepishly, “ah…well, Sousuke has been a very good friend to me. I just hope that he sees me the same way.”

Yumiko giggles, “awww! Now, why can’t I find a man like you! Men like you are a rare breed, I swear. Maybe I should go to Iwatobi and find myself a husband!”

The brunette stares at Yumiko with disbelief before he says, “ah, well…I don’t know about that.” Makoto fidgets with his hands feeling a little self-conscious.

The caramel-eyed woman smiles, gently smacks Makoto’s knee, as she says, “if there were two of you, I would steal one of you away for myself. You are just too cute. Just like that time you and Sou-chan were running around the table. That was precious! If there were two of you, you could have done a sweet pincer attack and bring down Sou-chan in a tickle match. I would pay money to see something like that.”

The brunette gazes at the braided pigtail woman with shock. He thinks, _‘eh? Two of me? I can’t even imagine that.’_

Yumiko giggles as she gently smacks Makoto’s knee again, “wow, you are expressive. Absolutely adorable.”

Makoto rubs the back of his neck as he chuckles nervously, “ah, Yumiko-san. Please, stop. You’re embarrassing me.”

The caramel-eyed woman smiles as she says, “you know what, let’s exchange numbers. I’d like to try your drinks sometime.”

The emerald-eyed teen blinks momentarily, then quirks an eyebrow, “as long as you don’t use me as a go-to person to check on Sousuke. I’m good with that.”

Yumiko smacks Makoto’s knee lightly, “cute! Yes, yes. I won’t do something like that unless I can’t get ahold of him. Let me…” The dark brown-haired woman pulls out her cellphone from her tote bag, “get your number. Also, I can send you pics of gatchapon machines I run into. Sou-chan told me that you are into them.”

Makoto smiles as he fishes his phone out of his cargo jacket, “alright. Oh! Yes. Well not me. For my brother and sister. Ran wants some Frozen gatchapon and Ren has been addicted to the Youkai Watch series. I want to get them some gatchapon of their favorite characters.”

Yumiko and Makoto exchange numbers. Yumiko says, “I have an idea. Why don’t we go to Akihabara after this? We can check the gatchapon machines at one of the malls there. They literally have a wall of gatchapons! I’m one hundred percent certain they have Frozen and Youkai Watch.”

Makoto gives the caramel-eyed woman his trademark smile, “I would like that. As long as Sousuke is ok with it, I’m game.”

Before Makoto and Yumiko could say anything else about it, the same nurse comes by and says, “Yamazaki-san, Tachibana-san, please follow me. Yukimura-sensei and Yamazaki Sousuke are ready for both of you.”

The caramel-eyed woman gets up and picks up her tote bag, “thank you. Please lead the way.”

Makoto grabs his backpack following the nurse and the caramel-eyed woman out of the waiting room, down the hallway, and into a small room. Sousuke is sitting on the medical bed in the small room, while the man with salt and pepper hair is sitting on a stool next to a counter.

Yumiko takes a seat next to the doctor, and Makoto decides to stand next to Sousuke. The nurse bows as she closes the door and leaves.

The shorter man in a white lab coat walks over to Makoto and bows lightly, “Tachibana-san, welcome. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Yukimura.”

Makoto bows to the doctor and says, “it’s an honor to be here, Yukimura-sensei. Thank you for looking after Sousuke.”

Yukimura smiles before heading back to the stool. He picks up some files, sits down on the stool and says, “Sousuke has told me that he would like to swim, Yamazaki-san. I have received Hamasaki-san’s recommendation to have Sousuke start swimming in the pool, and we had a brief conversation about Sousuke’s progress. Here is the recommendation from Hamasaki-san, please look this over, Yamazaki-san.”

The doctor hands Yumiko a folder with a document inside. The caramel-eyed woman crosses her legs as she opens up the folder and reads the document inside.

Makoto looks over at Sousuke and notices that his back tenses as he watches his stepsister read the document from Hamasaki-san. The brunette places his hand on the teal-eyed teen’s shoulder and says, “how are you?”

The raven-haired teen turns his head to look up at the brunette and says, “ I’ve been better.”

Makoto notices that the teal-eyed teen is wearing a mask of indifference and the brunette frowns lightly, “ah.”

Yukimura looks over at the two male teens and says, “Sousuke’s check-up went well. He’s a healthy young man. I am impressed with the progress he has made so far.”

Makoto smiles at the doctor and says, “I’m glad to hear that, Yukimura-sensei.”

Yumiko looks up from the documents and says, “Yukimura-sensei. I have a few concerns that I would like to discuss at this time. If Sou-chan starts this new regimen with Hamasaki-san, how will it impact his shoulder? Will this impede or assist the recovery of his shoulder? And, what will this mean for Sou-chan’s future? ”

Sousuke takes a deep breath, and his back stiffens when Yumiko asks questions about his injured shoulder. The raven-haired teen has heard these questions before, when he talked to his father earlier in the week with Sakura and Yumiko. The teal-eyed teen told his parental figures that he wanted to move along in his recovery and swim, but his father didn’t budge on the matter until Yumiko had mentioned that Hamasaki had been saying his progress in physical therapy has improved and that he is ready for the next course of action.

Makoto notices the tension in Sousuke’s shoulder as he had left his hand on the raven-haired teen. The emerald-eyed teen turns his head to the side to gaze at Sousuke and he gently squeezes his shoulder. He thinks, _‘this is really hard for him. Well, I can also feel the tension in the room too. But, this kind of conversation…he must have heard things like this a lot. Sousuke…’_

Sousuke glances up at the brunette and their eyes meet briefly. The raven-haired teen is graced with an affectionate smile and just when he’s about to say something, Yukimura starts to say something and the teal-eyed teen looks over at the doctor.

Yukimura says as he glances over at Yumiko and Sousuke, “how will this impact his shoulder? Sousuke has been keeping up with his exercises in physical therapy, at home, and even here in my office. The goal in recovery is to give the patient back as much of their normal functioning that they had prior to any injury or surgery. In this case, Sousuke was swimming before the events of the injury and the surgery. Now, competitive swimming is extremely unlikely in this case. I’m sorry Sousuke. I know how important it is for you to swim like you once did.”

Yukimura looks over at Sousuke with sympathy before looking back over to Yumiko and continuing answering her questions, “With proper care, I believe Sousuke will benefit from this new regimen that I will instruct Hamasaki-san to proceed with. If Sousuke is willing to agree to the terms laid out within the document you have in your hand, Yamazaki-san, I believe Sousuke will be closer to his goal of normal functioning.”

Yumiko nods and says, “I understand, Yukimura-sensei. I will consent and agree to your terms listed here, if and only if Sou-chan is willing to follow your directions.”

The caramel-eyed woman looks over at Sousuke with soft eyes, “Sou-chan, I am trusting you to be honest with me, Yukimura-sensei, and Hamasaki-san about your progress. It’s stated here that if everything goes according to plan, you may swim twice a week without supervision. This is taking into consideration that you follow through with physical therapy three times a week for the next two weeks.”

Sousuke stares at his stepsister for a few moments before looking up at Makoto. The brunette notices a pair of eyes looking up and him and looks down at the raven-haired teen.

The teal-eyed teen takes a deep breath and asks the brunette, “Makoto…if I make it through the next two weeks with my physical therapist, do you think you can join me twice a week to swim?”

Makoto is stunned by Sousuke’s question, but once he is able to collect his thoughts, he smiles, “yes. I will swim with you, and make sure you follow Yukimura-sensei and Hamasaki-san’s instructions.”

Sousuke lightly titters before looking over at Yumiko, “I read the document before you came in Yumiko. I promise…to follow through with the instructions laid out on that piece of paper, and I will follow Yukimura-sensei and Hamsaki-san’s training.”

Yumiko smiles and says, “good. I will hold you to your word, Sou-chan.” The caramel-eyed woman asks Yukimura for a pen and signs the documents to start the new treatment. Sousuke walks over and also signs the documents as well.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 13th, Saturday, 4:57 pm **

Makoto and Sousuke are at a ramen shop near Sousuke’s medical building. After Sousuke’s physical therapy appointment at 3:30 pm, the two teens decided to get something to eat.

Makoto is sitting across from Sousuke inside the small shop, nestled next to the wall, and they just ordered their food. The brunette thinks about the events that took place in during the last week.

The emerald-eyed teen asked the teal-eyed teen to let him know about his appointments with his physical therapist, since Makoto hadn’t been able to join Sousuke, except for the one on Saturday last week. The raven-haired teen had been seeing Hamasaki three times a week, last week Sousuke saw him Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. This week the teal-eyed teen saw Hamasaki on Wednesday, Friday, and today.

Makoto noticed that the raven-haired teen is doing really well working with Hamasaki, and Sousuke smiles during his physical therapy sessions. Sousuke can actually start swimming by himself next week, but it’s finals week and the brunette knows that his whole week is packed with tests. The brunette will be turning in his paper on Tuesday, and he’s glad that he finished it last night. The emerald-eyed teen hadn’t even met Haru during their usual workouts due to studying, but was able to visit Haru for dinners.

The brunette thoughts are interrupted as Sousuke asks, “so, when can we swim together? How about…Friday evening? We can use the pool at my apartment complex.”

Makoto chuckles as he takes a sip from the brown ceramic cup filled with green tea, “that will work for me. I can stop by at your apartment after my shift from work. How does that sound?”

Sousuke laughs as he smiles genuinely, “awesome. That sounds awesome. I can’t wait! Damn, I wish Rin were here.”

The brunette smiles as he puts down his cup of tea, “I can’t wait to see you in the water too…and to swim with you. That will be amazing. You know, Rin will be here soon. If I remember right, he’ll be here on the 21st. Haru is going to pick him up at the airport.”

The raven-haired teen smirks and says, “is that right? Wow. I can’t believe I forgot that. I know Rin had told me about it sometime. I think all that studying has fried my brain.”

The brunette nods, rest his elbow on the tabletop as he plops his chin on the palm of his hand and tilts his head slightly, “yeah. All the studying is killing me. But I keep telling myself…just one more week and it will be over. Just one more week, and I don’t have to read another book, or look at my notes, or whatever for a while.”

The waiter returns with piping hot bowls of rich, creamy tonkotsu ramen along with delightfully crispy chicken karaage with a yuzu soy dipping sauce on the side. Sousuke looks at his order of extra creamy tonkotsu salt ramen with a side of crispy chicken karaage, and feels his tummy rumble.

Makoto looks down at his bowl of tonkotsu miso ramen with extra chashu and takes a whiff of the creamy and yummy concoction. The brunette can smell the sweet and saltiness of the broth and pork and he moans lightly as the fragrance intoxicates his senses.

Sousuke watches the brunette close his eyes as he sniffs the aroma from the bowl in front of him. The raven-haired teen smiles at Makoto as the green-eyed teen relishes in the delicious fragrance of his food. The teal-eyed teen thinks the action is cute until Makoto lightly moans. The raven-haired teen just stares at the brunette before him, stunned and a little embarrassed. He thinks, _‘I feel a little strange. What is this? My cheeks…feel a little warm.’_ Sousuke rubs his face trying to feel if his cheeks are warm, they are just slightly.

Makoto opens his eyes and gets his chopsticks ready to dig in, “I haven’t had ramen in awhile. Mmm. This looks so good.” The brunette picks up some noodles and slurps up the yumminess in front of him. He continues to eat and drink the delicious ramen. The blend of the rich and creamy tonkotsu broth with a hint of miso, soy-infused soft-boiled egg, the slightly chewy house-made noodles, and delicious pork create a beautiful harmony that makes him slurp with more fervor.

Sousuke exhales and chuckles a little at Makoto’s enthusiasm. He thinks, _‘damn…he can be real cute sometimes.’_

Makoto slurps up some noodles and broth and the brunette licks his bottom and part of his upper lip slowly before sweeping his thumb over his bottom lip and enveloping the digit into his mouth, lightly sucking on the appendage.

The raven-haired teen just watches the emerald-eyed teen engrossed in the activity of feasting on his delicious ramen. Sousuke felt something surge through him, and he took a quick inhale and exhale of breath when he gazed at the brunette in front of him. Sousuke feels his heart race as he continues pondering about what he had just witnessed. He thinks, _‘huh…that was kinda hot…’_ Sousuke moves his head back and forth slightly before he picks up his chopsticks and starts eating some of his ramen.

The two teens are quiet for several minutes, eating their food. The brunette interrupts, smiles happily and looks up at Sousuke with a ramen noodle stuck to his left cheek, “this is so yummy! It feels so nice and cozy on a cold day like this.”

Sousuke smirks and says before looking up, “yeah. It’s been getting quite cold lately. This does hit the spot.” The raven-haired teen looks up to find the brunette smiling at him with a goofy grin and Sousuke was about to laugh until he notices the a small noodle on Makoto’s cheek, just a few centimeters away from his mouth.

The teal-eyed teen laughs and says, “you need to slow down, Makoto. You’re making a mess. You got some ramen on you.” Sousuke points to his own left cheek and says, “right here. You have some.”

Makoto slightly looks down and laughs sheepishly as he shoulders raise up just a bit, “oh. Sorry.” The brunette wipes the right side of his cheek with his fingers, “did I get it?”

Sousuke snickers as he leans over the table, thrusting his hand forward toward Makoto’s left cheek. The raven-haired teen gently rubs his thumb over Makoto’s cheek, taking the piece of noodle off the emerald-eyed teen’s face.

Makoto watches Sousuke lift his hand towards his face and sweetly sweep his finger across his face. The brunette’s eyes widen as he stares at Sousuke’s smiling face before the raven-haired teen’s lips part in shock.

The two teens stare at each other awestruck. Makoto feels his face burning up with heat, and his heart races. He thinks, _‘oh shit. I wish he actually pushed that noodle in my mouth and then I could…oh damn. That would be such a turn on…and that is something I should definitely not be thinking.’_ The emerald-eyed teen’s face turns into a deep shade of red as he feels himself become turned on by his own thoughts and imagery.

Sousuke licks his lips and stutters, “uh…wha-what do you want me to…yeah. I mean do with the noodle?” The raven-haired mentally curses at himself as he takes a deep breath to calm his racing heart. He thinks, _‘shit…I embarrassed him.’_

Makoto lips part and he shakes his head quickly as he says, “ah…let me…um…” The brunette looks around the table and sees a napkin right next to him. The emerald-eyed teen puts down his chopsticks and picks up his napkin as he wraps the paper around Sousuke’s thumb, “sorry. I didn’t mean to make such a mess. Thanks.”

Sousuke smiles nervously and says, “uh, no problem. Let’s just eat.”

Makoto nods and the two teens eat in silence berating themselves for making a fool of themselves in front of the other. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 19th, Friday, 9:25 am **

Sousuke is submerged underwater, handcuffed to a pipe. He struggles to free himself from his confines to no avail. The pressure of holding his breath starts to feel heavy and laborious. The raven-haired teen continues to struggle from the solid imprisonment of being restricted to the pipe behind him. The teal-eyed teen starts to feel hopeless as he continues to struggle and the pressure feels overbearingly heavier.

As Sousuke is preoccupied with his predicament, Rin comes back underwater to pull the pipe apart, the redhead continuously battles with the pipe trying to get the raven-haired teen out of this life and death crisis.

The crimson-eyed teen kicks the pipe several times, right above Sousuke’s head, there are dents in the pipe, but it isn’t enough. The redhead violently places both his hands around the pipe and jerks it back and forth with the power of his brute force.

The teal-eyed teen tries to get Rin’s attention, tries to tell his friend and partner through his eyes to leave him behind and save himself. But the redhead didn’t even bother to look at him, more concerned with setting Sousuke free from his confines.

Suddenly the pipe gives out under Rin’s strong kick, and Sousuke lets out a breath of air, unable to take the pressure of holding his breath any longer. Rin quickly grabs the teal-eyed teen and takes him up to the top of the surface as fast as he can.

The raven-haired teen coughs up water harshly as he desperately struggles to fill his stinging lungs with air. Rin takes them to the edge of a walkway and pulls Sousuke up.

Both teens are breathing heavily as they nearly escaped death. The redhead struggles to get to his feet, stumbling a little as he continues to fill his lungs with much needed air. Rin fumbles slightly as he takes his gun out of the holster. The crimson-eyed teen firmly takes hold of the slick metal in his hands and takes aim as he shoots the handcuffs to free Sousuke from his confines.

The redhead slowly walks over to a window and fiercely breaks the glass with his elbow. The sound of broken glass shattering fills the room. Rin looks over his shoulder, panting, “c’mon. We have to get out of here.”

Sousuke gets up, but stumbles to follow the redhead. Rin helps the raven-haired teen out of the window first. The teal-eyed teen clears more of the glass with his elbow to create a larger path for both of them. Sousuke hops over the window frame edge, and helps Rin through as well.

Sousuke pants as he places his hand on his knees, slouching forward trying to catch his breath. When Sousuke turns around, he’s at his desk at the police station. He looks around frantically trying to figure out what just happened. The raven-haired teen looks down at his wrists and notices that he no longer has the cold metal rings of broken handcuffs on him. Before he could say anything, Rin taps his shoulder and says, “hey. We got to go. Got a call, about a fire downtown. The police need more back-up, so let’s get going, partner.”

Rin grabs his forearm and drags the confused teal-eyed teen to their squad car. The redhead speeds into the city of Tokyo, causing Sousuke to buckle up and brace the edge of his seat and door handle as Rin drives through the streets getting to his destination as quickly as possible.

Sousuke says through gritted teeth, “next time, I’m driving Rin. You drive like a maniac!”

Rin grins at his partner sitting next to him, “too bad buddy! I got the call, I get to drive.”

Sousuke inwardly curses himself for being so preoccupied with his thoughts. In a few short minutes the car comes to a complete halt.

The raven-haired teen unbuckles himself and gets out of the car as he look up at a tall, smoke-filled building in downtown Tokyo that looked like a terrible fire had gone through it. Firemen come out of the windows and doors carrying various people who were stuck in the building.

Rin says, “I’m gonna check in with the others, why don’t you go check out the action and make sure everything is ok.”

Sousuke nods at the redhead, “got it.”

Rin runs off to check in with the other police members, while Sousuke heads over to the caution tape and talks to one of the firemen.

Sousuke ask the shorter man, “Yo, everything ok?”

The shorter fireman looks over at Sousuke and says, “for the most part, just one of our men is still unaccounted for. I think he’s still inside.”

The raven-haired teen curses, “I’m going in.” Before the other fireman could say anything more, Sousuke runs into the building.

The teal-eyed teen takes a handkerchief from his back pocket and places it over his nose and mouth. He looks around and sees a lot of smoke inside the building. He yells, “hey! Anyone in here? C’mon! Answer me if someone is in here!” 

Sousuke continues walking through the smoky building, calling out to the random missing fireman.

The raven-haired teen coughs and finally hears something, and walks towards the direction of a voice saying, “come on sweetie. Mr. Bean, come here. It’s ok, sweetie. We have to get out of here.”

Sousuke walks up behind a fireman, lying on the floor in front of some debris, putting his hand out for some reason. The raven-haired teen says, “Hey, we have to get out of here. It’s not safe.”

The fireman looks back and says, “I won’t leave without Mr. Bean. It’s my job to make sure everyone gets out.”

Sousuke bends down, sees yellowish-green eyes staring back and he says with disbelief, “are you serious? A cat?”

The fireman gently coos, “Mr. Bean. Attaboy. Come here sweetie pie. Good job, baby.” The fireman finally has Mr. Bean in his grasp, petting the black fluffy cat gently.

Sousuke pulls the fireman by his arm and says, “c’mon, we have to get out of here…Makoto? ”

Makoto looks up and coughs, “Um…Sousuke? What are you doing here?”

The raven-haired teen hears some creaking and bends down, grasping Makoto by throwing him over his shoulder, “no time to explain. Let’s get the hell out. Shit! You’re heavy.”

The brunette yelps with surprise, making sure to hold on to Mr. Bean as he is thrown against the raven-haired teen’s shoulder, “Sousuke!? Your shoulder!? Hey! I can…” The emerald-eyed teen coughs.

Sousuke runs out of the building, keeping a firm arm around Makoto’s body. As soon as they get out of the building and behind the yellow tape, the raven-haired teen puts Makoto down as Sousuke falls to the floor coughing.

Makoto hands Mr. Bean off to one of his fellow firemen as he bends down, rubbing Sousuke’s back, “Sousuke! That was reckless!” The brunette coughs, “you could have hurt yourself. Come on, we better get checked out by the paramedics.”

Sousuke closes his eyes, coughing terribly. He brings up his hand to cover his mouth as he continues coughing, and trying to fill his lungs with the clean air that surrounds him.

When the raven-haired teen opens his teal eyes up again, he’s lying on his back in his own bed and starts coughing, but this time the coughs are softer, and he doesn’t feel the harsh pain from breathing in sooty air.

Makoto comes in with a tea tray, and it looks like he just took a shower considering the fact that the brunette is wearing nothing but a green fluffy towel around his hips. The teal-eyed teen stares at the brunette walking in, watching how the towel hangs low on the emerald-eyed teen’s hips. 

The brunette puts the tea tray down on the bed next to Sousuke as he sits down next to the raven-haired teen gently placing his hand over his forehead, “feeling better, Sousuke?”

The teal-eyed teen looks up into Makoto’s emerald gaze with confusion.

Makoto says with a smile, “I think your fever went down. Sit up, Sousuke. I brought you some chai. Just the way you like it.” The brunette picks up the black ceramic mug carefully waiting for the raven-haired teen to sit up on the bed.

Sousuke shifts his weight on the bed, sitting up against the fluffy pillows behind him. He coughs gently, as he takes the beverage from Makoto’s hand, brings it up to his own lips, and blows on the liquid gently before taking a long sip. The warm chai feels so good on his throat, and it tastes so amazing. Sousuke closes his eyes relishing in the soothing spicy fragrance and warmth from the hot beverage in his hands.

Makoto takes the tea tray and gently places it on the nightstand. The brunette gets up, placing his knee on the bed as he straddles the raven-haired teen, making sure to keep one hand on the towel around his hips, keeping it in place.

The teal-eyed teen feels a pressure around his thighs and opens his eyes to find Makoto sitting on top of him. The brunette’s chest still has small water droplets that slowly roll down his skin, slowly make little pathways down the emerald-eyed teen’s warm olive skin, flawless skin, down his well-defined chest, and delectable nipples.

Sousuke drinks in the image of Makoto on his lap in nothing but a green towel, a slit is shown revealing the brunette’s strong muscled thigh. Sousuke swallows hard at the beautiful teen in front of him in such a sexy position, hovering over his body.

Makoto tilts his head as he watches Sousuke’s expression. The raven-haired teen’s eyes are wide, and the brunette can feel those teal eyes wander, taking in the parts of the emerald-eyed teen’s exposed body. The backstroke swimmer smiles as he takes his hand off the towel and places the palms of his hand on the back of Sousuke’s neck, massaging his muscles.

The brunette feels the tie around his hips loosen and come undone as the emerald-eyed teen shifts his weight a little, scooting closer to the raven-haired teen. The emerald-eyed teen giggles as he leans in and whispers into Sousuke’s ear, “you’ve been such a good patient today. I promised that I would give you anything you wanted if you took the day off for some self-care.”

Sousuke’s breath hitches as he feels Makoto’s strong, warm hands on his neck, and he moans lightly as his muscles receive a good kneading from Makoto’s fingers. The teal-eyed teen’s grip on the mug becomes tighter, as he closes his eyes. When he feels Makoto’s hot breath on his ear, the raven-haired teen feels his body react, a strong wave of desire hits him as he blushes from the combination of the physical contact and Makoto’s breathy voice.

The brunette nibbles on Sousuke’s earlobe gently as he say in a sultry voice, “finish your chai and I’ll give you a reward, Sou.”

Sousuke gently shifts his weight, and lifts his hips upwards as he brings one hand down from his cup onto Makoto’s waist, massaging the warm flesh under his fingertips. The raven-haired teen moans, “ah…Mako…you’re...”

The brunette gently let’s out a shaky breath as he arches his hips forward feeling Sousuke’s massaging hand and says in a bare whisper, “turning you on? Please, finish your chai…I want you, Sou.” Makoto swallows as he reluctantly sits up to give Sousuke space to finish his drink. The brunette holds the raven-haired teen’s gaze, giving him his trademark smile, tilting his head slightly to the side.

Sousuke takes his hand off of Makoto’s waist as he embraces the black mug with both hands, drinking the hot beverage slowly as he continues to stare at the brunette sitting in his lap with arousal. He thinks, _‘damn, Makoto…I love it when you take initiative like this. It’s freakin hot.’_

Makoto takes a deep breath as he continues to gaze into those beautiful teal orbs. The emerald-eyed teen looks down and plays with the hem of Sousuke’s heather grey t-shirt. Eventually the brunette slips his hand under the grey fabric, caressing the raven-haired teen’s smooth sun-kissed tawny peach skin and defined muscles. Makoto grazes his fingernails against Sousuke’s abdomen as he watches Sousuke drink his chai.

The teal-eyed teen slowly gulps his drink, relishing in the spicy, sweetness in his mouth. His heart beats faster as the brunette continues his gentle ministrations on his stomach, small moans escaping his lips, lightly echoing in the onyx mug.

Sousuke swallows the hot liquid with care, not wanting to make a mess or ruin this intimate moment the two of them are sharing. Makoto’s eyes are glistening with desire as Sousuke drinks his chai, and the teal-eyed teen notices the growing bulge straining in his own snug boxer briefs, which are becoming uncomfortably tight.

Once Sousuke is getting close to finishing his drink, he breaks eye contact with Makoto as he lifts his head up, lapping up the last bit of the hot liquid. As soon as Sousuke is done with the beverage, the cup is taken out of his grasp with haste and soft lips wrap around his hot parted mouth, and a cool wet tongue invades his entrance.

Sousuke moans greedily into the heated kiss, placing his hands around Makoto’s waist and pulling the emerald-eyed teen closer to him, and letting his hands wander down the small of Makoto’s back, slipping his hands under the terrycloth fabric until he can firmly grasp the brunette’s round butt, squeezing the flesh with the palm of his hands and his fingertips.

As soon as Makoto notices the raven-haired teen swallow the last bit of the chai in his cup, the brunette takes the cup out of Sousuke’s hand, leans in, succumbing to his burning passion. The brunette drapes his arms around the raven-haired teen’s neck, as his cock twitches with anticipation.

The emerald-eyed teen complies with Sousuke’s desire to have him close, and shifts his weight closer to the teal-eyed teen, tilting his head to one side as the kiss becomes passionate; tongues collide as the two teens fight for dominance. The emerald-eyed teen’s grip on the cup loosens as he moans hungrily into the kiss and slips one hand into Sousuke’s onyx locks, massaging his scalp.

The teal-eyed teen melts into Makoto’s fondling of his scalp and loses the fight for dominance as he indulges himself in the steamy kiss that he receives from the backstroke swimmer. His heart swells with heat and lust for the brunette in front of him, the bulge in his light sweatpants painfully aches to be released from its confines and he grasps Makoto’s hips and rolls his own hips upwards creating sweet friction between them.

The emerald-eyed teen moans loudly into Sousuke’s mouth as he feels the raven-haired teen’s hips move up against his erect cock that he breaks the lascivious kiss with a wet popping sound as the brunette places his forehead on Sousuke’s shoulder, moaning and breathing heavily, “Sou…Sousuke…”

The raven-haired teen’s heart skips a beat at the mention of his name in such a breathy, intimate tone. Without thinking, the teal-eyed teen takes a firm hold on Makoto’s hips as he rolls them over to the other side of the bed, pinning the brunette down with his body, the towel completely disrobed from the emerald-eyed teen leaving him bare against the blankets on the bed.

Makoto gasps at the hurried action, his cock twitches with hunger. The exhilarating hasty movement sets the brunette on fire as he breathily pants, “ah! Sou…” The raven-haired teen covers the brunette’s mouth with his own, driving his tongue into the emerald-teen’s wet cavern fervently.

The brunette discards the cup that he was holding as he arches his body upwards, allowing the raven-haired teen access to snake his arm around the emerald-eyed teen’s waist, and pulling him up towards Sousuke’s body. Makoto tangles his hands into Sousuke’s hair, gently pulling on ebony locks, deepening the kiss further.

Sousuke feels his temperature rise as their kiss becomes sloppy, wet, and racy. The raven-haired teen breaks the kiss, sits up by putting his weight on his knees in order to pull his t-shirt over his head and throws it on the floor somewhere.

Makoto looks over to the side, reaching over to the nightstand, pulling the drawer open and feels for a bottle of wild blueberry lube. Once the brunette finds it, Sousuke gets off the bed and begins to pull off his black sweatpants and baby blue boxer briefs. Makoto’s heart races as he watches the raven-haired teen slide the fabric down his strong, muscular legs.

The emerald-eyed teen flushes profusely at the sight of Sousuke’s scrumptious bare ass, gets up to sit on the bed, and smacks the round desirable flesh in front of him and squeezes Sousuke’s butt-cheek, “Mmm, I like this view, Sou.”

The raven-haired teen sighs in relief when his boxer briefs are finally removed, his hardening cock finally being freed from the constraints of clothing. A playful thwack, and squeeze from a hand surprises the teal-eyed teen, and he looks back over his shoulder to find a blushing Makoto sitting on the bed, holding a bottle of lube and teasingly waves it between his fingers.

Sousuke grins as he turns around and pounces the brunette, straddling Makoto’s thighs and pinning the emerald-eyed teen’s wrists above Makoto’s head with delight, “oh? Is this my reward, Makoto?”

Makoto laughs with pleasure and excitement, he shakes his head naturally, “no. The kiss I gave you earlier was your reward, Sou. Prep me, Sousuke. I want to feel you…” The brunette licks his lips seductively, holding the raven-haired teen’s gaze with sensuality.

Sousuke’s eyes glisten with anticipation, and he flushes at the lewd intentions of the brunette’s words and actions. The teal-eyed teen leans down on Makoto’s chest and licks the soft flesh around Makoto’s supple nipple, evoking a soft, surprised moan from the brunette.

Makoto struggles under the confines of Sousuke’s hands, arching his back upwards, desperately wanting more of Sousuke’s touch. The raven-haired teen encompasses the emerald-eyed teen’s nipple into his mouth, gently sucking and biting the flesh between his teeth, eliciting more erotic moans from the brunette below him.

Sousuke takes one hand off Makoto’s wrist to look for the bottle of lube, as the raven-haired teen continues licking, sucking, and biting the pert nipple below him.

Makoto moves his hand down and places it on Sousuke’s neck, drawing the raven-haired teen closer to him. The brunette mewls, “Sou…Sousuke. Ah! In…I want you in…”

Once the raven-haired teen finds the bottle of lube and has it within his grasp, Sousuke gently pulls the nipple with his teeth, lets go, and says with a deep provocative waft, “Mmmm. So sexy, Makoto.” The teal-eyed teen gets off the bed, and Makoto gently pulls himself up onto the bed more comfortably.

Sousuke grabs the brunette’s calves, spreading those beautifully strong sculpted legs apart as he gets back on the bed on his knees and stares at the sight before him.

Makoto is breathing heavily on the bed, his chest rises and falls with each breath. Sousuke licks his dry lips as his eyes travel down the brunette’s heavenly curvatures of hard muscles on his abdomen and thighs. The emerald-eyed teen’s beautiful smooth and olive skin with a dewy glow is mesmerizing. Sousuke’s eyes cruise down to the glorious erect cock between the brunette’s legs.

Sousuke swallows as he appreciates the throbbing flesh in front of him. His heart races, and a blush follows as Sousuke’s mind goes down the road of salacious images with Makoto covered in a glowing sheen of sweat as the raven-haired teen thrusts into the brunette with carnal intimacy.

The teal-eyed teen’s eyes are captivated by Makoto’s pulsating, straining shaft as he pops the top off the bottle of lube, moving his knees closer to the brunette. He says in a sultry tone, “you’re sexy, Makoto. I can’t keep my eyes off you.” He pours an abundant amount of the wild blueberry lube onto his fingers, as he places one of Makoto’s legs on his shoulder.

The brunette moves his eyes down to Sousuke, and gives the raven-haired teen half-lidded wanton eyes as he whispers with titillation, “you are amazing, Sou. Fill me.”

Sousuke’s eyes become dark with lust as he slowly approaches, gently placing one hand on the bed next to Makoto’s stomach as he smoothly wraps his hand around the brunette’s shaft, gently squeezing, and stroking the tip with his thumb and moving his hand down to the base of Makoto’s thick cock; relishing in the hot and alluring feeling of having Makoto’s hot length fill the palm of his hand. Sousuke let’s out a sensual sigh as his own erection twitches in sexual thrill.

Makoto’s breath hitches as he takes in a sharp inhale of air, moaning in delight. He lifts the back of his hand over his mouth, “Ah. Sou…Sousuke…” The brunette grasps the blanket below him as his whole body shivers and arches his back up.

Sousuke continues downward, fondling Makoto’s balls, as he kisses and lightly bites the side of Makoto’s knee by the raven-haired teen’s shoulder.

Makoto whimpers seductively and his visage contorts from embarrassment, gratification, indulgence, and lechery. Sousuke continues his ministrations as he watches the brunette continue to show him the myriad of emotions, until he starts to feel a viscous, sticky liquid fall from the tip of Makoto’s cock.

Sousuke looks down, smiles at the sight of pre-cum dribbling down Makoto’s shaft and Sousuke’s hand. The raven-haired teen rubs and swirls his thumb over the slit on the tip and gently pumps his hand downwards, eliciting a sharp moan from the brunette. The teal-eyed teen massages the brunette’s balls as he leans down and flicks his tongue over the tip of Makoto’s penis before he covers the tip with his mouth, sucking gently.

Makoto gasps loudly, bucking his hips up, enthralled by the feeling of Sousuke’s mouth around his cock, “Ah! Sou!” Makoto blushes lavishly, as his toes curl in rapture.

Sousuke lifts his head up, releasing the tip of the shaft with a lewd popping sound, as he swallows the milky liquid; the teal-eyed teen says with a guttural sweltering tone, “Mmm. Delicious.” He grabs the bottle of wild blueberry flavored lube on the bed and slathers his hand with more of the slippery liquid.

Makoto pants with absolute pleasure, moaning obscenely as Sousuke’s raw masculine voice ripples through the air. The brunette covers his mouth again as he feels so hot and bothered by the actions his bed-partner makes, “Ah! You’re so dirty, Sou. You burn me up…so good.”

The raven-haired teen leans down over the brunette as he lightly rims Makoto’s hole with his finger and he envelops Makoto’s lips in a greedy kiss before sliding his finger into the emerald-eyed teen’s entrance; devouring the throbbing moan extracted from Sousuke’s action.

Makoto desperately wraps his arms around Sousuke’s shoulders as he scratches the raven-haired teen’s back with angry red lines. The brunette’s hands wander around Sousuke’s body, wanting to feel the teal-eyed teen’s hot skin under his fingertips, and when he finds Sousuke’s nipple, he squeezes it between his fingers, and massages the nub.

Sousuke moans into the brunette’s mouth, feeling a deep-rooted passion forge through him, and slides in a second finger, scissoring the tight muscle that surrounds his digits, and moving his fingers back and forth while eliciting soft pants and moans from the green-eyed teen.

Makoto throws his head back onto the mattress, breaking the sizzling kiss they were sharing. The brunette gasps with pink stained cheeks and half-lidded dilated green eyes, licking his slightly swollen lips, he plants an affectionate kiss on Sousuke’s cheek and whispers in his ear with a torrid breathy voice, “another…Sou…”

The raven-haired teen vocally shudders at Makoto’s words. Sousuke trembles with zeal, and raw sexual urges that have built up in his core leak out within his already swollen cock and chest. The teal-eyed teen’s breath is stolen away as the brunette licks and gently bites his bottom lip. Makoto pulls back slightly before the emerald-eyed teen let’s the hot, wet flesh of his swollen lip go.

Sousuke thrusts his fingers in Makoto’s wet cavern, curling his fingers trying to find his sweet spot. When he finds it, the brunette moans with an obscenely provocative tone, causing the raven-haired teen to lick the shell of Makoto’s ear before biting down on the emerald-eyed teen’s neck as he pushes a third finger in the brunette.

Makoto arches his back even further up as he grasps Sousuke’s bicep and scratches the flesh down his arm leaving red fervent lines in his wake, with his other hand, the brunette weaves his fingers through dark strands of hair, balling his hand into a fist with the pain of a foreign feeling penetrating his entrance. That pain slowly becomes dull as pleasure overtakes his body, and a sheen of sweat gleams on his chest and abdomen.

Sousuke licks his way down to Makoto’s chest, entwining his lips upon the brunette’s other nipple, sucking on the nub with ardor as he continues to push his fingers deep in Makoto’s cavern, and curling his fingers as he hits the sensitive prostate.

The brunette is overwhelmed with absolute bliss as Sousuke rubs against his prostate over and over again with his strong digits, but he doesn’t want to cum just yet. With as much self-restraint he could muster in the moment, the brunette flips them over briskly, straddling Sousuke’s abdomen and pins the raven-haired teen’s hand down on the bed with finesse. He whimpers in a breathy trance, “it’s my turn to please you, Sou.”

Sousuke is stunned by the action of the brunette flipping them over, he moans deeply at the ferocity of Makoto’s strength, and feels a desire to fight the brunette for the upper hand, but is overwhelmingly seized by Makoto’s assertiveness. The raven-haired teen laughs, “oh? You want to please me? What are you gonna do, Makoto?” 

Makoto shifts his weight downwards as he keeps his feral green gaze on Sousuke. He trails his tongue down the raven-haired teen’s rock hard abs until he gently blows air on the tip of Sousuke’s straining member, and flicks his tongue over the top of the teal-eyed teen’s shaft. 

Sousuke props himself slowly onto his elbows as his eyes continue to gaze into those captivating emerald eyes, challenging the brunette to do his worst to him. When Makoto’s face is right in front of his stiff penis, Sousuke holds his breath as his eyes widen at the sight. Seeing such a lustful, dark, and fierce expression on the brunette’s usually angelic face makes Sousuke’s heart race tremendously.

The teal-eyed teen’s thoughts become jumbled as Makoto blows a warm breeze over the tip of his shaft, making the raven-haired teen throw his head back at the sensitivity of the action. He whispers, “oh god. Ma…ah!” Sousuke loses his voice as he feels Makoto’s hot, wet tongue against his pulsating cock. Heedlessly, Sousuke thrusts his hips up, moaning lustfully.

Makoto gently pushes Sousuke’s hips down back on the mattress, grasps Sousuke’s length in his hand as he strokes his hand all the way down to the base of the raven-haired teen’s thick penis. The brunette stares at the throbbing shaft in front of him and greedily laps up the pre-cum that drips down the tip, he envelops the tip of Sousuke’s member with his wet mouth, savoring the salty Sousuke flavor as he slides his mouth down the raven-haired teen’s shaft, taking in the massive cock.

Sousuke feels his elbows weaken when Makoto’s mouth takes in his cock so effortlessly. The raven-haired teen’s breath becomes ragged with overwhelming burning pleasure. When the brunette moans with Sousuke in his mouth, the teal-eyed teen’s elbows fall, as he arches his back, placing his forearm over his eyes in euphoria.

The emerald-eyed teen looks up to find Sousuke writhing in gratification from his actions. An intense desire to see more of Sousuke’s vulnerable form pushes Makoto on as he continues moaning with his mouth sinfully full with Sousuke’s magnificent cock as he bobs his head up and down.

Sousuke is lost in reckless abandon as he moans deeply and uncontrollably. He bucks his hips upwards, but is firmly being held down with Makoto’s strong grasp on his hip. The raven-haired teen feels unbelievably entranced by Makoto’s wildly lewd performance. The teal-eyed teen’s eyes are closed, appreciating the electrifying emotions that flow through him. His breathing becomes erratic, with all this lustful intent being washed through him.

Sousuke’s body becomes sizzling hot, wanting nothing more than to remain stuck in this moment, feeling erotically pleasured so thoroughly. The teal-eyed teen’s voice hitches as he says, “I…ah…I’m gonna cum…”

The brunette is hotly enthralled by Sousuke’s exposed passionate moans, that the emerald-eyed teen can feel his own throbbing member in need of attention; so when he hears the teal-eyed teen’s sensual voice call out, Makoto bobs his head just once more, moaning obscenely with heartfelt desire, and when he finally releases Sousuke’s hard cock, a loud wet popping sound is heard.

Makoto throws his head back, panting as his racing heart slows a bit. The brunette looks down and is presented with a raven-haired teen splayed out on the bed in absolute ecstasy.

Sousuke is grasping the blankets under him with one hand, clenching and releasing the fabric with his fingertips. The teal-eyed teen has his eyes covered by his forearm. The raven-haired teen’s skin and hair glimmers with a lustrous glow from the sweat that covers Sousuke’s body. The ex-butterfly swimmer is panting raggedly, his chest and abdomen moving up and down.

Makoto watches the unguarded male on the mattress in complete astonishment. Without much thought, the brunette grabs the bottle of lube and carelessly squirts the clear, wild blueberry flavored liquid into his hand and gently pumps Sousuke’s cock up and down, coating him completely before straddling Sousuke and positioning himself right above him.

The brunette grasps Sousuke’s hand that is draped over his eyes and interlocks their fingers together as he softly pulls the raven-haired teen’s arm away from his face. Makoto sees a deep red blush staining his ears, cheeks, and neck. The emerald-eyed teen smiles with pure enchantment as he says, “Sou, look at me. You have no idea how beautiful you are…so very beautiful.” Makoto squeezes Sousuke’s hand firmly with need.

Sousuke turns his head and opens his teal blue eyes to find an angel smiling down at him. The raven-haired teen releases the breath he was holding with adoration, “Makoto…you are amazing.” The teal-eyed teen’s eyes waver with admiration, and a deep warm feeling within his chest.

Makoto places his other hand over Sousuke’s heart, massaging the hot flesh under his fingertips, “I cherish you too, Sousuke.”

With that sweet feeling deeply felt between the two teens, the brunette prepares himself to go down on Sousuke’s hard cock, taking in the raven-haired teen bit by bit.

The brunette throws his head back, panting at the feel of such a large aching member thrusting up into his entrance as he slides down.

Sousuke’s eyes dilate at the extraordinary act presented to him. Quickly, he releases Makoto’s hand and places both of his hands on the brunette’s hips, massaging the firm muscles under the raven-haired teen’s touch.

Sousuke’s breath becomes feverish as he groans in pleasure, feeling the tightness of Makoto’s wet and prepped cavern. He whimpers with hunger, “Mako…ah! You’re so, mmm. So…good.”

Makoto slowly takes in Sousuke’s whole massive length. With his head flung back, he winces at the pain, and tries to relax his muscles as he is fully seated upon Sousuke’s shaft. The brunette smiles serenely, feeling the beautifully foreign, slick, hot cock fill his entrance.

The brunette feels Sousuke’s hands on his hips, deeply massaging his muscles and it warms his heart to know that the raven-haired teen is worried about him. The emerald-eyed teen looks down at Sousuke with eyes of scorching arousal as he places one of his hands over the raven-haired teen’s, “fill me Sou. Give me everything you have. I’ll take all of you.”

Makoto licks his lips as he places his hands on Sousuke’s chest, lifting himself up slowly and bringing himself back down gently. The brunette’s face contorts with pleasure and he moans lewdly repeating the action again. The raven-haired teen watches the emerald-eyed teen start to bounce on top of him and his grip on Makoto’s hips slacken, feeling completely engrossed by the delicious image of Makoto on top of him with such lust. The brunette raises his hips again and slams himself down hard with a high-pitched moan.

Sousuke throws his head back when he feels the emerald-eyed teen’s tight, hot ring of muscle squeeze and surround on his cock with ferocity. The brunette continues to rhythmically bounce up and down, slamming his ass down on Sousuke’s hard, slick cock.

Sousuke’s heart radiates with appetence as he gently rolls his hips upwards as he holds Makoto’s hips in place, hitting that sweet spot within the brunette. The raven-haired teen grunts and moans with a roar, feeling himself swell with lust, wanting to come undone with the brunette. The teal-eyed teen continues to vigorously thrust up in the intense passion that builds between the two males.

Makoto moans in exhilaration, leaning forward a bit as he places one hand over Sousuke’s chest, and the other around his own throbbing cock. The brunette feels overwhelmingly full with Sousuke’s pulsating cock hitting his prostate over and over again.

The emerald-eyed teen burns with the need for release, squeezing his own shaft greedily desiring more hot friction as he continues to moan with sultriness. Between pants, the brunette moans Sousuke’s name over and over with needy release.

Sousuke pounds into the brunette with urgency, as he moans with passion and repeatedly whispers Makoto’s name. As the brunette’s tone becomes brazen, guttural, and raw, the raven-haired teen thrusts his hips forcefully, feeling a sizzling pleasurable burn within his body, desiring sweet release.

As Makoto feels his body arch with each thrust, he feels the hot lustful desire starting to overflow within him, “Ah! Sou…I’m…gonna…”

Sousuke feels himself coming close, and grasps Makoto’s hot and slippery cock in one hand, thumbing over the tip and ambitiously stroking up and down. The raven-haired teen thrusts a few more times before he feels Makoto cumming all over his hand and chest. With one more thrust, Sousuke feels himself cum inside the brunette as he slams into the emerald-eyed teen’s sweet spot.

Makoto leans over Sousuke, feeling hot, bothered, and pleasantly spent. He pants wildly as he feels filled with Sousuke’s warm seed within him. 

Sousuke resumes massaging Makoto’s hip with one hand as he brings his other hand up to his lips licking the milky fluid on his hand.

The brunette slowly opens his eyes and sees the raven-haired teen with his eyes closed, lapping up the milky substance staining Sousuke’s hand and the brunette’s breath hitches as he pulls himself off of Sousuke’s cock and leans down, pushing the raven-haired teen’s hand away, kissing him full on the lips while their sensitive chests brush against each other softly.

Sousuke moans at the contact of soft, swollen lips brushing against his mouth, and the raven-haired teen gently prods his tongue forward into the brunette’s mouth.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 19th, Friday, 9:41 am **

Sousuke wakes up hot, sticky, and with a start. The raven-haired teen sits up, pulls his blankets and soft blue bedsheet off of him as he stares down at his partially pulled down black boxer briefs and cum all over his abdomen, hand, and sheets. The teal-eyed teen’s eyes widen as he realizes that he just gave himself a hand-job while he was sleeping. He plops back down onto his pillow and feels a soft plushy-something move when he hit the pillow.

The raven-haired teen looks over to the side to find a smiling orange cat with black eyes in an orca suit. Sousuke knits his eyebrows and says, “this is all your fault Mr. Orca-cat. I’m not having nightmares, but now you’re giving me wet dreams of Makoto. Bad cat.”

Sousuke picks up the orange cat with his clean hand and places it on the nightstand. He thinks, _‘crap. I just had a dream…about Makoto. Not just a dream, a sex dream. Wait…do I have the hots for Makoto?’_

The raven-haired teen sighs as he gets up and walks over to his desk to grab some tissues to clean himself up with. After he cleans his hand, his abdomen and his shaft, he throws the tissues into the trash bin, and pulls off his briefs and tosses it into the hamper.

Sousuke thinks as he heads to the shower, _‘I’m seeing Makoto later today….I hope this doesn’t affect me later. But shit. That was vivid. I think…I might like him.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay just barely made it on Valentine's day if in Pacific time or Hawaii time ^^|| Happy Valentine's Day or Happy belated Valentine's day to everyone! ^.^ 
> 
> In one form or another, some sexy times did take place...just in time for Valentine's day. ^.~ 
> 
> I did have a little trouble writing this chapter, mainly because of the situation with the physical therapist and the doctor. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience, and continuing with this story. ^__^


	11. Chapter 11

** December 19th, Friday, 4: 45 pm **

Sousuke is in washroom messing with his hair. He quickly ruffles his soft black locks as he stares at himself in the mirror. He thinks, _‘what the hell am I doing? I changed my shirt three times, I even put on that cologne that Yumiko bought me, and now I’m fixing my hair? Makoto is just a friend. Why am I getting all worked up over this?’_

The raven-haired teen looks at himself in the mirror, and takes a few steps back. His teal eyes wander through his reflection, checking out his outfit. He’s wearing a faded indigo deep v-neck t-shirt with the image of an abstract shark on the front. The shirt fits him snuggly and comfortably. The raven-haired teen is wearing white jeans with black distressing, giving off the image of a sort of greyish color that accentuates the pockets and his thighs.

Sousuke sighs as he thinks he’s being ridiculous, checking himself out in the mirror, and fixing his hair. He takes a look at his hair again and groans. The raven-haired teen takes a few steps forward and leans against the countertop as he fixes his hair for the hundredth time that day.

Sousuke has been trying to do things to keep his mind off of the brunette and his lucid dream, but the raven-haired teen’s mind constantly drifted back to Makoto.

The teal-eyed teen busied himself by washing his stained sheets and putting a fresh pair on his bed. He didn’t want Makoto to know about that, not that he would know exactly what happened to his sheets anyway. The raven-haired teen frowned at the sneaky little grin on Mr. Orca-cat’s face as he placed him next to one of his freshly cleaned pillows.

Sousuke went to the gym downstairs and completed an intense cardio workout, showered, and replied back to emails from Nitori, his mom, and Sakura. After that, the teal-eyed teen went grocery shopping to replenish some of the things he was about to run out of, but just enough to cover the next few days since he will be leaving to go to Nagoya with Rin and his friends.

The raven-haired finally gives up on fixing his hair, deeming the current style good enough for his liking, trots out of the washroom and into the kitchen. Sousuke picks up his phone that he left on the kitchen counter, and notices that he has two text messages, one from Makoto and the other from Rin.

The teal-eyed teen decides to check the brunette’s message first.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

I hope you got my text earlier. Anyway, I will be there in about 10 minutes. Just got off the train. ]

Sousuke replies back to the brunette.

[To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

Sorry. I meant to reply sooner. I did get your message. Don’t worry about the delay. Hope things got sorted out at work. Alright, see you soon. ]

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, leaning against the cool marble counter as he looks up at the ceiling and thinks, _‘alright. I just need to be cool. It’s just Makoto. Yeah, just a friend. Nothing more.’_ Sousuke looks down at his phone again and checks Rin’s message.

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Sent you a pic. You know how Nagisa had sent me shark briefs for my b-day, well I have a surprise for him. Check it out! I got him a set of penguin briefs! Can’t believe I found them either, but damn! I am so glad I waited to find that little bugger the perfect gift. There’s no way I’m not returning the favor. (๐॔˃̶ᗜ˂̶๐॓) ]

Sousuke looks over at the picture Rin had sent him and snorts. He sees a picture of a set of boxer briefs, one is black with an image of two penguins holding a huge red heart between them. The second pair is violet with a penguin’s head right smack in the middle of the crotch area. The white band of the boxer briefs have the phrase, ‘eat me’ in dark grey lettering.

The raven-haired teen stares at the phrase written in English and says the words out loud as he tries to figure out the meaning of the phrase. Sousuke knits his eyebrows and when it dawns on him, the meaning of the words he says out loud, his eyes widen and he blinks at the image momentarily. The teal-eyed teen smacks his forehead lightly as he flushes at the sexual innuendo.

[To: Rin

From: Sousuke

O_O If you say so, Rin. I’m not sure if you want to egg him on. My guess is that he will just pay it forward. Hope you prepare for payback. ]

Sousuke puts down his phone and heads to the fridge to pull out some leftover chicken fried rice with vegetables, eggs, parsley, and ketchup to make some omurice for an early dinner. As the raven-haired teen pulls out a pan and a spatula he thinks, _‘I wonder what Makoto would look like wearing briefs like…’_ The teal-eyed teen rubs his neck after he puts the pan down on the range feeling frustrated with himself.

An image of the brunette in nothing but black boxer briefs with the words ‘eat me’ written on the white band, lying down in his bed with his legs spread apart as the brunette gently runs his thumb over the top of that band with a hazy green gaze and a blatant blush on his cheeks appears in his mind. Makoto lightly panting as he says the words, “eat me,” in a sensual voice has the raven-haired teen flushing deeply.

Sousuke sighs slowly, taking a few deep breaths as he places his hand on the edge of the kitchen counter with one hand and pinches the bridge of his nose with the other. He closes his eyes trying to calm his nerves and wiping the sexy image from his mind.

The raven-haired teen didn’t even hear the front door open, the sounds of someone rustling out of their coat, or even the footsteps towards him. Suddenly he hears a sweet voice say, “Sousuke? Is something wrong?”

Sousuke’s eyes snap open as he lifts his head away from his hand, turning his head to stare at the emerald-eyed teen. He swallows as he stares into those questioning green eyes. The teal-eyed teen looks away and says, “ah, no. I was just thinking.”

Makoto quirks an eyebrow and gazes at the raven-haired teen. He notices that the teal-eyed teen has a twinge of pink on his cheeks, and he can’t shake off the feeling of uncertainty from Sousuke. The brunette takes a few steps towards the raven-haired teen to get a better look at Sousuke, “are you sure? You looked like you were trying to do something.”

Sousuke shakes his head and says, “don’t worry about it Makoto. It’s nothing, really. Anyway, you okay with omurice? I was a little distracted today.”

The emerald-eyed teen nods and says, “I’m good with omurice. Can I watch?”

The raven-haired teen opens the leftover rice and heats it up in the pan, “yeah. I don’t mind. Hey, you think we can have some chai later?”

Makoto chuckles, covering his mouth with his hand, “yeah. Funny. I had the same thought too. I even brought my special ingredient with me. Having something special to celebrate the end of the trimester would be nice. And, we’re swimming today…without the supervision of the physical therapist. That’s gotta be so exciting for you! I bet you’ve been anxious all day!”

The emerald-eyed teen stands on the other side of the range as he watches Sousuke crack the eggs into two separate bowls and mixes them with a pair of chopsticks. Makoto looks up at Sousuke’s face, and takes in the raven-haired teen’s appearance. He thinks, _‘something is different. What is it?’_

The brunette looks down Sousuke’s face and moves his eyes downward towards the teal-eyed teen’s body. He notices how the blue deep v-neck t-shirt hugs Sousuke’s muscles nicely and he marvels at how the t-shirt accentuates his pectoral muscles, his biceps, and his shape so attractively. Makoto’s eyes continue to move downward as he tilts his head to the side, checking out Sousuke’s ass in those whitish, greyish, black jeans with distress detailing. He notices how it highlights the raven-haired teen’s round rump and his strong thighs.

Makoto bites his lip and tears his eyes away from the teal-eyed teen preparing a meal for the both of them as he thinks, _‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen those pair of jeans on him or that shirt with the shark on it either. He looks really sexy in that outfit. Did he see Yumiko earlier today or something? Hmm, I wonder if he’s also excited to see Rin. Is he…no. He couldn’t possibly be dressing so nice for me. Maybe it is because Rin will be coming in a couple days.’_ The emerald-eyed teen fiddles with the button on his green and black plaid shirt as he says heedlessly, “you look really nice today.”

Sousuke takes out two plates from the cabinet above him, and looks over at the brunette next to him. He notices that the emerald-eyed teen is pressing his lips together and the backstroke swimmer’s gaze is set down at the kitchen counter while he is touching a button on his shirt. As the raven-haired teen is holding the plates in his hands, he notices that the brunette is wearing a white t-shirt with a print of the Hokusai great wave, a green and black plaid dress shirt, and black boot cut jeans. The teal-eyed teen looks away and says, “what do you mean? And here, can you put these plates on your side?”

Makoto lifts his head and looks up at Sousuke. Their eyes meet briefly before the emerald-eyed teen focuses his attention on the white plates in the raven-haired teen’s hands. The brunette nods and takes the plates from Sousuke’s hands, placing them down on the marble countertop gently, “ah, well I just meant that you look exceptionally good to…” Makoto groans as he covers his mouth and laughs nervously, “uh, it’s a compliment. You just look good.”

Sousuke pours the hot rice onto a plate, placing it down on the countertop before sneaking a few glances over at the brunette. He notices a slight blush on the emerald-eyed teen’s face and it takes him a moment to hear the last part of Makoto’s words as the brunette had covered his mouth.

The raven-haired teen turns the knob on the range as the flame appears and puts in a dab of oil into the pan. Sousuke grabs the handle of the pan, gently turns the pan with his wrist to distribute the oil more evenly, “oh? I look good? How so?” The raven-haired teen feels his cheeks heat up slightly, but he just couldn’t help teasing the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto separates the plates, and when he hears Sousuke’s question, he tightens his grip on one of the ceramic plates in his hands. His heart races as he says promptly, “I-I just noticed that deep v-neck shirt highlights your muscles nicely and your jeans emphasizes your as…I mean legs.” Makoto face palms and says, “uh, nevermind. You’re teasing me, aren’t you?”

Sousuke puts down the pan as he watches the brunette next to him. A small smile graces the raven-haired teen’s lips and he chortles lightly as he directs his attention to the pan in front of him, “maybe. You are so easy to tease. So, did you mean that seriously?”

The emerald-eyed teen’s eyes widen as he turns his head to protest in regards to the teasing, but before Makoto could get the words out of his mouth, the question that followed left him dumbstruck. The brunette’s mouth hangs opens as he stares at Sousuke’s profile.

He hears the sizzling of the egg in the pan, and Makoto looks down at the pan in front of the raven-haired teen, “uh…Sousuke? Are you fishing for compliments?”

The teal-eyed teen whips his head toward the brunette and notices that Makoto is staring at the pan in front of him. A mild flush appears on Sousuke’s cheeks as he swallows before exhaling self-consciously, “n-no. Why would I do that?” Sousuke gently bumps Makoto’s thigh with his leg.

The brunette blinks as he feels Sousuke’s thigh bumping his leg before laughing tauntingly, “oh? It sounded like you were, Sousuke? In fact, you sound desperate for compliments.” Makoto looks up to peer at Sousuke’s face with a slight smirk on his face.

Sousuke turns his head towards Makoto and notices the smirk on his face before looking away, focusing his interest on the thin layer of egg in the pan, “che. I’m not desperate. I was curious. I didn’t realize you could be so bold, Makoto. I don’t know if I like that.” The raven-haired teen throws the brunette a half-smirk, challenging the emerald-eyed teen to continue the banter.

Makoto chuckles as he bumps Sousuke with his hips, “well, I don’t think I will stop teasing you, if you keep teasing me, Sousuke. Maybe I like being bold around you…since you don’t like it.”

The raven-haired teen gasps as he wasn’t expecting the emerald-eyed teen to hit him with his hips. The teal-eyed teen looses his footing and redistributes his balance, “whoa. Makoto. Seriously? You hit me with your hips? Dude, do you want me to make you food or what?” Sousuke grabs the plate of chicken fried rice and places a mound in the center of the thin sheet of cooked egg in the pan. He thinks, _‘that’s sexy. Didn’t know you had that kind of side to you, Makoto. But, I don’t know if I wanna say anything about it…and I don’t know how to feel about all this either.’_

Makoto titters as he watches Sousuke place the fried rice on the egg, “sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.” He picks up the plate on the counter, “when you’re ready, I have the plate.”

Sousuke smiles as he grabs the spatula and rolls the thin egg over the fried rice just half way, “you didn’t. I just wasn’t expecting it. Thanks. Pass it over.”

The brunette hands the plate over to the raven-haired teen. Makoto watches the teal-eyed teen take the plate, lift the pan and turns the pan over on top of the plate. When Sousuke puts the pan down on the burner, Makoto’s eyes are set on the nicely shaped omurice on the white plate, “wow. You make that look so easy! That’s amazing, Sousuke!” Makoto looks up and smiles sweetly at the raven-haired teen.

The teal-eyed teen’s heartbeat quickens at the sight of Makoto’s tender smile. Sousuke turns his attention on the pan and says, “uh, it’s nothing really. Takes practice. Um, why don’t you go ahead and take this to the dining table and start eating. I’ll be there shortly.” The raven-haired teen side glances over at the brunette as he gently thrusts the plate towards the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto takes the plate and says, “ok. What do you want to drink? I can bring that over too.” The brunette walks over to the other side of the kitchen, grabbing the black tray and setting down the plate of omurice on it.

Sousuke puts in a dab of oil into the pan and pours the other bowl of the beaten egg mixture into the pan, “water is fine. And, take the kewpie mayonnaise and ketchup while you’re at it.”

The brunette smiles, walks over to the raven-haired teen, picking up the kewpie and ketchup, turns his head, gazing at the teal-eyed teen until he catches Sousuke’s attention before winking at him, “got it.”

Makoto walks over to the black tray and places the kewpie and ketchup on the tray before walking back over to the other side of the raven-haired teen and grabbing two glasses. Sousuke watches Makoto move around him and notices the brunette smiling to himself as he grabs items out of the kitchen. He thinks, _‘when we met at the café, Makoto was nervous when he saw me. Now, he’s totally different, and pretty much used to where things are in the kitchen. But even then, he surprised me, and caught me off guard. And he still does that to me. He really is appealing…not just physically.’_

Sousuke turns his attention to cooking while Makoto grabs the pitcher of water from the fridge, pouring the cool, clear liquid into the two tall glasses. The brunette puts the pitcher back into the fridge, grabs two forks from the dish drying rack, picks up the tray and says, “alright, Sousuke. I’m heading to the dining room.”

Makoto walks into the dining room and sets down the black tray, taking off the items and placing them on the table while he thinks, _‘hmm, something else is different about Sousuke today. But I can’t figure out what it is. Maybe if I stare at him long enough, I’ll figure it out. I really like his playful mood. Could be because we will be swimming later. I wonder what Rin will think about Sousuke’s progress. Maybe he told Rin. I’ll ask him later.’_

The brunette places the water glasses on the table and sets the steamy, fluffy plate of omurice in front of him. Makoto sits down and takes in the delightful fragrance of the omurice, then leans forward to grab the kewpie and ketchup bottles.

The emerald-eyed teen puts down the kewpie and opens the white flip top of the ketchup bottle. He squeezes the pliable plastic gently trying to make a big grinning happy face. Makoto knits his eyebrows as the image he makes is a little sloppy. The emerald-eyed teen closes the top of the ketchup bottle putting it down before grabbing the kewpie bottle and snapping the red cap open. He squeezes the plastic bottle and makes some decent spirals for cheeks on his grin-like smiley face.

Sousuke comes over to the dinning table and sits at the head of the table, “I see you made yourself a happy face.” The raven-haired teen smirks at the brunette.

Makoto meets Sousuke’s eyes briefly and looks away shyly, “yeah, but it’s not very good. Art isn’t my forte. Even something as simple as making a happy face with ketchup.” The brunette looks down at his artwork, shoulders slumped and pouting.

The teal-eyed teen laughs, “don’t worry about it. Pass the bottles.” Sousuke extends an open hand towards the brunette.

The emerald-eyed teen picks up both bottles and hands them over to the raven-haired teen. Makoto places his elbow on the table and rests his chin on the palm of his hand, watching Sousuke. He notices how the teal-eyed teen carefully squeezes the bottle of ketchup, concentrating on making some sort of image on his omurice. The brunette doesn’t pay any attention to what the raven-haired teen is trying to make on the omurice in front of Sousuke, instead he focuses his attention on the teal-eyed teen’s facial features.

Makoto notices a glow about Sousuke, a bright smile on his face that makes the raven-haired teen seem more approachable and charming than he has ever seen him in the past. The brunette smiles as he continues to stare at the teal-eyed teen. He thinks, _‘yeah, he really looks different. Oh! His hair is different! He did something really cool with his hair. I like it. It’s all ruffled, but stylish. Maybe that’s what I noticed before.’_

Sousuke puts down the bottle of kewpie, flipping the top back on with a soft clicking sound. The raven-haired teen turns his head towards the emerald-eyed teen and finds Makoto staring at him. He asks curiously, “hmm? Something wrong?”

The brunette’s smile widens, shaking his head on the palm of his hand, as he says, “no. Nothing is wrong. I just realized that you did something different with your hair. You styled it, didn’t you? I like it a lot. It suits you really nicely. Trying something new…for Rin?”

Sousuke blinks at Makoto momentarily before looking away and rubbing his neck. He thinks, _‘shit. He noticed my hair. Ugh…I don’t even know what I did to it.’_ The raven-haired teen says hesitantly, “well, I did mess with my hair earlier today, but I didn’t really style it. I just…I don’t know.” The teal-eyed teen shrugs and glances over at the brunette.

Makoto quirks an eyebrow and chuckles, “alright, alright. I’ll stop teasing you. For now.” The emerald-eyed teen picks up his fork and is about to dig into his omurice, but he glances over at Sousuke’s omurice and his eyes widen. He says, “wow. You made a fish! That is adorable! It’s cute. Can I get a picture of that?”

Sousuke snorts and says, “sure. Hand me your phone. I’ll take it.”

The raven-haired teen watches Makoto lean back in his chair and fish his phone out of his jean pocket.

Makoto hands his phone over to Sousuke and says, “thanks.”

Sousuke carefully takes the emerald-eyed teen’s phone from Makoto and says, “no problem. So, how was your last day of work for the year? And, what kept you over?” The teal-eyed teen unlocks the phone by sliding his thumb over the screen and tapping on the camera icon. Steadily he focuses the camera over his plate of omurice.

The brunette sighs gently, leaning back into the chair, looking up at the ceiling with his hand on his forehead as says, “ah, well, work was good. It was really busy today, so I had a lot of orders to fill. I think I left most of the orders for Eiji-san to bring out to the tables since I had so many take-out orders to deal with. What kept me over were a couple of men who were drunk harassing some of our customers right at the end of my shift. I had Watanabe-san call the police while I dealt with the two guys to prevent any problems.”

Sousuke takes a couple of pictures with Makoto’s phone, puts it down on the wooden table and looks over at the brunette. He frowns and asks, “are you okay? Did those guys do anything to you?”

Makoto shifts in his seat, places both his elbows on the table as he looks over at the raven-haired teen seriously, “I’m okay. They just said some really inappropriate things and pushed me a few times. I’ve dealt with these guys before, but only a couple of times. There is a bar a block away from the café, my guess is that these guys came from there, heading to the train station, they just happen to pass by the café.”

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath and looks down, “I see. I’m sorry you had to deal with that today.”

The brunette picks up his fork, cuts a section of egg from the side and says, “it’s okay. It comes with the job. I’m just glad that it doesn’t happen frequently. Let’s eat before the food gets cold, Sousuke.”

The raven-haired teen nods, picking up his fork and cutting a section of the omurice. He thinks, _‘why did I apologize? I hardly ever do that.’_

The two eat in complete silence, enjoying the fluffy egg, the salty and spicy fried rice with chicken, peas, corn, carrot, and onion.

Makoto is the first to break the silence, taking the last bite of omurice from his plate, and staring at the raven-haired teen next to him, “do you like fruit preserves, Sousuke? Eiji-san made me a few flavors and I wanted to share with you if that’s ok. I was going to leave one of them here.”

Sousuke looks up into those green smiling eyes and says, “sure. I don’t mind. What flavors did he give you?”

The brunette chuckles, gets up to pick up his backpack that is lying against the wall near the kitchen, sits down and places his backpack on his lap. Makoto unzips his green bag, taking out the glass jars of fruit preserves one by one, “let’s see. He gave me some peach preserves and strawberry preserves, and…oh. He had fun writing this. Wild blueberry preserves.”

Sousuke picks up his glass of water as he listens to Makoto list out the different flavors of preserves, but when he hears ‘wild blueberry,’ the raven-haired teen chokes on his water and coughs into his glass. He pulls the glass away from his lips, putting it down with a clank as he pats his own chest a few times and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.

The teal-eyed teen thinks, _‘crap! Shit! Wild blueberry. It had to be blueberry! Dammit, just like my dream. The lube, that was…shit.’_ The raven-haired teen face flushes with a moderate shade of red as he recalls images of the brunette on his bed, naked, and Sousuke’s lubed hand over the emerald-eyed teen’s cock. The teal-eyed teen covers his mouth with his hand as he coughs into it, feeling embarrassed.

Makoto puts the blueberry preserves down on the table and stares at Sousuke with shock. The brunette lips part as worry fills his body. The emerald-eyed teen quickly gets up, putting his backpack down on the floor as he rushes to the raven-haired teen’s side and gently pats Sousuke’s back. He asks, “are you okay? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you choke.”

Sousuke nods and says slowly, “I’m, ok. Sorry. Wrong tube.” The teal-eyed teen thinks, _‘I can’t tell him the truth. I can’t tell him about my dream. Damn…he’s so close.’_

Makoto kneels down and moves the palm of his hand on Sousuke’s back with moderate pressure in a repetitive circular motion. He looks at the raven-haired teen’s profile and notices that the teal-eyed teen is red in the face. Makoto places his other hand on Sousuke’s thigh and says, “ok. It must have really gone down the wrong tube. Let me know when you start feeling better…I’ll stop rubbing your back.”

Sousuke finally stops coughing and takes a deep breath. He can tell the redness on his face is not dissipating, and his heart races at the gentle ministrations on his back and the firm hand on this thigh. The raven-haired teen swallows audibly, looking down at Makoto’s hand on his thigh, he says with restraint, “thanks Makoto. That really helped.” Sousuke rubs his chest with one hand, and places his other on the table in front of him, thinking, _‘mmm, that feels so good, but I don’t think he should be this close to me. And his hand…is too close to my…yeah. Too close.’_

Makoto takes his hand off Sousuke’s back and squeezes the raven-haired teen’s thigh gently. The brunette bites his lip realizing that he meant to get up and squeeze his shoulder instead of the teal-eyed teen’s thigh. He says with a hint of embarrassment, “ah. I’m glad you’re okay. Um, I’ll go sit back down now.”

The emerald-eyed teen sits back down on the chair he previously was sitting in and says, “so…which flavor would you like me to leave here?”

Sousuke raises his eyebrows in surprise as he continues rubbing his chest, “huh?”

Makoto smiles cutely before chuckling, “I thought I could leave one of the jars of preserves here with you. We can try it together sometime. I was thinking of leaving one with Haru and leaving the other with me at my apartment. But, if you don’t like these flavors, I don’t have to leave one here.”

Sousuke stares into those soft green orbs momentarily before looking off to the side and rubbing his neck gently, “it’s your gift. You said that Eiji gave it to you right? You should keep the flavor you like most at your apartment.”

The brunette smiles with his eyes and says sweetly, “alright. I’ll keep the strawberry in my apartment. So…peach or blueberry for you?”

The raven-haired teen looks down at the three jars on the table and thinks, _‘he really wants to keep one here with me? So we can try it together. That’s real cute and sweet. Since it was a gift for him. I wonder what he expects me to say. I mean, either is fine with me. But...I think I know which one I’d like to keep here.’_

Sousuke shifts his gaze over to the emerald-eyed teen and notices Makoto staring at him intently. The raven-haired teen’s eyes waver under the brunette’s emerald eyes. Sousuke swallows slowly as his heart beats faster, “blueberry. If you really are sure about leaving one of your gifts here.” The teal-eyed teen rubs his cheek to feel if a blush is staining his cheeks.

Makoto runs a hand through his silky brown hair as he smiles at Sousuke, “ok. I’ll leave the wild blueberry preserves here with you.” The emerald-eyed teen picks up his backpack and places the glass jars of strawberry and peach preserves back in his backpack.

As the brunette is putting away the other jars into his backpack, Sousuke silently face-palms at Makoto’s comment, thinking, _‘whoa. He said it again. Dammit. Now I have those images of him holding that wild blueberry lube in his hand. Crap. I have to think of something else. Like my shoulder, doctor appointments, dinners with my dad, my mom’s fiancé...’_ The teal-eyed teen takes a deep breath hoping that he is able to maintain a straight face without tints of reds and pinks on his cheeks.

The brunette plops his bag next to the empty chair next to him before getting up and gathering the plates, utensils, and glasses to take into the kitchen, “I’ll clean up. What should we do in the meantime? I just realized that we can’t swim yet since we just ate. Gotta wait a while to digest.”

Sousuke watches the emerald-eyed teen pick up the dishes and walk out of the dining room. The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath and ponders about what they could do in the meantime. Makoto is right, they shouldn’t go swimming yet, and the teal-eyed teen can wait a little longer to finally get into the pool without his physical therapist. His eyes wander over to the jar of wild blueberry preserves and the raven-haired teen leans over the table to grasp the 355ml glass mason jar.

Sousuke stares at the shiny white label with the words, ‘wild blueberry,’ in clean black ink strokes. He thinks, _‘is this some kind of coincidence? That was a bit uncanny. I can’t believe I remember that. Out of all the things to remember from my dream last night, I had to react to something food related.’_ The raven-haired teen shakes his head gently, not wanting to recall the memories of his detailed dream and takes a few deep breaths.

Makoto washes the dishes and glances over at the back of Sousuke’s head. He wonders, _‘hmm…Sousuke seems to be thinking about something. I wonder what it could be? He really looks good today…and he’s wearing cologne too.’_ The brunette bites the inside of his lip as he recalls the scent Sousuke is wearing when he bent down next to the raven-haired teen. It was a zesty, effervescent scent with aquatic undertones; something like yuzu, ginger, something woodsy, and maybe some spice like nutmeg.

The emerald-eyed teen licks his lips as he remembers how nice the scent hung around Sousuke. Makoto only has one bottle of cologne at home, and the aroma notes are completely different. He thinks, _‘I wonder why he’s wearing it today…something so nice and complimentary. I would wear something like that if I were meeting someone I liked or going on a date.’_ The brunette is thrown out of his thoughts when he hears the raven-haired teen’s deep voice.

Sousuke turns around in his chair, resting his arm against the top of back of his chair, turning his head to look at the brunette washing dishes, “let’s play a game on the Wii-U. I haven’t played any games for a while. I have Mario Kart 8.”

Makoto looks up, stares at the raven-haired teen and says, “ok. I’m almost done with the dishes.”

Sousuke gets up, pushes in his chair, and walks over to the kitchen and says, “Let me help clean the counters and then we can play.”

The brunette chuckles, “ok.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

** December 19th, Friday, 6: 32 pm **

****

Makoto is in the guest bedroom changing into his black jammers with green and white squiggly lines that go down his legs. The brunette folds his clothes on the queen-sized bed with the solid sky blue comforter on top. The emerald-eyed teen pulls his Iwatobi windbreaker jacket out of his backpack and slips it on over his shoulders, leaving the jacket unzipped as he closes his backpack.

The brunette looks down at his forearm and smiles reminiscently. He thinks, _‘I haven’t worn this jacket for a long while now. Probably the day before I left to come here to Tokyo. This jacket brings back great memories. I wonder what Sousuke will think? I was hoping that Sousuke would remember some good memories too. We raced against each other…with our own teams. I remember that feeling, of pushing myself to my limits to race to the finish line, to complete my task so Nagisa could complete his leg of the race. It was thrilling and wonderful. I know Haru, Nagisa, Rin, Rei and I have felt that connection between us. I wonder…if Sousuke felt it too.’_

Makoto takes a deep breath and feels really good donning his Iwatobi windbreaker. He heads out and knocks a couple times on Sousuke’s bedroom door.

The emerald-eyed teen waits for the raven-haired teen to answer. After a few moments, Makoto hears Sousuke’s voice.

The teal-eyed teen projects his voice, “come on in, Makoto.”

The brunette turns the doorknob and enters Sousuke’s bedroom. Makoto walks in and notices that the bed is made and the pillowcases are a dark purple with Mr. Orca-cat sitting on top. He looks around and observes Sousuke doing some shoulder rolls in front of the mirror. Makoto’s eyes wander up and down the raven-haired teen’s body.

The emerald-eyed teen watches how Sousuke’s back muscles constrict and contract as the raven-haired teen carefully rotates his shoulder. Makoto sees that Sousuke is wearing black jammers with white and gray stripe-like lines. The brunette thinks, _‘wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him in his jammers. Seeing him like this…really takes me back to the times we practiced together and competed. And he still puts his goggles around his shoulder too.’_

Makoto smiles as he reminisces, but when Sousuke shifts his weight from one leg to the other leg, the brunette’s eyes trail downwards and he finds himself staring at the raven-haired teen’s ass. The emerald-eyed teen looks away and says as he scratches his cheek, “do you need a couple of minutes before we head downstairs?”

The teal-eyed teen stops rotating his shoulder and turns around to face the brunette. Sousuke quirks an eyebrow as he is met with the emerald-eyed teen standing in his bedroom with familiar black jammers and a white and sky blue windbreaker. The raven-haired teen smirks and laughs briefly as he crosses his arms, “well, this takes me back. Reminds me of the times we competed in high school.”

The brunette side glances at the raven-haired teen and a soft smile appears on his lips, “yeah, I thought the same thing, when I put the jacket on. But…you remind me of those times too. I remember that you usually carried your goggles around your shoulder, just like you do now. Doing those shoulder exercises. I thought it was your way of getting ready to get into the competitive mood, like a ritual.”

Sousuke looks away as he uncrosses his arms and rubs his neck, “well, I think you know the real reason I do those shoulder exercises now. You know, I did bring my Samezuka jacket. It means a lot to me. I couldn’t leave it at home with my mom.”

The raven-haired teen turns around, giving the brunette a view of his back as he opens his closet door and scans through his clothes hanging in the closet.

Makoto eyes become sad when the teal-eyed teen mentions the reason as to why he does the shoulder rolls, but when he hears that Sousuke has his Samezuka jacket, the brunette’s eyes widen briefly. He just watches the raven-haired teen search his closet looking for the familiar black and white windbreaker.

The brunette focuses his attention on Sousuke’s back muscles again. Makoto continues to examine well-sculpted deltoids moving as the raven-haired teen continues looking through his closet. He thinks, _‘the jacket means a lot to Sousuke. I wonder if that last year of high school changed him. It must have. He got to see Rin again, and swim with him again. Rin will be here in Tokyo soon. I wonder if Sousuke is nervous about seeing him. He still loves him.’_

Makoto breaks the silence and says as he rubs his arm with the palm of his hand, “did you make plans with Rin? You know, to meet him when he gets here?”

Sousuke finds the jacket and pulls it off the hanger by unzipping it. He pulls the windbreaker off the hanger when the teal-eyed teen hears Makoto’s sweet voice ask a question so hesitantly. The raven-haired teen turns around quickly to face the backstroke swimmer.

Sousuke notices the brunette rubbing his arm and tilts his head to the side as he wonders, _‘what has brought this up? Is he nervous? What is he thinking about?’_ The raven-haired teen takes a few steps over to the brunette until he is standing in front of him and says blankly, “no. Rin and I haven’t made plans. He said that he would like some alone time with Nanase. I offered to pick him up at the airport, but he told me that Nanase has already agreed to get him. I assume that he will contact me when he wants to see me. Why do you ask, Makoto?”

The brunette listens to Sousuke’s deep and indifferent voice, it makes the emerald-eyed teen wince internally, wondering if it was a bad idea to bring up Rin at this particular time. The backstroke swimmer continues looking away from the teal-eyed teen in front of him and exhales slowly. He says with some strain in his voice, “I, I was just curious. I asked Rin the same thing. He told me that he would talk to Haru first. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t pry.”

The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows as he hears Makoto’s answer. He pulls off the goggles that is around his shoulder and slips on his Samezuka jacket, putting the goggles in his pocket. Sousuke gently places a hand on the brunette’s shoulder and says, “Makoto. You’re hiding something from me.”

The emerald-eyed teen is shaken from his thoughts of worry when he feels Sousuke’s hand firmly on his shoulder. Without much thought, Makoto raises his gaze to meet the raven-haired teen’s eyes. The backstroke swimmer notices how Sousuke’s teal eyes soften slightly when he looks up at ex-butterfly swimmer.

Makoto says in a hushed tone, “I’m worried about you. Rin is coming to Tokyo soon. I, I was just thinking. That you might be nervous about it. I mean, you looked so good today. And that cologne, smells really nice on you. I just thought that maybe you were just looking forward to seeing Rin because…you know…”

The brunette’s leaves the sentence hanging in the air between them, the words dying on the tip of his tongue as he feels a blush staining his cheeks. He swallows and bites his bottom lip, shifting his eyes away from those teal orbs as he thinks, _‘whoops. That sounded like I like him or something. Did it? Ugh…why can’t I just say that I thought he was nervous because of Rin and his feelings for him. I didn’t need to tell him that he looked good and that he smelled nice. I’m such an idiot.’_ Makoto closes his eyes as he scolds himself.

The raven-haired teen inhales sharply as he listens to Makoto’s explanation. His heart skips a beat when he hears that the brunette thought he looked good and smelled nice, but he frowns slightly as he realizes what Makoto was trying to say.

Sousuke stares at the emerald-eyed teen’s profile, and notices the blush staining his cheeks as he thinks, _‘he’s worried about me. About Rin and I. This is because he knows I am in love with him. Am I still? In love with Rin? Rin told me that he loves Nanase. My feelings will never be returned, I know that…no, I knew that.’_

Sousuke leans his head closer to Makoto’s ear, the raven-haired teen’s lips just centimeters away from the emerald-eyed teen. He says in a soothing tone, “you don’t have to worry, Makoto. I will handle it. Remember, I told you if there is something I can’t handle, I would let you know. I think I’ll be ok. Trust me, Makoto.”

The brunette wasn’t expecting the teal-eyed teen to whisper in his ear, he opens his eyes slightly, and his breath hitches as he inhales. He mentally curses himself for making such an audible, embarrassing sound, his flush grows darker and the backstroke swimmer can feel his ears burn. Makoto unconsciously places his right hand on Sousuke’s chest and moves back just a little bit so he can look at the teal-eyed teen.

When Sousuke hears Makoto lightly gasp after he spoke into the brunette’s ear, his eyes widen as he realizes how intimate and close he is. The teal-eyed teen feels the brunette’s hand lightly pressed against his skin, on his chest, and Sousuke swallows audibly, feeling his heart race and his skin simmering with heat. A light shade of pink stains his cheeks as he notices the emerald-eyed teen move back, and a deep rosiness donned upon Makoto’s cheeks. The raven-haired teen briefly gazes into those green orbs and he feels something building within him.

Sousuke thinks, _‘whoa. His eyes, they look so beautiful and full. I want to…kiss him. I want to…”_ The teal-eyed teen tears his eyes away from the brunette in front of him and takes a couple steps backwards as he runs a hand through his hair trying to shake his thoughts out of his head. The raven-haired teen says hesitantly, “uh, sorry. I wasn’t thinking. That was too close, I think. I just…wanted to tell you that…you, you don’t have to worry so much.”

The teal-eyed teen rubs the back of his neck, looking down at his feet, thinking, _‘ah crap. That didn’t sound cool and collected. Dammit. I’m flustered and when did it get so hot in here.’_

The emerald-eyed teen witnessed Sousuke briefly staring at him, and that gaze made his heart race. Makoto knows what that kind of look means, he had seen it before, and the brunette saw Sousuke’s beautiful teal eyes dilate when their eyes met. However, since the raven-haired teen broke their eye contact, Makoto feels confused and he wonders if he really did see the ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes dilate.

Makoto can slightly hear his own heartbeat ring in his ears, as he looks away and listens to Sousuke’s words. He rubs his hand on his cheek, feeling his cheek burn, noticing his hand feels a little clammy against his skin. The emerald-eyed teen realizes that Sousuke’s voice sounded a little uptight, which is unusual for the teal-eyed teen. The backstroke swimmer looks back over at Sousuke to find the tall raven-haired teen rubbing his neck and staring down at his feet.

The brunette’s holds his breath as he just recognizes the fact that Sousuke is wearing his Samezuka jacket. Makoto exhales slowly, as he rubs his cheeks with both hands, willing the flush away. He says in an awkward tone, “it-it’s not your fault, Sousuke. I shouldn’t have asked. I know that, it’s um, a sensitive topic. We should, get in the water, ah…I mean we should head downstairs and compete. I mean, swim. We aren’t competing.” Makoto laughs anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck with both hands.

Sousuke wiggles his toes, feeling the soft fabric under his feet as he continues to stare at them. When Makoto talks, he can’t help but smile at how cute the brunette sounds when he’s flustered. The raven-haired teen looks up and chuckles, “yeah. Let’s go downstairs. I’ve been looking forward to swimming with you.”

The teal-eyed teen walks over to the brunette and pats the emerald-eyed teen on the shoulder, “come on. Let’s go Makoto.” Sousuke walks over to his desk, places his keycard, phone, and swimming cap into his pockets.

Sousuke walks out of his room, and the backstroke swimmer follows suit, turning off the light as he heads into the hallway. Makoto checks his pockets and says, “I’ll be there in a minute, Sousuke. I forgot my cellphone and goggles.”

The raven-haired teen stops, looks back and says, “alright. I’ll get us some zori flip-flops and towels. I’ll wait for you.”

The brunette smiles at Sousuke before backtracking into the guest bedroom, grabbing his phone that he left lying on the comforter, and swipes his swimming cap and goggles from his backpack.

When Makoto finds the items he needs, he turns off the light and heads to Sousuke by the entryway. The emerald-eyed teen quickens his pace to get to the raven-haired teen holding a small fabric tote bag, which the brunette assumes the towels are in and two pairs of zoris; one pair is charcoal grey, the other navy blue.

Sousuke was leaning against the wall when he noticed Makoto walking towards him. The teal-eyed teen moves away from the wall, bends down to put down the two pairs of flip-flops.

Makoto watches the raven-haired teen get off the wall, take a couple steps towards the front door to bend down. The backstroke swimmer’s eyes widen as he watches Sousuke bend down in his tight black jammers. The brunette notices how the snug black fabric shows off the raven-haired teen’s bum so deliciously. The emerald-eyed teen’s heart flutters and he looks away as Sousuke gets up and puts on one of the zoris.

The brunette takes a shaky step forward and puts on the navy blue zoris. Sousuke opens the front door and says, “after you.”

The emerald-eyed teen smiles and walks out the door, waits for Sousuke to close the front door before walking down the hallway towards the elevator.

As the two teens walk towards the elevator, Sousuke walks besides the brunette stealing glances every now and then. He thinks, _‘I finally get to swim without my physical therapist. I’m nervous…getting into the water. It’s been so long since I really swam. Makoto is quiet. I wonder what’s on his mind.’_

Makoto hits the down button when they get to the elevator and thinks, _‘I’m still thinking about Sousuke’s round, hot ass. I have to stop thinking about that and focus on swimming. This is important to Sousuke. He’s been looking forward to swimming on his own. I wonder if he was nervous about it and freshened up before I got to his apartment because of it. Hmm, that would make some sense. Maybe to keep his mind preoccupied on other things.’_

The elevator doors open and the two teens enter, Makoto leans against the rail in the very back of the elevator as Sousuke slides his keycard in the slot and presses the ‘pool/gym’ button at the front of the elevator.

The two teens continue the descent down the elevator in silence until the doors open. Sousuke takes a deep breath as he walks out of the elevator and says, “It’s been a long time, since I’ve felt like this. I’m excited and nervous at the same time.”

Makoto follows Sousuke out of the elevator, listens intently to the raven-haired teen’s words, and says, “If I haven’t been in the water as long as you have, I think I would feel the same way. Swimming, it feels good. Let’s make sure to stretch properly before getting into the water.”

The raven-haired teen snorts, “yeah. Hope you don’t mind swimming the breaststroke with me. I know backstroke is your strength.”

The two teens walk up to the glass doors of the indoor pool before Makoto answers, “I don’t mind. Breaststroke is good with me. As long as I get to swim with you.”

The brunette places a hand over his mouth as Sousuke turns his head to gaze at the emerald-eyed teen in awe. The ex-butterfly swimmer is taken aback by Makoto’s last words, the way the emerald-eyed teen said it made him feel warm inside his chest. However, Sousuke notices how the brunette has become silent and decides to say something to break the awkward silence between them. 

The raven-haired teen says as he stares at Makoto, “yeah, me too. I don’t think we ever swam together…well, I mean just you and me. I’d like to see what it’s like swimming side by side with you.” The teal-eyed teen thinks, _‘I don’t want to read into his words or anything. I bet he really meant it innocently. He just that kind of guy…he has charm. But, it’s really nice hearing things like that.’_

Makoto grasps the handle of the glass door, opening the door for Sousuke, and says with embarrassment, “you’re right. I don’t think we ever did swim together, just us.” The brunette thinks as Sousuke walks through the door, _‘Sousuke and I have become really close. I meant what I said about swimming with him. But for a moment, it felt so intimate. It’s like, I’m crushing on him. Am I? We do get along quite well. I do enjoy spending time with him. He is attractive, very attract…wait. Do I like him? Like, ‘like him’ like him?’_

Sousuke puts down the tote bag with the towels on one of the benches in the pool and slips off the zoris. The teal-eyed teen digs into his windbreaker and pulls out his swimming cap and goggles before taking off his jacket, placing it down on the bench next to the tote bag. Sousuke slips his goggles around his left shoulder and tucks a small part of his black swimming cap on the top of his jammers.

The raven-haired teen looks back to find Makoto still holding the glass door open and he tilts his head slightly as he says, “Makoto. Something on your mind?”

The brunette slightly jumps in place when Sousuke’s deep voice penetrates his ears. He looks over at the teal-eyed teen and smiles sheepishly, “ah. Sorry. I was just…thinking.” Makoto walks into the tiled pool room, and stops right in front of Sousuke.

The raven-haired teen smirks and says, “ok. Well I’m going to start with some stretches. Join me when you’re ready.”

Makoto watches the ex-butterfly swimmer walk away from him and start stretching his hamstrings. He notices how Sousuke pays very close attention to his form as he stretches his muscles properly. The brunette turns his body slightly so he’s facing the bench with the tote bag and Sousuke’s jacket. The emerald-eyed teen slips off his zoris and pulls out his googles and swimming cap from his pocket before taking off his white Iwatobi jacket and placing it next to Sousuke’s Samezuka windbreaker.

The brunette slips the green-tinted goggles over his head and allows them to rest around his neck. He slips a part of his black swimming cap between his flesh and the top of his jammers. The emerald-eyed teen gives himself enough space from the raven-haired teen and takes a deep breath before bending down and stretching his hamstrings.

The two teens stretch their muscles for fifteen minutes, eyeing each other from the corner of their vision to keep track of each other’s form. Makoto wanting to make sure that Sousuke isn’t feeling any pain, particularly with his shoulder. Sousuke eyes the brunette to make sure that the backstroke swimmer doesn’t do any of the stretches half-assed.

The teal-eyed teen is the first to finish his stretches and says, “I’m done stretching. How about you Makoto?” Sousuke turns his body so that he is facing the brunette fully, and walks over to the brunette.

Makoto gets up from his kneeling position, stretching the hip flexors on his left side and says, “yeah. That was the last one for me.”

Sousuke smiles before he turns his body to stare at the pool. He takes a deep breath through his nose, and exhales slowly, “do you need to warm up in the pool first? Or do you just want to go for it, and begin on the starting blocks?”

The brunette takes a step towards Sousuke, and stands by his side as he watches the raven-haired teen take a deep breath. The emerald-eyed teen observes how the ex-butterfly swimmer looks at the pool. Makoto sees longing, eagerness, and excitement in those teal eyes and he smiles. But as the brunette continues to peer at the teal-eyed teen, he notices that his eyes become slightly darker, and the small smile that was on Sousuke’s lips fade into a slight frown.

The backstroke swimmer feels concern bubble within him. Makoto thinks, _‘wait, what’s this? Is he sad? No, that’s not quite it. It’s more like he’s feeling mixed or something. He seemed to be enthusiastic about swimming just a moment ago, but now it’s something else…like fear maybe?’_ The brunette says gently, “why don’t we just get in the water first and just do some test rounds.”

Sousuke looks over to his side staring into those kind green eyes and says softly, “yeah. That sounds good.”

Makoto watches the raven-haired teen walk over to the starting block, walking behind him he says, “Sousuke, what were you thinking about just a moment ago? You looked kinda sad.”

Before the teal-eyed teen could put his foot on the starting block platform, he stops and places his foot down on the cool tile floor. He turns slightly, his side to the pool as he gazes over at the brunette next to him. Sousuke opens his mouth slightly to say something but then closes it as he ponders if he really should tell Makoto what he was thinking.

The emerald-eyed teen tilts his head to the side, and thinks, _‘eh? I wonder if it was something personal.’_ Makoto smiles sweetly at the tall raven-haired teen, “you don’t have to tell me. I’m concerned about you. I know you have been looking forward to this day, and it seems that you are nervous and excited at the same time. I just…want you to feel okay with all this. You deserve to be happy, Sousuke.”

Sousuke exhales through his nose and rubs his neck. A slight distressed expression takes hold of the teal-eyed teen’s facial features as he looks to the side at the massive pool, “I was thinking. About the times the doctors and other medical professionals I had to see told me that only time will tell if I could swim again. That my chances were low, and that I may never swim competitively again. The progress depends on me. I fucked up my shoulder, got it fixed, and I got really angry about the vacillating answers from professionals. I mean, why can’t it be some solid educated guess with numbers or something behind it? I was frustrated with myself, with all the things the doctors told me to do, yet, here I am. Standing in front of this pool, about to swim on my own for the first time in several months. It just seems…unreal. I mean, I see it and I just hope this isn’t some kind of dream mocking me.”

Makoto listens to Sousuke’s thoughts and feelings, and even though he hasn’t experienced anything that the raven-haired teen has described, he feels like he understands Sousuke’s point of view. Since the brunette has gone to one of the teal-eyed teen’s doctor’s appointments and one of his physical therapy appointments, the backstroke swimmer has witnessed some of the things Sousuke has mentioned.

The brunette says, “Sousuke, this is real. You really are going into the water and we are going to swim. You earned this. I’m glad you want me to be here with you in all this. So, don’t doubt now, Mr. Confident.” The emerald-eyed teen chuckles to himself before he continues, “well, you usually are confident.”

Sousuke laughs as he places one hand on his stomach and the other on Makoto’s shoulder as he hunches over just a bit. When the raven-haired teen finally collects himself, he shifts his eyes toward the brunette and smirks at him, “thanks, Makoto. You are…” The teal-eyed teen shakes his head and says, “nevermind. Let’s get in the water.”

Makoto looks away as he grabs his swimming cap hanging on the side of his hip as he thinks, _‘I like your smile and your laugh Sousuke.’_ The brunette gives the raven-haired teen his trademark smile before walking up to the starting platform and placing his goggles on his face and slipping the swimming cap with the word, ‘ties,’ written on the side in white letters on his head.

The raven-haired teen follows suit and gets on the second starting block, taking off the goggles around his shoulder and adjusting it around his eyes before placing the black swimming cap with gold lettering, ‘shark,’ on his head. Sousuke turns his head and sees the brunette bending down in position to dive into the pool. The ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes wander, checking out Makoto’s form.

The teal-eyed teen observes the backstroke swimmer’s body and is impressed with how toned Makoto is. He thinks, _‘hmm. He still swims. His form is very good.’_ Before Sousuke could continue with his thought process, Makoto launches into the pool and smoothly splashes into the cool water. The raven-haired teen watches the brunette go through the initial gliding phase, using the dolphin kick before he surfaces to the top of the water and moving his arms forward and to the side in a half-circular motion as he executes a whip kick.

The raven-haired teen smiles as he continues watching the brunette doing the breaststroke. He takes his eyes off the emerald-eyed teen and takes a deep breath. The teal-eyed teen looks at the water in front of him as he thinks, _‘okay. This is it. I finally, finally get to dive in the water like this. I’m excited.’_

Makoto stops swimming when he’s in the middle of the pool to turn and check on Sousuke. He sees the raven-haired teen looking down at the water and taking deep breaths. The brunette can sense some nervousness radiating from the teal-eyed teen and somehow the emerald-eyed teen feels it in his body too. Makoto swallows as Sousuke bends forward, grasping the edge of the starting block, getting ready to dive into the pool. The brunette holds his breath as Sousuke thrusts himself forward to dive into the water.

Makoto mind goes blank as he just watches Sousuke’s dive into the initial gliding phase, raising up to the water’s edge and moving his arms forward and to the side while completing the whip kick simultaneously. He can hear the sounds of water splashing, and moving around him as he watches Sousuke swim towards him. The brunette thinks, _‘wow. His form…it was perfect. He’s really swimming. He’s amazing!’_

Sousuke stops swimming as soon as he gets close to the brunette standing in the water, and stands just a couple feet away from Makoto, “this is amazing!” The raven-haired teen smiles widely, teal eyes sparkling and jubilant.

Makoto just watches Sousuke with wonder and admiration. He thinks, _‘watching him at his appointments and working so hard to show the doctor, physical therapist, and his family that he will be careful if he gets the opportunity to swim…just wow. Seeing Sousuke so happy swimming…he really loves the sport. He’s struggled so much to get here. To see him like this is breathtaking.’_

The brunette smiles and says, “come on Sousuke! Let’s swim together!” The emerald-eyed teen continues to swim to the other side of the pool.

Sousuke grins and says, “hey! Come back here.” The raven-haired teen follows Makoto to the other side of the pool.

The two teens do two laps, taking their time warming up and getting used to swimming the breaststroke together. When the two boys reach the side where the starting blocks are, Makoto asks Sousuke, “so, how are you feeling? Nothing is hurting?”

The raven-haired teen smiles and shakes his head, “no. I’m feeling great. Hey, Makoto, let’s get out of the pool and dive right back in. Like a race.”

The brunette tilts his head to the side, considering Sousuke’s suggestion. After a few moments, Makoto says, “well…ok. But we won’t be racing together. I don’t think you have approval for that. We’ll just swim together and see who gets back here first. No competition.”

Sousuke snorts with a cheery smile, “alright, alright. Such a worrywart. I promise I won’t compete, even though it’s tempting. I would love to compete with you, Makoto.”

The emerald-eyed teen chuckles, “I bet. I promise you Sousuke, if things continue to go well for you, I will compete with you next year. You can hold me to that.” Makoto swims over to the silver ladder to get out of the pool.

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow with interest as he follows Makoto towards the ladder, “oh? You’re on, pretty boy. I am totally holding you to your promise.”

Makoto grasps the cool silver railing with his hands and lifts his leg up to pull himself out until he hears Sousuke’s words. The brunette looks back at the teal-eyed teen and says, “eh? Did you just call me pretty boy? I’m not pretty.”

Sousuke chuckles and says, “hurry up and get out of the pool…pretty boy.”

The emerald-eyed teen knits his eyebrows playfully and is glad that the raven-haired teen can’t see his face as he climbs up the ladder.

Makoto takes a few steps away from the ladder, turns around, and crosses his arms. He waits for the ex-butterfly swimmer to climb out of the pool and says, “pretty boy, hmm? If you get to call me by some nickname, I get to call you by one too.” 

Once Sousuke gets out of the pool, he snickers at the brunette’s comment gleefully and gently punches Makoto’s shoulder, “like what? Mr. Confident?”

The brunette’s mouth hangs open momentarily in shock. He quickly closes his mouth, grabs Sousuke’s wrist and pulls the tall raven-haired teen towards him with enough force to bring the ex-butterfly swimmer bumping his wet chest with the emerald-teen’s as he says amusingly, “no. What about softy? Since you definitely have a softer side to you.”

The raven-haired teen is surprised when the backstroke swimmer pulls him forward, and the teal-eyed teen stumbles into the brunette but is able to catch his footing so he doesn’t topple over Makoto. Sousuke frowns at the nickname and says, “no. Just, no. I don’t like that. Besides, I don’t have a soft side.”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke and says tauntingly, “oh? You don’t think so. I think so. Hmm, I could call you Sou-chan, like Yumiko does.”

Sousuke eyes waver slightly as his dream comes to mind with Makoto calling him ‘Sou’ as a nickname with affection. The teal-eyed teen clears his throat and looks away feeling his cheeks heat up, “uh, no. That doesn’t sound right. No one calls you Mako-chan besides Nagisa.”

The brunette chuckles as he releases the ex-butterfly swimmer wrist and rubs his cheek, feeling a simmering heat burn through his chest, “well, you’re right. Nagisa is the only one who calls me Mako-chan, but Kisumi calls me Mako-sensei, same with Hayato, Kisumi’s little brother. Sometimes I call Haru, Haru-chan, but he doesn’t like it very much.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows and starts walking over to the starting block, “Kisumi calls you what? Mako-sensei? Really? Do you have any nicknames for Rin?”

Makoto follows Sousuke to the starting blocks as he grasps his wrist and says, “I don’t have a nickname for Rin. Nagisa calls him RinRin and Rin-chan. And yeah, he has since I taught his brother how to swim. Hey wait a sec, why did you call me pretty boy to begin with? Now you have piqued my curiosity. Do you want a nickname from me?”

The raven-haired teen turns around and he gazes into Makoto’s green eyes. He sees interest in those emerald orbs and the questions the brunette asks catches him off-guard and he just stares at the backstroke swimmer with mild shock. He thinks, _‘why did I call him pretty boy? I was just teasing him. I…crap.’_

Sousuke inhales slowly and says, “I, I don’t know why I called you that. I was just teasing you. Don’t take it personal Makoto. If you don’t like it, I won’t call you that anymore.”

The brunette stares at the raven-haired teen briefly before he breaks eye contact. He thinks, _‘ah. I figured he was just teasing me. Why did I think…that maybe he was saying more. I am reading into things too much. He’s still in love with Rin too. I need to bear that in mind.’_

Makoto says with a small smile as he let’s go of the raven-haired teen’s wrist, “ok. Sou-chan.” The brunette smirks at the teal-eyed teen playfully, “I had to get you back.”

Sousuke huffs and says, “damn. You little fox.” The teal-eyed teen rubs his neck, “alright, alright. We cool now? Can we swim?”

The brunette chuckles, “of course we’re good. I was just asking. Alright, but before we continue swimming, how’s your shoulder?”

The raven-haired teen shakes his head and sighs, “man, you really don’t let things go do you?” Sousuke does a few shoulder rolls with both arms and says, “they both feel fine to me. You shouldn’t worry so much, Makoto. If I feel that I can’t do something, especially when it comes to swimming, I won’t do it. I’ve learned my lesson.”

The brunette nods and says, “I usually don’t let things like that go, but if you tell me that you’re fine, I’ll believe you. But I might still worry anyway. Since this is the first time you are swimming, I just want to be sure, you know. Because I want you to be able to continue swimming. I can tell you love the water.” Makoto walks over to the starting block, gets up on it and waits for Sousuke to do the same.

Sousuke watches the brunette walk over to the starting block and he smiles. He thinks, _‘he’ll worry anyway, but accept my words. Damn, Makoto. You really are something. You’re so honest and caring towards me. I think I do like you, more than I thought earlier today. But, I’m also a little confused by all this.’_

The raven-haired teen turns around, gets up on the starting block, turns his head as he readjusts his goggles and swimming cap to stare at the brunette, “so, no competing, not until next year. So, you ready, Makoto? To swim with me?”

Makoto looks over at the teal-eyed teen and gives him his trademark smile, tilting his head to the side, “yes. I am ready to swim with you.” The brunette bends down and places his hands on the edge of the starting block, waiting for Sousuke to do the same.

Sousuke smirks before turning his head back towards the water in front of him. He takes a few deep breaths, breathing in through his nose, and exhaling through his mouth. The teal-eyed teen feels a surge of excitement brewing within him. It reminds the raven-haired teen of all the times he competed in the past, the beginnings of that itching feeling to put his all into his body, to cut through the water, and use every fiber of his being to win.

Sousuke continues breathing for a few more moments, calming his nerves and telling himself that this isn’t a competition. Reminding himself that he hasn’t had permission for that kind of swimming, even though his whole body wants it so badly. Sousuke exhales and bends forward, placing his hands on the edge of the starting platform as he says in a deep serious tone, “Let’s do this, Makoto. On the count of three…one…”

Makoto smiles when he finally hears Sousuke’s voice. He exhales slowly and continues the count playfully, “I’ve been ready…two…”

The raven-haired teen smirks, “heh. So am I.” Sousuke pauses for a moment, breathing in and out slowly, before he finally says, “three.”

The two teens jump into the pool, raising their arms above their head as they plunge into the cool blue water.

Sousuke feels the adrenaline rush through his body, his heart races with voracity as his senses are hit with the refreshing liquid surrounding his body as he continues to complete the initial gliding phase with the dolphin kick. The raven-haired teen’s body feels hot with desire, but the cool water surrounding his body creates an oscillating effect within the teal-eyed teen. A smile creeps up upon his lips as he gets closer to the top of the water’s surface.

As soon as the raven-haired teen’s head and chest break through the surface of the water, Sousuke takes a breath before piercing through the top of the water and reaching his hands forward in and moving his arms in a half circular motion while synchronizing his movements with a whip kick.

Sousuke continues cycling through the movements of the breaststroke, and he looks over to his right to find Makoto just slightly behind him. A storm of emotions strike through the raven-haired teen, the desire to battle against the brunette bubbles within him, and the teal-eyed teen continues to struggle to suppress this desire, to bury the desire deep within him, but the rush of his excitement gets to him and he could catch himself swimming faster like he always did in competitions.

When it comes to the flip turn on the other side, the cool tile of the side of the pool makes his heart fill with warmth as he feels the nostalgia of the motion. With his thighs, Sousuke pushes against the wall of pool and thrusts himself forward, penetrating through the water with his arms above his head, one hand over the other coming to a point as he continues swimming.

Sousuke goes through the motions of the breaststroke, looks over to the side to check on the emerald-eyed teen. He notices that the brunette is a little farther behind than before, but he gets this sense that Makoto is catching up to him. The raven-haired teen feels that craving deep within his body to compete again, to win against the brunette, to feel that rush of adrenaline streaming through him, to do his best.

The teal-eyed teen tries to fight off the appetite for competition and just swim through the water, but he finds himself cutting through the water with more precision, piercing through the water with his whip kick with more force, his lungs burning with the lack of oxygen as he moves forward.

The teal-eyed teen finally sees the other edge of the pool, looks over to the side to find Makoto just slightly behind him and carries himself onward, reaching with both hands for the solidity of the pool’s wall. When Sousuke feels the smooth and sturdy wall of the pool, he plants his feet down on the bottom of the pool’s floor, brings his hand up to pull his goggles and swimming cap off his head in an effortless motion, gasping for air as he slightly throws his head back.

Makoto reaches for the pool’s wall just a few seconds after the raven-haired teen. The brunette pulls his swimming cap and goggles off as he hunches over, heaving in much needed air. The brunette hears laughter next to him and splashes of water.

The emerald-eyed teen straightens up, standing solidly on the pool’s floor, and peers over to the side to stare at the raven-haired teen. He’s met with a very enthusiastic raven-haired teen fisting the air and the water in absolute glee.

Makoto turns his body to face him and watches Sousuke’s exuberance with awe. He thinks, _‘amazing. He’s so happy. I’ve never seen him quite like this before. I’m so touched to witness this. Oh, Sousuke…how I wish you could feel just like this…all the time. You deserve this happiness.’_ Makoto chuckles, placing one hand centimeters away from his mouth as Sousuke continues splashing about in exhilaration.

Sousuke hears a melodious sweet sound to his side and looks over at the brunette with a grin. He says with animation, “Makoto, that was absolutely amazing! Just…damn. That was so good. I’m, just, the rush, it brings me back. I haven’t felt this good in such a long time. Thank you. Just, thanks man!”

The raven-haired teen walks over to the brunette and embraces him quickly, squeezing Makoto’s lower back with his strong arms and hands. Sousuke titters and says with a gentle spirit, “Thank you Makoto. For doing all this with me. You have no idea…how much this moment means to me.”

The emerald-eyed teen’s eyes were closed as he was laughing at Sousuke’s excited words and gratitude that when he feels Sousuke’s arms entwine around his body, Makoto’s eyes snap open, a gasp escapes his lips, and a deep flush burns his ears and cheeks as Sousuke continues to thank him. The brunette smiles and giggles as he wraps his arms around the raven-haired teen’s neck, returning the hug as he says softly, “it truly is my pleasure, Sousuke. You deserve this. It thrills me to see you this happy. I don't think I’ve ever seen you smile and laugh like this. I…I feel so special right now.”

The emerald-eyed teen squeezes his arms around Sousuke’s neck and shoulders as he feels a swell of electricity surge through his body. Makoto inhales sharply as a flood of desire pools within his chest, heat radiating down below. Feeling Sousuke’s skin against his chest and torso, so close like this, sends blazing warmth throughout his senses. The brunette can feel his heartbeat ringing in his ears and his mind goes blank as he subconsciously rakes his nails against Sousuke’s sun-kissed skin.

Sousuke’s heart races when he hears the brunette’s mellow voice ring through his ears, he listens to Makoto’s pleasing, honest words, and the raven-haired teen swallows as he can feel heat on his cheeks. He thinks, _‘what’s happening? Why am I so hot all of a sudden? Is it because…’_ The teal-eyed teen’s thought process halts as he feels Makoto’s nails graze the flesh on his back. Sousuke exhales sharply as he presses his own fingertips on the brunette’s strong back, back and forth gently. The raven-haired teen leans in towards Makoto and takes a whiff of the brunette in his arms.

Sousuke can smell the scent of chlorine, but he can detect hints of coffee, maybe a little bit of chocolate and a sweet kind of aroma. The teal-eyed teen pulls the backstroke swimmer closer to him as he continues to stroke Makoto’s back with his fingertips, feeling a sizzling passion building up within the pit of his belly, coursing through his body, a tingling sensation that he’s never felt so intensely before. The raven-haired teen exhales lightly and says in a sweltering tone, “mmm…Makoto.”

The brunette releases a guttural moan when he feels Sousuke’s fingertips on his back, smoothly massaging his muscles, and leaving a fluttering sensation over the path of skin that the raven-haired teen touched. Makoto bites his lower lip when Sousuke pulls him further into the teal-eyed teen, a blistering desire reaching his shaft as Makoto can feel his crotch pressing up against the ex-butterfly swimmer. The brunette senses his cock getting hard from all the contact he’s receiving from the raven-haired teen. Makoto’s breath hitches when Sousuke’s hot breath shivers against his ear and neck, leaving a cooling response on his skin due to Makoto’s wet flesh.

When Sousuke calls Makoto’s name, the brunette moves his hands slowly caressing the teal-eyed teen’s flesh with his fingertips until his hands rest on the base of Sousuke’s neck, faintly kneading the raven-haired teen’s muscles. Makoto leans back just a little bit to face Sousuke and peer into those teal blue eyes, but his eyes are closed.

The emerald-eyed teen observes the deep flush on Sousuke’s smooth skin, on his cheeks, and neck. He notices Sousuke’s delectable lips are slightly parted and the brunette swallows, feeling the need to know what the teal-eyed teen tastes like.

Makoto licks his lips slowly, and when the raven-haired teen opens his eyes, the emerald-eyed teen sees open, dilated, seductive droopy teal orbs gazing at him. He thinks, _‘he’s so beautiful. I want him, I want you Sousuke. Please let me…'_ Makoto’s gaze drifts back to Sousuke’s full lips, staring at the raven-haired teen’s bottom lip with hunger.

Sousuke is lost in his senses, he can hear Makoto’s moan, soft breathing, he can feel the brunette’s nails no longer grazing against his skin but fingertips stroking his flesh, leaving the raven-haired teen knitting his eyebrows with a mixture of lust and disorientation.

The raven-haired teen closes his eyes, feeling so overwhelmed with just the senses of touch and hearing. Sousuke finds his heart beating faster in his chest, and he feels that his breath is being taken away from him. The teal-eyed teen parts his mouth, inhales and exhales through his lips with a deep burning flush staining his cheeks. When he opens his eyes, he is met with shimmering, gorgeous, large emerald orbs.

The raven-haired teen can’t take his eyes off those beautiful green eyes, and he can feel his flush deepen as he continues gazing. When Makoto’s eyes shift and fixate on something else, Sousuke thinks, _‘shit. I’m literally lost in all this. I just wanna…I wanna kiss him. I wanna kiss you…Makoto. You’re so captivating.’_

Sousuke gradually leans towards the brunette, staring at Makoto’s luscious lips as his grip on the emerald-eyed teen’s back tightens.

Makoto notices the ex-butterfly swimmer’s sensuously pouty lips moving closer to him. The backstroke swimmer lifts his right hand up and over Sousuke’s neck and rests his palm on the teal-eyed teen’s jaw, brushing his thumb against Sousuke’s cheek as he leans into those deliciously smooth lips.

The two teens leisurely move towards each other, hesitantly. Sousuke licks his lips as he inches closer towards Makoto’s mouth, and when he gets just a few centimeters away from the brunette’s lips, the raven-haired teen hears a faint tune blaring in the air.

Sousuke blinks as his sense of hearing brings him back to reality and away from the enchantment of his desire and the beautiful teen in his arms. He leans back just a little bit and says tenderly, “do you hear that?” 

Makoto leans in wanting to slowly crash his lips into the raven-haired teen’s, wanting to make sure that Sousuke wants to kiss him just as much as he wants too. The brunette notices the teal-eyed teen move away from him, and he sees those delicious lips move as if he was saying something, but the ringing of his heart beat in his ears, he couldn’t make it out. The brunette furrows his eyebrows faintly and says in a muffled tone, “huh? What was that?”

The raven-haired teen repeats the question as he looks over to the side, where he thinks the sound is coming from, “do you hear that? It sounds like a ringtone.”

The brunette watches the teal-eyed teen move away and turn his head to the side in a haze, but he finally hears Sousuke’s question. Makoto straightens his back, and listens closely to figure out what the raven-haired teen is referring to. After a couple of moments, the brunette realizes that it’s his phone ringing and says quickly, “that’s my phone. I better get it.”

Makoto releases his hold on the ex-butterfly swimmer, moves over to the edge of the pool, places his hands on the edge, hoists himself up over the edge of the pool as quickly as he can and carefully trots over to his Iwatobi windbreaker on the bench.

The emerald-eyed teen fumbles with his Iwatobi jacket trying to find the proper pocket that his cellphone is in, and when he finally has the device in his hand, he quickly answers the phone without registering who is calling him. Makoto answers hurriedly, “hello?”

The teal-eyed teen observes the brunette rapidly get out of the pool. He even walked over to the place Makoto was standing to get out of the pool to get a better view of the emerald-eyed teen’s back, move along briskly towards the benches. Sousuke brings his hand over his mouth, gently brushing his fingertips over his lips, thinking, _‘was I about to…kiss him.’_

Makoto hears a chuckle on the other end of the line and a kind voice say, “yo, Mako-sensei. How have you been? It’s been awhile since we’ve talked. Just wanted to check in with you before I hand over the phone to Hayato.”

The brunette’s eyes widen and he says in shock, “Kisu-kisu…mi.” Makoto places his other hand over his eyes and says, “I’m sorry, Kisumi.” The brunette laughs sheepishly as he fumbles with his words, “hi. I’m, uh, glad to hear from you. You’re right, it has, uh, been awhile hasn’t it. I’m sorry about that. Just been really busy with…school and uh, work. Yeah.”

Kisumi tilts his head and raises his eyebrow when he hears Makoto’s voice. The pink-haired teen chuckles and asks, “Mako-sensei? Are you doing something naughty? Hmm? You sound flustered, I can only imagine a full on blush on your cheeks right now, considering you just said, kisu-mi.”

Makoto feels his knees go weak, sits down on the bench as his cheeks heat up in embarrassment and being teased by his own blunder. The brunette bites his lip as Kisumi stresses out the syllables, ‘kisu-mi,’ just like the words “kiss me.” Kisumi’s name sounded dirty sometimes.

The emerald-eyed teen looks back at the pool to find teal-eyes staring back at him, and his breath hitches as he recalls what happened back in the pool. He swallows as he remembers Sousuke’s hot breath on his ear, his strong hand massaging his back, leaning in as thoughts of kissing the droopy teal-eyed teen comes back to the forefront of his mind.

Makoto looks away as he combusts in a full blush from his ears to his neck. The brunette is about to say something but hears Kisumi’s voice say, “oi, Mako? You ok? Did I really catch you at a bad time with a special someone?”

The brunette leans against the cool tile wall behind him as he tries to calm his nerves and push away his embarrassment, “Kisumi, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say your name, quite like that. And, please don’t call me ‘Mako,’ that’s too intimate for me.” He shivers as he remembers Takeshi calling him that from very early on in their relationship.

He continues, “I-I, I was just swimming with a friend. I thought I wasn’t going to get the phone and I was just…feeling so good swimming…with him. Please don’t tease me about it. I feel embarrassed about this whole thing.”

Sousuke watches the brunette answer the phone and unintentionally listens to the emerald-eyed teen’s side of the conversation. He hears Makoto’s hesitant and echoing voice address the person on the line. The raven-haired teen feels a slight blush tint his cheeks as he thinks, _‘Kisumi. Makoto, did you have to say his name like that? I was just thinking about the kiss I was going to give you too.’_ As Sousuke continues to listen to the brunette, and notices Makoto sit down on the bench, and their eyes meet briefly.

The raven-haired teen watches the brunette curiously and the memory of the emerald-eyed teen grazing his nails against his skin, the sound of Makoto’s angelic voice moaning deliciously, rubbing his neck, his hand on his face and stroking his cheek makes Sousuke’s eyes waver as he continues to stare at the backstroke swimmer. The teal-eyed teen licks his lips and witnesses the brunette turn his head away from him as Makoto answers Kisumi’s questions and statements.

Sousuke runs a hand through his wet onyx hair, focusing his attention on the tiled floor, he thinks, _‘he felt good swimming with me, huh? I felt the same way too, but is it because I was swimming or was it because Makoto was with me? Or is it both? I’m…so confused. I need to sort all this out somehow.’_ The raven-haired teen ruffles his hair in frustration at himself, at whatever is happening to him and with him.

The teal-eyed teen turns around, facing away from the brunette sitting on the bench as the ex-butterfly swimmer leans his back on the edge of the pool and stares at the glistening blue water in front of him. He closes his eyes and tries to clear his mind.

Kisumi titters on the other end of the phone with Makoto and says, “alright…Mako-sensei. You really are fun to tease, but I’ll digress, since you sound honest. I hope I didn’t interrupt your swimming session with your friend. If this is a bad time, we can talk tomorrow. Say, will you be free around 11:30am? Hayato would like to talk with you, but it can wait until tomorrow. He has a play date with Ran and Ren tomorrow afternoon, so I figured he can talk to you before he heads over to your house.”

The brunette sighs in relief when Kisumi mentions that he will drop their previous conversation, and listens to the pink-haired teen’s words more carefully. Makoto takes a deep breath and says, “well, what’s it about? I mean, we can talk tomorrow in the morning, and I can make sure to give you and Hayato my undivided attention if that’s what you are implying.”

Kisumi snickers, “ah, Mako-sensei. You certainly know how to make your ‘students’ feel important. I always liked that about you…sensei. Anyway, Hayato wanted to schedule some time with you when you come back down to Iwatobi for New Year’s. I heard from your mom that you guys will be coming here from Nagoya after Christmas. If I recall correctly, your uncle has a friend that he would like to visit. Something about it being important, I didn’t want to intrude on your uncle’s personal business, but Hayato caught wind of this from Ren and Ran. He’s very excited to see you. After all, he wants to make sure that he gives you the win stick he won.”

Makoto knits his eyebrows playfully with Kisumi’s suggestive tone, but when he hears the rest of the pink-haired teen’s reason for calling, “Ah. So you’ve heard about that. Yeah, my uncle found out about his friend’s condition this week and made changes for my travelling tickets. Yes, I will be back home for New Year’s, and I’m sorry I wasn’t the one to tell you about that. I had a hard time letting Rei, Nagisa, and Rin know about it too due to studying and exams. Yes, one of my uncle’s friends is sick and he would like to visit him.”

Makoto pauses as a concern fills his eyes, and pushes thoughts about his uncle aside as he continues, “Alright. I will make sure to take a look at what’s happening during the holidays. Let’s talk tomorrow. I will make sure Hayato and I have some time together…without you of course.” The brunette chuckles knowing Kisumi would whine.

The lavender-eyed teen gasps in alarm, “Mako-sensei! You’re so mean! Why would you leave your precious friend behind…just to meet with my little brother. So cruel.” Kisumi exaggerates a hurtful tone playfully.

The brunette giggles and says, “talk to you later, Kisumi. Stay out of trouble.”

Kisumi throws his head back in laughter and says, “I will try my best, Mako-sensei. No promises. I hope you and your friend continue…your…naughty business, sensei.”

Before Makoto could respond to Kisumi’s rather immodest comment, the pink-haired teen hangs up leaving a bewilderedly flushing brunette with his own thoughts. The emerald-eyed teen moves the phone down from his ear, stares at his phone and thinks, _‘Kisumi…why you little…I told you it was nothing like that. Why do you have to tease me like that from time to time?’_

In the meantime, Sousuke tries not to listen in on Makoto’s private conversation on the phone. When the raven-haired teen opens his eyes and looks down at the cool blue water, he sees a swimming cap floating right in front of him. The teal-eyed teen knits his eyebrows a little muddled. He doesn’t remember letting go of the swimming cap in his hand or the goggles. Sousuke looks around the pool and spots two swimming caps and two sets of goggles floating in the water. The ex-butterfly swimmer moves away from the edge of the pool and walks over to each item, grasping them in one hand as he heads over to the silver ladder to get out of the pool.

Makoto’s attention moves to the sound of sloshing water, directs his focus to the sound of someone getting out the pool, and puts his phone down on the bench. He notices the raven-haired teen coming out of the water and gets up quickly, looking over to the side, trots over to the canvas bag with the towels, grabs the fluffy towels in the bag and starts walking over to the teal-eyed teen.

The emerald-eyed teen meets the ex-butterfly swimmer halfway, as Sousuke walked partway over to the benches. When the two teens are about an arms length away from each other, they stop and stare at each other.

Sousuke gazes into those green eyes of the brunette in front of him, and he can’t quite pinpoint what he sees in those emerald orbs. Something stirs in the raven-haired teen and he looks away, rubbing his neck, “you still talk to that idiot?” He thinks, _‘I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m gonna remain cool, calm, and collected. As long as neither of us mention what happened during that last part in the pool…it never happened.’_

Makoto feels a mix of emotions as he peers into Sousuke’s teal blue eyes. For a brief moment he wanted to address what happened in the pool, but those teal eyes have become cool, almost cold and obscure. The brunette’s eyes become cloudy as he continues to peer into those impregnable teal orbs, that the words he wanted to say die in his throat. When Sousuke looks away, the emerald-eyed teen looks down at the towels in his hands, feeling a little tender with the unyielding look in the ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes.

Makoto hears Sousuke’s question, but it sounded distant, too distant, considering how happy he was before he left the pool. The brunette can’t bring his eyes up and says in a restrained tone as he stares at the fibers of the terry cloth fabric in his hands, “yeah. Kisumi and I are still friends. He helped me find my job as a barista. And…I helped out at the Iwatobi SC Returns for a while, helping Sasabe-coach with the kids there. Hayato, Kisumi’s brother, was someone I was teaching how to swim. He was afraid of the water, and I helped him come to terms with it, showing him a different side of the water. He enjoyed swimming after that, and Kisumi and I started talking more frequently. So, yeah…I still talk to him. Um, here. Here’s a towel for you, Sousuke.” 

Makoto slowly lunges the towels in his hands forward as the brunette continues to look downwards.

Sousuke listens to the emerald-eyed teen’s explanation, and something pricks him internally. Something about the brunette’s tone seems wrong, almost as if he hurt the backstroke swimmer physically. The raven-haired teen turns his head to look at Makoto, but he cannot see those green eyes behind the veil of olive-brown hair covering Makoto’s orbs. The raven-haired teen frowns, feeling like somehow he has upset the backstroke swimmer.

When Makoto thrusts the towels at the teal-eyed teen, Sousuke takes the one on top and starts drying his hair as he says indifferently, “ah. Well, it seems that you two get along well. I guess I didn’t expect that. I always found the guy annoying. He’s not a bad guy, just annoying. He shows up at the worst times.” The teal-eyed teen takes a step to the side and walks past the brunette, sauntering over to the benches.

Makoto raises his head when Sousuke passes by him, stunned by the raven-haired teen’s words. The brunette just stands there as the teal-eyed teen walks away, leaving the emerald-eyed teen with his thoughts. He thinks, _‘he didn’t expect Kisumi and I to be so friendly? What does that mean? I know Sousuke has seen me interact with him before, so why would it be so unexpected? He doesn’t seem to dislike him or anything, but does Kisumi really show up at the worst times? When would Kisumi show up at a bad…’_

The brunette’s lips part slightly as realization hits him. The backstroke swimmer lifts the towel over his head, rubbing his hair as he continues his thought process, _‘how could I forget. Kisumi was the one that told Haru and I about Sousuke’s shoulder. He said he saw Sousuke at the medical center in Iwatobi, and Kisumi assumed that Haru and I knew about his shoulder when he told us about it. That must be what he meant. Would Sousuke really still be frustrated about that? I got the impression that Kisumi was worried about Sousuke, did Sousuke have a different perspective?’_

Makoto shakes his head as he dries his arms off with the fluffy towel and thinks, _‘I don’t know what their relationship is like beyond him using Kisumi as a sacrifice in our water fight. But I’m not sure how Sousuke would react if he knew how I found out about his shoulder, I probably should keep that little tidbit to myself.’_ The brunette continues drying his body off feeling a little disquiet about the current interactions between him and the raven-haired teen behind him.

When Sousuke is in front of the benches, he stops drying his hair, leaving the towel over his head as he listens for the emerald-eyed teen behind him. The ex-butterfly swimmer opens the canvas bag and places the swimming caps and goggles in it.

The teal-eyed teen sighs silently, not sure how to proceed with the brunette after everything that happened today. The raven-haired teen recalls the dream that he had last night, changing clothes, messing with his hair, putting on cologne before the brunette got to his apartment, the compliments from the backstroke swimmer, the blueberry preserves and lube from his dream, Makoto’s hand on his thigh, the instances Makoto flushed in front of him, swimming together, the hug he gave the emerald-eyed teen, and of course the kiss he was about to give him. The ex-butterfly swimmer brings his hand up to rub his temples lightly, wondering if he needs just a little bit of time away from Makoto to clear his head.

Before Sousuke could continue with his train of thought, Makoto walks over to the raven-haired teen, slipping on the navy blue zoris he wore earlier and asks mildly, “How are you feeling?” The teal-eyed teen doesn’t answer the brunette; instead he takes the towel off his head and dries off his chest, arms and torso, not sure what the emerald-eyed meant by that question.

Makoto notices the silence from the raven-haired teen and sighs deeply. He throws the towel over his shoulder, picks up his cellphone and both high school jackets on the benches as he says guilelessly, “let’s head back up. We both need showers and I should head back to my apartment.” The brunette takes the risk to turn his head to look at the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke picks up the straps to the canvas bag as he slips on the charcoal grey zoris on his feet before nodding to Makoto’s question.

Makoto notices that the raven-haired teen is contemplative and wonders what could possibly be occupying the teal-eyed teen’s mind. The silence makes the brunette feel anxious, not knowing where Sousuke stands with the events that took place recently, leaves the emerald-eyed teen feeling alone.

The brunette walks over to the glass door of the pool entrance and holds it open for Sousuke. The raven-haired teen walks out of the room in silence, his gaze downward and toward the side, away from the backstroke swimmer.

The two teens walk to the elevator, and Sousuke hits the up arrow button as Makoto digs into the raven-haired teen’s jacket for the keycard. When the elevator arrives, the two teens continue to fill the air with quietness.

The reticence remains between the two teens as they head out of the elevator, walk down the fifteenth floor hallway, Makoto opening Sousuke’s door, as the two teens toe off their zoris and walk down the hallway. Makoto stops in front of the bedroom hallway, breaks the silence between them, and says, “you take a shower first. I’ll go after you.”

Before Sousuke could suggest that the emerald-eyed teen should take the shower first, the brunette briskly walks to the guest bedroom and closes the door gently. The raven-haired teen stands in front of the bedroom hallway with surprise. He wasn’t expecting Makoto to just walk away so quickly, almost as if he needed space away from the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke groans quietly and decides to do as he was told. The raven-haired teen places the canvas bag on the floor beside the doorway before heading inside the shower room. The ex-butterfly swimmer places the towel he was holding on the counter as he heads to the showerhead and turns the knobs to get a nice warm stream of water for his shower. The teal-eyed teen takes off his wet jammers and leaves them on the floor as he takes a couple steps into the water. 

The raven-haired teen closes his eyes as the warm stream of water hits his skin, and he knits his eyebrows as frustration builds within him. He places the palms of his hands on the tiled wall as the teal-eyed teen leans over to allow the spray of water to travel down the back of his neck and back. Sousuke opens his eyes to stare at the floor and watch the water swirl down the drain below him. He thinks, _‘Makoto…he should have taken a shower first. He said he needed to head back to his apartment. I should have pushed him to shower first.’_

Sousuke shakes his head as he lifts himself up from leaning forward, picks up a bottle of green body wash, a loofah, and starts lathering up the loofah in his hand. He puts the bottle down, moves the spray of water away from his body, starts rubbing the loofah on his arm, thinking, ‘ _I don’t know what I’m feeling. I shouldn’t have been so silent with him. I should have answered his question earlier. Dammit. This is how I get myself in trouble, isn’t it? Is this what Rin was talking about? Me not sharing, or whatever. But, I just don’t understand what’s happening. I hate that feeling, it shouldn’t be this hard to figure out. I can’t seem to make heads or tails of whatever is happening. Why is this so confusing? Ugh, what a pain this is.’_

The teal-eyed teen takes a deep breath and his nose catches on to the minty, honeysuckle, and citrusy aroma from the body wash as he continues rubbing the loofah on his body. When he moves the showerhead over his body to rinse the body wash, Sousuke continues thinking, _‘I know I had thoughts about maybe liking Makoto earlier this morning because of the dream I had. Rin is the only other friend that I’m close to, and I’m just confused. I thought I was still I love with Rin, possibly trying to get over this one-sided thing. Am I just substituting Makoto with Rin, like some sort of rebound? Makoto has become a good friend to me, and I treasure our time together. He’s helped me a lot, without asking anything from me. Che, we should just be friends, nothing more. Makoto just broke up with his boyfriend, I’m confused about my feelings and…I just want things to be good between Makoto and I. Hopefully this will all fade, and I won’t have to bother thinking about…stuff. It’s starting to give me a headache. Either way, I need to apologize to Makoto, for my behavior.’_

Sousuke picks up the bottle of shampoo, squirts some of the viscous clear liquid onto his palm as he continues finishing up with his shower.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

** December 19th, Friday, 8:27pm **

****

Makoto closes the guest bedroom door swiftly, takes a deep breath before walking over to the wooden desk, dropping the jackets on the desk chair seat, places the keycard and his phone on the surface of the desk, takes off the towel on his shoulder and drapes it over the back of the desk chair. The brunette bites his lip lightly as he shifts his body slightly to lean his back on the wall next to the desk. The emerald-eyed teen lifts his head as he thinks, _‘what happened? Did I do something to upset him? In the pool, after we swam, Sousuke was so ecstatic…it was beautiful. I don’t think I’ve seen him so happy before. I laughed, he hugged me, I hugged him back. But…we were so close, and it felt so good. His kind words, they moved me.’_

The backstroke swimmer shakes his head as he closes his eyes, _‘maybe I got caught up in the moment. I felt good, Sousuke felt good against my skin and I think I saw desire in his eyes…I must have had the same look in my eyes. I really was going to kiss him. If Kisumi didn’t call me then, I know I would have kissed him. Crap. Ever since I got here, I’ve been feeling a strong attraction to Sousuke, not just physical, but emotional and mental stimulation. Do I like him? I don’t know if I’m ready for a relationship yet…not after…not after Takeshi.’_

Makoto sighs deeply as his green eyes focus on the green backpack at the foot of bed. The brunette walks over to his backpack, unzips it and pulls out his secret ingredient and a clear plastic bag with a few teabags. He thinks, _‘Sousuke…you are having a hard time with something. I wonder if swimming with me today brought out other feelings, like some kind of negative feelings. I don’t know what happened while I was on the phone, but I want to see you smile again. Maybe you’re anxious about Rin coming to Tokyo too. I know Rin said he hasn’t seen you since Iwatobi, after we all graduated, so you will be seeing Rin for the first time in a long time. And maybe…seeing Rin and Haru will be difficult for you, I don’t know. I have to remember, Sousuke still loves Rin. So, I’ll make you some chai, Sousuke…I don’t want you to worry so much.’_

Makoto turns around and walks out of the guest bedroom, through the bedroom hallway, and stops in front of the bathroom door. For a few moments, the brunette just stares at the door wondering what Sousuke is doing on the other side. Once the backstroke swimmer hears the water turn on, he looks away and thinks, _‘he’s taking a shower, what else could he be doing in there? He’s just under the hot stream of water naked.._.’

Makoto internally sighs at himself, pushes thoughts of a naked Sousuke out of his mind as he walks over to the kitchen, placing the teabags and Ceylon cinnamon down on the counter. The brunette takes out a pot, a measuring cup, the other spices he needs to make the chai, and the carton of milk in the refrigerator.

The emerald-eyed teen measures the milk and pours it into the pot. Makoto places the pot of milk onto the range as he pulls out a cutting board and a knife as he chops some slices of ginger. The backstroke swimmer places the teabag of Darjeeling tea into the pot of milk as he turns the knob on the gas stove. Makoto pulls out the necessary amounts of cardamom, clove, star anise, peppercorn, one Ceylon cinnamon stick, and places each ingredient into the pot waiting for the aromatic concoction to slowly steep. The brunette grabs the honey and a tablespoon, placing them off to the side until he needs them.

Makoto watches the pot and notices that the chai is almost done. He measures the honey and puts it into the latté-colored liquid, stirring the tablespoon into the hot chai. The brunette pulls out a strainer and a couple of cups from the cupboards above him.

The green-eyed teen removes the pot of chai off the burner when it’s ready, and places the small strainer over one of the cups as he pours the hot liquid into the mug. Makoto fails to notice the sound of the bathroom door opening.

Sousuke walks out into the bedroom hallway and is about to head to his bedroom until he hears a clatter in the kitchen. The raven-haired teen turns around and trots over to the kitchen to find Makoto near the stove, pouring something into a mug. His eyes widen as he thinks, _‘huh? Is he making chai? After what I put him through?’_ The ex-butterfly swimmer rubs his neck as he clears his throat and says in a deep tone, “Makoto. Are you making chai?”

The brunette almost jumps when he hears Sousuke’s voice, and spills some of the liquid on the counter, glad that he didn’t burn himself. Makoto looks over his shoulder and is met with gentle teal eyes. The brunette smiles sweetly and says, “yeah. Just the way you like it. Give me a moment, I seemed to have made a mess.” Makoto laughs sheepishly as he puts down the pot onto the burner.

Sousuke walks over and grabs some paper towels as he says, “it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have sneaked up on you like that. Let me clean that up.” The raven-haired teen places the paper towels on the counter and cleans up the mess.

Makoto takes a few steps to the side to allow the teal-eyed teen to clean the mess, remembers his secret ingredient is behind him on the counter next to the sink. The brunette quickly grabs the bag of Ceylon cinnamon sticks, and hides it in the drawer with the utensils. The emerald-eyed teen says, “it’s okay, Sousuke. I just wasn’t expecting you to come out so soon.”

The brunette turns around and is met with Sousuke’s muscled back, and he’s wearing nothing but a white fluffy towel around his waist. Makoto looks away and scratches his cheek, feeling a little uncomfortable with an almost naked Sousuke in front of him.

The raven-haired teen gets most of the spill and grabs another paper towel to pat down the side and bottom of the full mug, “hey, um. I wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier.” Sousuke puts the mug down on the counter, turns around to face the brunette behind him and continues, “I’m sorry, Makoto.”

The emerald-eyed teen gazes into Sousuke’s eyes, and Makoto’s green orbs waver under such sincerity in the tone the raven-haired teen apologized, and the clarity in those beautiful teal eyes. The brunette’s licks his lips and says hesitantly, “uh, um…why are you apologizing?”

Sousuke shifts his gaze to the side and says vulnerably, “for the silence between us earlier. I should have answered your question, and I didn’t. You had no idea what was going on in my head, so it wasn’t fair to you. I just, had some thoughts…and they were troubling me. I didn’t know how to respond to your question.”

Makoto smiles compassionately, takes a few steps towards the raven-haired teen and places his hand on Sousuke’s shoulder, “I will accept your apology, if you will accept the chai I made for you.”

The teal-eyed teen moves his eyes to stare at the emerald-eyed teen and sees an angelic smile on Makoto’s face. He smirks lightly and says with more confidence, “figures you’d say something like that.” Sousuke brings his arm up and wraps his hand around Makoto’s wrist on his shoulder lightly and says with seriousness, “I will accept your chai, because you made it for me. To try and make me feel better, right?”

The brunette swallows audibly as Sousuke’s words sink in, he thinks, _‘eh? How did he…know? He’s looking at me with such candor and I’m feeling exposed.’_ Makoto blushes with embarrassment and says bashfully, “seems like you caught me. You’re right. I want to make you feel better…in some way. I thought that maybe I said or did something you didn’t like and it made you angry.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen when he hears Makoto’s response and slightly frowns. He mentally curses himself for being insensitive to the brunette. He thinks, _‘of course he would blame himself. Makoto, you don’t need to do anything to make it up to me. How can I possibly be angry with you? You’ve done nothing wrong here.’_

The raven-haired teen says with warmth, “you didn’t anger me, Makoto. I’m at fault, and I don’t apologize unless I’m really in the wrong. Please, don’t blame yourself. You’ve done so much for me, and I was a real dick to treat you with such disrespect.”

Makoto looks down, unable to keep his eyes on the transparent teal gaze, but is met with a chiseled chest and rock hard abs. The brunette turns his head to the side and says with a shaky tender voice, “okay. I accept your apology. But, I didn’t feel disrespected by you, just lonely and confused. Not that you have to tell me what’s bothering you. You don’t have to, if you don’t want to. I…just want to see your smile again. I want to make sure that you will be okay.”

Sousuke listens to the emerald-eyed teen’s disclosure and his eyes soften. He lets go of the brunette’s wrist, and twists his torso to pick up the black mug filled with hot chai. The raven-haired teen indulges his sense of smell in the steamy, milky, spicy beverage in his hand and says in a mumble, “you sure are honest, Makoto. I like that about you.”

The teal-eyed teen lifts the edge of the ceramic onyx cup to his lips and takes a profound sip. The ex-butterfly swimmer moans lightly as his sense of taste is captivated by the slightly sweet creamy chai, the strong spiciness from the cardamom, pepper, star anise, and the depth from something that the teal-eyed teen cannot quite pinpoint.

Makoto turns his head quickly when he hears Sousuke’s deep voice admit that he likes his honesty and he watches the raven-haired teen bring the mug up to his lips and take a long sip. The brunette finds his cheeks and ears sizzling in a flush as he continues observing the teal-eyed teen drinking the chai he made for him. The emerald-eyed teen feels his heart beat in his ears gently, and he thinks, _‘I don’t know why, but, if you keep doing this to me Sousuke…I don’t know what will happen. I don’t just want to kiss you, I want to be with you. But, I can’t. You’re in love with someone else.’_

Sousuke brings the mug down from his mouth, gives the emerald-eyed teen a small smile and says sensuously, “mmm. This really hit the spot for me. You might as well move in already. I would love to have this several times a week.”

The backstroke swimmer places his hand over his mouth as he notices the raven-haired teen bring the cup down from his lips and the smile Sousuke dons, makes the brunette’s heart melt. Makoto’s eyes widen and his blush deepens with Sousuke’s assertion. The brunette breaks their eye contact, rubbing his arm up and down to keep his heart from bursting out of his chest. He giggles and says coyly, “you, you are so silly, Sousuke. Even if I didn’t live here with you, I wouldn’t mind visiting and making it for you. Besides, I’m still thinking about that. Trying to see if I can make that work.”

Sousuke puts his cup down on the kitchen counter and says, “well, that offer still stands. Let me know when you come up with an answer. Anyway, go take your shower. You don’t want to stand around in your jammers all night, do you?” The raven-haired teen looks Makoto up and down to prove his point, but he let’s his eyes linger on the emerald-eyed teen’s thighs and crotch, admiring how the tight black fabric shows every curve for the world to see before Sousuke turns his head away.

Makoto looks down on himself and laughs sheepishly before looking back up at the teal-eyed teen and shifts his green eyes over to Sousuke’s bare chest as he says nervously, “uh, what about you? You’re just wearing a towel with nothing underneath.”

The raven-haired teen clears his throat and says, “yeah, I better go get dressed. Go ahead and use the shower.” The raven-haired teen leaves the kitchen quickly, holding the tie around his waist as the ex-butterfly swimmer heads to his room.

Makoto watches Sousuke leave the room and chuckles softly to himself. He takes a couple steps toward the kitchen counter, picks up the white ceramic cup and takes a sip of the chai he made for Sousuke. The brunette puts the cup down and licks his lips as he thinks, _‘this beverage reminds me of you Sousuke…spicy and slightly sweet.’_ The emerald-eyed teen walks out of the kitchen, hoping that the raven-haired teen will drink the rest of his chai while he’s in the shower. The backstroke swimmer quickly slips into the shower room and takes off his jammers.

The raven-haired teen quickly dresses into his thin black sweatpants, a pair of white and black socks and dark blue t-shirt. Sousuke grabs the white towel, opens his closet door, and tosses it in the hamper. The teal-eyed teen walks out of his room and stops briefly in front of the shower room. He remembers bringing in the towel for his use earlier, but can’t remember if there are any clean towels in the shower room for Makoto to use.

The teal-eyed teen frowns lightly and sighs as he knocks on the door and says loudly, “hey, Makoto. Do you need a towel after you’re done?”

The brunette just finished washing his hair when he hears Sousuke’s voice, but he couldn’t hear him clearly with the water running. Puzzled, Makoto trots over to the front door and opens it a crack to ask the raven-haired teen, “huh? I couldn’t hear you. What did you ask me?”

Sousuke looks at the wet emerald-eyed teen and says slowly, “I asked if you needed a towel. You know…after you’re done with the shower.”

Makoto runs a hand through his wet brown locks and says, “oh, let me see.” The backstroke swimmer disappears as he looks around the room for any sign of towels, only to find Sousuke’s jammers on the floor in a different spot than where he tossed his own jammers.

The brunette appears in front of the door and says with embarrassment, “I do need a towel. I left the towel you gave me earlier in the guest bedroom. If you don’t mind…”

The teal-eyed teen interrupts Makoto and says, “don’t worry about it. I’ll get you a fresh one. Just stay there.” Sousuke turns around and heads to the linen closet to grab a soft white towel and returns to the shower room to find Makoto still waiting in front of the door.

Sousuke extends his hand with the towel in it and says, “here. I should have mentioned the towel earlier.”

Makoto reaches his hand out and takes the towel, pulling it into the shower room, “thanks. And, it’s ok Sousuke. I forgot to see if there was in here before I got started. I’m just gonna be a few more minutes.”

Sousuke nods, admiring the water dripping down his cheek, and looks away, “take your time. I’ll let you finish up.” The raven-haired teen walks over to the kitchen to grab his cup of chai.

Just as the raven-haired teen is about to take a sip of chai, his eyes shift to the windows to take a look at the weather outside. Sousuke’s eyes widen as he sees a flurry of white dancing outside his windows. With the cup of chai in hand, the teal-eyed teen walks into the dining room and stands right in front of the tall windows. He thinks, _‘it’s snowing heavily out there. No way I’m letting Makoto walk home in that. He’s staying here for tonight.’_

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

** December 21st, Sunday, 1:09 pm  **

****

Makoto and Haru are walking down the streets of Tokyo, bundled up in warm cozy jackets, gloves, and scarves as they are heading back to Haru’s apartment.

The brunette had woken up early on Saturday and today to pull Haru out of the bathtub, and to complete their workouts at the school gym facilities. After their workouts, they decided to eat some sushi a few blocks away, and are now heading to the train station.

Makoto looks over to his side and notices that the sapphire-eyed teen is in deep thought. The brunette smiles under his black scarf and says, “Haru, are you nervous?”

Haru eyes shift slightly before he turns his head away from the brunette, staring at the windows of stores they pass by, “no, not really.”

The emerald-eyed teen sighs and says, “ok, if you say so. When was the last time you talked to Rin?”

Haru continues staring at the windows they pass by as he answers, “Friday. It was short.”

Before Haru could say anything more, he notices a flower shop and stops to stare at the beautiful flower arrangement displayed in front of the window.

Makoto continues walking and says, “oh? Why was it a short call?” The brunette looks over to his side to find that Haru is no longer walking beside him. He stops walking and turns around to look for his navy-haired friend. When he spots him in front of a window display, Makoto walks over to see what has caught Haru’s eye.

The brunette looks at a beautiful flower arrangement with pinkish-red flowers. Makoto looks up at the awning and notices that he is standing in front of a flower shop. The backstroke swimmer shifts his gaze over to Haru and says, “do you want to go in, Haru?”

The sapphire-eyed teen turns his head to look at the brunette. His eyes waver as he debates with himself of going into the shop or not. After a moment, the navy-haired teen says, “I don’t know.”

Makoto chuckles and says, “it would be romantic. Giving Rin flowers. And you know Rin and romance.”

Haru sighs as he shifts his attention back to the flower arrangement on display, continuing his debate of getting flowers or not.

The brunette giggles and walks over to the navy-haired teen, places his gloved hands on Haru’s shoulders from behind and pushes his friend into the store entrance as he says, “come on, Haru. Let’s just go in and see what they have. If nothing speaks to you, you don’t have to get anything.”

Haru nods as he allows the emerald-eyed teen to push him into the flower shop. The navy-haired teen opens the door to the flower shop, a bell rings as Haru and Makoto enter, and both teens can detect several floral scents in the air.

An older woman behind the register smiles at the two teens and says, “welcome.”

Makoto smiles at the woman wearing a purple turtleneck sweater and says, “thank you. My friend and I are just going to look around.”

The woman giggles and says, “please, take your time. If you need any help, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

Haru nods at the old woman and walks over to one of the aisles, and looks at the various colored roses. Makoto follows the sapphire-eyed teen and watches him.

The free-swimmer stands in front of white roses for a moment, before looking down the row. He thinks, _‘hmm. White doesn’t suit Rin at all. Let’s see, there’s yellow, orange, pink, and…’_

Haru quickly walks over to the red roses, leans in and takes a whiff of it. The navy-haired teen tilts his head slightly as he thinks, _‘hmmm. Red roses. Would Rin really like red roses? It means love, right? Hmmm. Do I really want to give Rin that message, already? Maybe red roses are too direct. But…I don’t know what any of these other flowers mean. Hmm…’_

Makoto observes the navy-haired teen walks from the white roses to the red roses and follows Haru. The brunette smiles and says, “are you thinking that it’s too direct to tell Rin what those flowers mean?”

Haru’s train of thought is broken and he turns his head to look up at the green-eyed teen, telling Makoto that he’s correct through his eyes.

Makoto giggles and says, “yeah, they are pretty, and I know Rin would love them.” The brunette shifts his attention back to the deep red roses in front of them and continues, “do you…do you…um…nevermind. I think I know the answer.” The emerald-eyed teen rubs his neck sheepishly.

Haru looks back at the red roses and says in a whisper, “I do. For the longest time, I didn’t want to be…in love. But, the more time I spend with him, I can’t deny that feeling. I just don’t know if I want to let him know yet.”

Makoto stares at Haru with wide eyes. He wasn’t expecting the free-swimmer to admit that he is in love with Rin. The emerald-eyed teen can tell whenever he talks to Rin, that the redhead is head over heels over Haru and he had an inkling that Haru feels the same way. Makoto noticed some of the little things Haru does when he skypes with Rin. The brunette had observed the free-swimmer run his hand through his hair, the way Haru would turn his head away from Rin with a very slight blush on his cheeks, and the way the sapphire-eyed teen would smile at the redhead. They were small things that said so much, at least in Makoto’s mind.

The brunette turns his gaze back to the red roses, smiles and says, “why? Why don’t you want to tell him how you feel?”

Haru furrows his eyebrows as he takes in Makoto’s question. He turns his head to look up at the brunette. The sapphire-eyed teen watches Makoto’s smiling face, but there’s something else. Haru tilts his head slightly and says softly, “I’m not sure. But, I know I’m not the only one who has feelings for Rin. And, I’ve been meaning to ask you, Makoto…what happened between you two? When we talked yesterday, you seemed flustered.”

Makoto quickly turns his head to meet Haru’s deep blue eyes. He thinks, _‘eh? He’s not the only one who has feelings for…wait. How does Haru know about Sousuke’s feelings!? Wait, huh? What happened between Sousuke and I? Nothing technically happened between Sousuke and I. Nothing on Saturday, just stayed over until he took me home after the snow storm died down. But Friday, something almost…oh no. Haru knows, he can read me. Dammit.’_

The brunette rubs his arms feeling a little exposed with Haru’s gaze. He says in a whisper, “nothing technically happened between Sousuke and I. What do you mean by someone else having feelings for Rin?”

Haru noticed Makoto voice waver as he talked and says, “ok. What almost happened between you two? It’s the way he looks at Rin. I don’t think Rin knows about it. Rin is an idiot…sometimes.”

Makoto shifts his gaze downward and sighs, “nothing gets past you, does it.” The brunette looks up into those sapphire eyes hesitantly and continues, “I, I almost kissed him on Friday. Yesterday, nothing happened, but there were a couple awkward moments between us. Nothing happened though, we just laughed it off or talked about other things. So, you knew about that. When did you figure it out?”

Haru raises his eyebrows and says, “wait. You almost kissed him?”

Makoto bites his inner bottom lip as he looks away shyly, “Ha~~ru~~ Don’t say it like that. I mean…” The brunette’s shoulders slumps as he sighs, “I don’t know. I was all caught up in the moment. He looked so good and I just…can we stop talking about this? I’m getting all embarrassed.” The brunette feels heat warm up his cheeks as he clasps his hands together in front of his face and bows slightly to the sapphire-eyed teen, “please?”

The free-swimmer notices that the brunette’s eyes held some kind of desire, affection, and confusion when he was talking about the raven-haired teen. Haru thinks, _‘hmm. Makoto has been spending more time with Yamazaki. Visiting him, and going to some of his appointments, I think. From what I have seen, Makoto seems to enjoy his time with him. They get along, but…why would he want to kiss Yamazaki? Are they getting ‘that’ close? I don’t know what I think about this.’_

Haru turns his head to the side, nods and says, “alright.”

The brunette smiles, placing his hand on Haru’s shoulder as he says, “thanks, Haru-chan!”

The navy-haired teen pouts with his eyes as he whispers, “no –chan.”

Makoto chuckles and says, “wait a minute. You didn’t answer my question. How did you know…about someone else having feelings for Rin?”

The navy-haired teen shrugs and says, “I guess I just had a feeling after we graduated. He looked at me differently. Like, I did something wrong. I just left it alone. It’s not something for me to divulge.”

Haru looks over to the flowers next to the red roses, which are dark purple flowers. He looks at them curiously.

Makoto opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by another question from the navy-haired teen.

The free-swimmer asks carefully, “What about Ito? He hasn’t been bothering you, has he?”

The brunette looks to the side and winces at the mention of his ex-boyfriend. He says slowly, “it’s difficult to avoid him completely, Haru. We go to the same school, and he knows where I work. He hasn’t been bothering me, but we do see each other from time to time. Let’s just focus on Rin today, not my ex.”

The woman from behind the counter comes over and asks the two boys, “are you finding everything alright? Do you need some assistance?”

Makoto turns around and smiles at the older woman as Haru looks over at the woman and says, “what kind of flower is this? And what does it mean?”

The woman slips by to stand in between the two boys and says, “this flower? Oh, these are violets, dear. Violets represent faithful love. Are you looking for flowers with the meaning of love?”

Haru nods, pauses for a moment before he says, “yes, for the most part.”

Makoto chuckles and thinks, _‘aww! Haru is being adorable. This is totally out of Haru’s comfort zone. Rin will be so surprised if Haru does do something romantic.’_

The woman in the purple turtleneck shows the two teens around the flower shop, stopping in front of particular flowers for Haru to check out. The two teens looked at chrysanthemums, lilacs, primroses, forget-me-nots, coreopsis, and ambrosias. Haru was interested in the flowers, but after some thought, he would shake his head indicating that the flowers that were presented to him weren’t right.

The older woman also showed the two teens some bouquets, but Haru shook his head at all of them.

The woman in the turtleneck said, “my, my, dear. It seems that you have seen almost everything here, and nothing is calling to you.”

Haru looks over at the woman, nods and says, “I’m sorry. Thank you for showing me what all these flowers mean.”

The older woman chuckles and says, “oh, dear…it’s quite alright.” Before the woman could continue, the telephone rings. The woman looks over to the cash register and says, “please, excuse me, dear.”

Haru nods and watches the woman walk over to the counter to take the call.

Makoto leans in and takes a whiff of one of the bouquets in front of him and says, “all these flowers are beautiful. It’s too bad they don’t have sakura flowers at this time of year. Remember…when we filled the pool with sakura petals?” Makoto straightens up his back and chuckles, “that was amazing. Too bad it started raining. But…Rin did the same to the Samezuka pool. That was quite a surprise. I remember that day so well. One of my best memories.”

The brunette looks over to give the navy-haired teen his trademark smile. When Makoto opens his eyes, he is met with sparkling sapphire eyes. The backstroke swimmer stares at Haru in awe, as an idea comes to mind, “Haru…do you think they have some dried sakura petals? Maybe you could sprinkle some in the tub or something. Or you could put some around the room like one of those cheesy romantic foreign films. But that would be quite the mess to clean.”

Haru nods and says with excitement in his eyes, “sakura petals.”

Makoto giggles and says, “ah…I think Rin would love that. Let’s ask if they have some.”

The brunette takes Haru’s gloved hand in his and they trot over to the cash register to find the older woman still on the phone. The two teens let go of each other and wait patiently.

The emerald-eyed teen side glances over at Haru and sees those beautiful deep blue eyes gleaming with radiance. The backstroke swimmer smiles to himself and thinks, _‘a pool filled with sakura petals. One of Rin’s dreams. I remember you wanted to fill the pool with sakura petals just for Rin. Nagisa, Rei, and I thought it was an awesome idea. We went around school with baskets, catching sakura petals under the tree. That was so much fun.’_

The woman hangs up the phone, and Makoto looks up to smile at her. Haru places his hands on the counter and says, “do you have sakura petals?”

The brunette looks down at the navy-haired teen and chuckles. He can tell that the sapphire-eyed teen holds hope in his tone.

The older woman shakes her head and says, “I’m sorry dear. This isn’t the season for fresh sakura. However, I do have some dried sakura blossoms. I have just over ten boxes left actually. A couple of my customers love to make teas and wagashi okashi sweets.”

Haru nods once, telling the older woman with his eyes that he would like to purchase the box of dried sakura blossoms.

Makoto giggles and says, “that would be perfect. One box please.”

The older woman smiles, “yes, I will bring it out for you.” The woman leaves through a curtain towards the back room, leaving Haru and Makoto alone for a few minutes.

The woman comes back out with a white box with a plastic window, she shows the box to the two boys and says, “here it is. Is this to your liking?”

Haru nods as Makoto says, “yes.”

The woman chuckles, “alright. Would you like me to wrap this up for you?”

Haru shakes his head while Makoto says, “no, that won’t be necessary.”

The woman places the box into a plastic bag and rings up the item on the register. Haru pays for the item, and the two teens say ‘good-bye’ to the nice older woman before heading back out into the cold and walking towards the train station.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

** December 21st, Sunday, 4: 05 pm **

****

After going to the flower shop, Makoto decided to help Haru clean up his apartment for Rin’s arrival to Tokyo. The brunette cleaned up the bathroom while Haru cleaned up his bedroom. The two teens worked together to clean up the living room and kitchen. Makoto is just finishing up cleaning the kitchen while Haru is standing next to the brunette deep in thought.

The emerald-eyed teen wipes his forehead after cleaning the sink and says, “Haru? What are you thinking about?” Makoto starts rinsing out the sponge of the excess soap.

The navy-haired teen looks up to gaze at the brunette next to him and says softly, “I was thinking about what you told me earlier. About you almost kissing Yamazaki.”

The brunette snaps his head to the side to stare at the sapphire-eyed teen, “eh? Why bring that up all of a sudden?”

Haru shifts his weight, straightening up his back from leaning against the kitchen counter, turns to face the emerald-eyed teen with his arms still crossed, “do you like him?”

Makoto looks away and focuses on his task with the sink, “of course I like him. He’s caring, practical, funny, a little scary at times, but his intentions seem to always be in the right place. He’s hard on himself, a hard worker. I can’t imagine very many people disliking him.”

The navy-haired teen frowns and says, “that’s not what I meant. If I meant it that way, then I’d like him too.”

Makoto turns off the sink after washing his hands, pauses momentarily and says hesitantly, “you mean, do I like him…like the way you like Rin?” The brunette side glances over at Haru to find penetrating sapphire eyes observing him closely.

The emerald-eyed teen looks down at his wet hands and says vulnerably, “I’m not sure. I think he’s attractive physically. I love his eyes and his smile. He’s a tough kind of guy with an intimidating presence, but he’s really sweet on the inside. He values my friendship with my friends…which is nice for a change. But, we’re just friends. We can’t be anything else. I value his friendship tremendously, and I don’t want to ruin it with feelings of…well, um, you know. Like kissing and stuff.”

Haru picks up the dishtowel on the kitchen counter and hands it to the brunette. The navy-haired teen says softly, “it’s not good to withhold your feelings. Especially those kinds of feelings, Makoto.”

The emerald-eyed teen takes the dishtowel and wipes his hands. It takes a moment for Haru’s words to sink in, before he sets his gaze on the navy-haired teen. Makoto notices a slight flush on Haru’s cheek as he is only met with the sapphire-eyed teen’s profile.

The brunette wonders if Haru had been holding back his feelings for Rin for a long time. He thinks, _‘what is that? Regret? No, not quite. It seems more like yearning. Hmm…Haru, have you been yearning for Rin’s affection for a long time? I’m getting that vibe from you. Are you telling me that you have withheld your feelings? Oh, Haru. I should have noticed this sooner.’_

Makoto folds the dishtowel and places it over the dish drying rack, “thanks Haru, for the advice. I’ll think about it. I think I need to figure out what I’m feeling before I do anything with it. I don’t want to make the same mistake…like I did with Takeshi. And, it may not even come to that anyway. Sousuke needs to come to terms with his own feelings too, besides I don’t know if he could like me like that.”

Haru leans against the kitchen counter again after hearing Makoto’s words. He closes his eyes for a moment and thinks, _‘hmm, the same mistake. I remember you mentioning that things happened quickly between you and Ito. You’re right, both of you need to sort things out.’_

The brunette heads to the bathroom door, turns around, and says, “Haru. Don’t worry about that stuff. I will work things out. I better head out, and you need to leave to pick up Rin. Don’t forget to tell him, ‘hi’ from me and Sousuke. I know you guys want some alone time.” 

****

Haru looks over at the emerald-eyed teen and smiles, “I will. Go to the bathroom.”

Makoto chuckles and heads to the bathroom before heading back to his apartment.

The navy-haired teen starts thinking about what he will do when he sees Rin at the airport. Haru sighs as he looks down at his feet thinking, _‘I’m not nervous…yeah. I’m just worried I won’t get there in time and Rin will cry.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow it took forever to get this chapter up! I was super excited to see Sousuke make omurice in episode 14 since I had written that he made it in this chapter ^__^ Speaking of the new episode seeing Makoto and Sousuke on a first name basis threw me for a (happy) loop! I am not sure if I should go back and edit the fic to fit with the newer episode or not, but I will keep you all posted on that. Wasn't that new episode pretty amazing!? Don't get me started on the adorable water gun action as Makoto hunted Sousuke (rawr!)
> 
> And wow that RinHaru mook is so exciting since I'm moving on to more RinHaru interactions since Rin is returning to Japan for a while. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your patience with me ^////^


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um...RinHaru fluff (fluffy sex?) warning hehe...

** December 21st, Sunday, 6: 19 pm **

The cold air swirls around Haru’s ears and cheeks as he briskly walks into the airport entrance. He walks over to the side next to the wall to avoid bumping into people, and scans the area. There are many people walking in and out of the airport in all sorts of attire. The navy-haired teen walks farther into the airport, dodging passersby until he reaches a large pillar. The sapphire-eyed teen stops, unzips his navy blue winter jacket, and pulls out his cellphone from the inner pocket. Haru leans against the pillar as he unlocks his phone to check his messages.

[To: Haru

From: Rin

Yo! I just landed. Got the ok to use cellphones, so I’m giving you a heads up. I will be heading to the luggage carousel after this. Probably be done in 15 minutes or so, before I head over to you. See you soon, Haru. ^_~ ]

The navy-haired teen frowns slightly and checks the time Rin sent the first message. Haru sighs softly as he notices that the message was sent at 5:47 pm. Haru reads the next message.

[To: Haru

From: Rin

Finally, got my bag. Alright. I’m heading towards you now. You know, by the entrance of the airport…where people usually head out to take the train. I hope you are checking your cell, Haru. ]

Haru checks the time of the last message. It was sent 6:12 pm. The sapphire-eyed teen checks the time on his phone, it reads 6:21 pm. The navy-haired teen looks around again hoping to catch sight of Rin’s crimson hair in the crowd. He thinks, _‘where is he? I’m pretty sure this is where we are supposed to meet. I wonder…maybe I should have asked what he was planning to wear today. I better ask him.’_

Rin walks down the airport corridor as he quickly scans the people that pass by him. As he gets closer to the airport entrance, his cellphone rings and vibrates in his black and red plaid jeans. The redhead stops, fishes his phone out of his pocket, checks the caller I.D. before answering. He says, “yo, Haru. I’m walking over to the entrance.”

Haru says nonchalantly, “what are you wearing? So I can find you.”

Rin chuckles and says as he continues walking towards the entrance of the airport, “oh? Well, I’m wearing white hi-top sneakers, black and red plaid jeans, and a black polo shirt with a white collar. And…I’m wearing my black baseball cap too. I have my jacket packed in my bag. Bet it’s really cold here.”

Before Rin could allow Haru to speak, he notices a young man pop around the corner of a pillar, looking around and instantly recognizes that person as Haru. Rin says as he comes to a halt, “hey, are you wearing a dark blue coat, a grey scarf, and black jeans? And, are you near a pillar too? Cuz… I see you. If you just look right ahead of you.”

Haru’s eyes widen when he hears the crimson-eyed teen say that he sees him. He does as he’s told and he quickly notices someone wave in front of him. Their eyes meet and the navy-haired teen swallows as he drinks in the image of the redhead before him, wearing exactly what the all-around swimmer had described earlier. Before he notices what he’s doing, Haru starts walking over to Rin, cellphone still right by his ear until they are standing just a few feet away from each other.

Rin smiles as he observes the navy-haired teen walking towards him. The redhead hangs up the phone and places the device in his pocket. When Haru gets closer, the redhead walks over to the navy haired teen, lets go of his large black duffle bag, and jumps over the small distance between the redhead and the sapphire-eyed teen as he wraps his arms around the navy-haired teen’s shoulders.

Haru moves back a step, catching himself from falling as Rin embraces him, squeezing him tenderly. The navy-haired teen loosely drapes his arms around the crimson-eyed teen’s back and says, “Rin. Welcome home. Makoto and…Yamazaki…they say hi.”

Rin smiles as he takes in Haru’s scent. He detects hints of floral notes, like roses and lilacs, a faint scent of citrus and chlorine, and a salty kind of scent that reminds him of sweat or it could be…mackerel. The redhead squeezes the navy-haired teen firmly and says, “thanks, Haru. I’m glad to be back home. And I’m so happy to see you. I missed you…well, er…I mean…I missed everybody. Yeah, everyone here in Japan.”

Haru gives Rin a deadpan look, but continues to enjoy the embrace. The crimson-eyed teen unwraps his hold on the shorter teen, placing his hands on Haru’s shoulders as he says with a soft smile, “I’ll make sure to text Sousuke and Makoto. Let them know I landed safely and all that.”

Haru smiles warmly when the redhead hugs him tightly, and feels a desire to do the same. However, the navy-haired teen refrains from hugging the redhead in the same regard, feeling uncomfortable as he realizes that they are in the middle of the public airport passageway.

The sapphire-eyed teen feels adoration for Rin, an intense passion burning in his chest, as well as conflict within himself. Haru decides to avoid demonstrating signs of affection toward the all-around swimmer in public even though the redhead was openly doing so. The free-swimmer knows he’s not an overly affectionate person, and sometimes it makes the navy-haired teen feel at war with himself.

When Rin peers into Haru’s deep blue eyes, the navy-haired teen can sense longing within those crimson orbs. The sapphire-eyed teen nods, “do that now. I don’t want you to forget.” Haru places his phone back in his inner pocket of his jacket.

Rin chortles as he pulls out his phone from his pocket, “alright, alright. I’ll do it right now.”

[To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Yo! I am now in Tokyo, got here in one piece. Haru is here with me, bro. So don’t worry about me. Let’s do something fun tomorrow. I’ll call you. ]

[To: Makoto

From: Rin

Yo, Makoto. I arrived safely. Got my bags and everything. Haru is taking me to his place now. Let’s talk tomorrow and do something fun. I also texted Sousuke the same thing, hopefully I’ll hear from him too. ]

Haru watches the redhead quickly text Sousuke and Makoto on his cellphone and just when Rin was about to say something the navy-haired teen says, “where’s the bathroom?”

Rin places the phone back into his pocket and says, “oh. I passed by it.” The redhead turns around, points and says, “it’s right over there.”

Haru picks up the crimson-eyed teen’s duffle bag, grabs Rin’s wrist and drags him over to the bathroom as the sapphire-eyed teen thinks, _‘I can’t wait anymore. I have to do something about it.’_

Rin wasn’t expecting the navy-haired teen to just grab him so suddenly, following the free-swimmer. The redhead says with confusion, “oi. Oi. Haru. You don’t have to drag me along. I can wait outside the restroom. Haru? Are you listening to me?”

Haru slightly tightens his hold on the crimson-eyed teen’s wrist as he briskly walks towards the men’s room, thinking, _‘no, you are coming with me, Rin. I’m not letting go.’_ The sapphire-eyed teen walks right into the bathroom, stops right in the middle of the small room as a gentleman in a suit walks out of the restroom.

Rin tilts his head in confusion and says, “Haru? I’ll wait for…whoa!” Before the redhead could finish his sentence, the sapphire-eyed teen drags him over to the farthest bathroom stall from the door. Haru quickly looks around to see if the stall is vacant.

The sapphire-eyed teen pushes Rin into the bathroom stall causing the redhead to stumble backwards and bump the back of his knees against the front of the toilet, resulting in him falling onto the electronically heated toilet seat. Rin flails and sits up on toilet seat as he grasps the titled walls to stabilize himself.

Haru walks in, closes the stall door, and drops the duffle bag right in front of Rin’s feet. The navy-haired teen takes a step closer to the crimson-eyed teen, leans forward as he cups Rin’s surprised face in his hands, and plants an intense kiss upon Rin’s slightly parted lips.

The crimson-eyed teen was about to say something, but when he felt Haru’s warm hands around his cheeks, all he could do is stare up at the sapphire-eyed teen until those plump lips crashed into his. Haru’s hot tongue delved into his mouth, tasting and exploring in hungry passion. Rin quickly moved his hands and grasped fistfuls of the sapphire-eyed teen’s navy jacket, pulling Haru closer to him, deepening the kiss. Rin’s heartbeat quickens in his chest as he tries to dominate the kiss.

Haru’s heart melts as he kisses Rin passionately and his hands shift towards the back of Rin’s neck, sliding his fingers into the crimson-eyed teen’s small ponytail and slightly bumps the black baseball cap off of Rin’s head. He thinks, _‘Rin…I missed you too. I’ve missed you a lot. I want…I want to do more…’_

The navy-haired teen continues to lean further forward as he duels with Rin for dominance with his tongue by sliding, thrusting, and twisting his tongue in Rin’s sweet and hot cavern. The free-swimmer feels his libido surge with appetence and yearning to caress every inch of the redhead below him.

Rin’s back hits the tank of the toilet as the sapphire-eyed teen pushes him back, moaning lightly into the kiss, feeling a strong wave of ardor from Haru’s surprising action. The redhead can feel his face burning with an intense blush, thinking, _‘oh, god…Haru. You taste so damn good. Fuck…I want you right here and now.’_

Haru breaks the kiss, panting softly, closing his eyes as he gently bumps his forehead with the redhead, grasping Rin’s black cap with one hand. The navy-haired teen says in a tender tone, “I missed you too. We should go…to my place.”

Rin releases his tight grip on Haru’s jacket as the burning kiss suddenly ends, and he breathes in much needed air. The redhead closes his eyes and his cheeks flush deepens as realization of what they just did enters his mind. He thinks, _‘what the…did he just…push me into a stall and kiss me? He did! Damn, he couldn’t wait, huh?’_

The crimson-eyed teen smiles and feels a gentle pressure on his forehead and continues thinking, _‘Haru…this is so inappropriate, but it was freakin’ hot too. I’m floored. I never thought you would ever do anything like this.’_ The redhead hears Haru’s gentle voice.

The crimson-eyed teen feels that sweet pressure on his forehead vanish, Haru’s hand in his hair retract as the navy-haired teen’s fingertips leave a slight tingling sensation on Rin’s skin. Rin lifts his head up, and opens his eyes to find Haru placing his black baseball cap over his navy hair. The redhead gazes at the sight of the sapphire-eyed teen wearing his, ‘his,’ cap and he just can’t help but lick his lips with a small smile.

The navy-haired teen moves his eyes downward to find the all-around swimmer licking his lips slowly. Haru watches Rin’s pink tongue move smoothly around those delicious lips. He swallows as his eyes waver with greediness, wanting to swoop down and claim those lips, Rin’s delightfully lewd tongue as his, but before his thoughts could progress down that road, Haru looks away and releases a shaky sigh.

Haru closes his eyes momentarily, collecting himself. The navy-haired teen looks back down at Rin and says nonchalantly, “we should go. It will take about an hour to get to my place.” Haru turns around, unlocks the door, and walks out of the stall, leaving Rin by himself. 

Rin observes the navy-haired teen’s eyes glint with hunger as he licks his lips and his smile widens. The redhead sighs as Haru’s facial features return to that blank sort of expression, and when the sapphire-eyed teen talks, the redhead’s smile fades as he hears Haru’s monotonous tone.

The crimson-eyed teen stares at Haru’s back as he walks out of the bathroom stall. Rin thinks, _‘damn. I wanted to do more. But, Haru’s right. We should head back to his place.’_ The red head places his fingers over his mouth, gently caressing his bottom lip with his middle finger as he continues thinking, _‘well…that wasn’t quite romantic. Coming from Haru…that was sweet. Just wait Haru, I’ll show you a sight you’ve never seen before.’_

The redhead gets up, picks up his duffle bag and walks out of the bathroom stall. He notices the navy-haired teen is leaning against the wall by the front door and says, “let’s go Haru.”

The navy-haired teen looks up at Rin and nods. The two teens walk out of the men’s room and heads towards the train station.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 21st, Sunday, 6:57 pm **

****

Makoto is in his bedroom, on the computer talking to Nagisa via Skype.

Nagisa says, “ne, ne, Mako-chan! What did you get Rei-chan for his birthday? I know you got him something amazing!” The blond props his elbows on the small table in front of him as he places his hands around his face with a beaming smile.

Makoto chuckles as he crosses his legs and his arms, leaning back in his desk chair, “well…maybe I want to keep that a secret from you Nagisa. Maybe I’m afraid you are just gonna blab and ruin my surprise. Besides, I don’t think I could top what you did on his birthday. I can’t believe you actually convinced him to wear a dress on his own birthday while you wore a butler outfit and called him ‘master.’ I don’t even want to know how you managed to convince Rei that it was a good idea to play along with you.” The brunette looks away feeling embarrassed for the purple-haired teen.

Nagisa giggles and says, “awww! Don’t be jealous, Mako-chan! I would have done the same for you too…if you were here on your birthday. Come on, Mako-chan! Tell me! Pretty please!” The pink-eyed teen plops his arms down, leaning forward and giving the emerald-eyed teen the best angelic pout he could muster with glittering pink orbs.

The brunette stares at the laptop screen in awe, he can’t believe how Nagisa is trying so hard to get him to spill the beans. Makoto sighs heavily after peering into the breaststroke swimmer’s eyes and says, “fine. You seem to always get your hooks into people, including myself. Please don’t pout like that, Nagisa. I got Rei a book on physics, written by Michio Kaku. It’s nothing exciting, but I know Rei will appreciate the effort that I put into finding something in his interests. A couple months ago Rei told me that he hasn’t been reading as much as he would like to, so I thought getting him a book would help remind him to do something that he enjoys.”

Nagisa interrupts as he flops his head down on the table and says in a dramatically whiny tone, “ohhh! That’s it? Just a book. Mou, Mako-chan! That’s so boring…and now he will have another book to read on the train after school. You have no idea how hard I try to keep him occupied from keeping his eyes from reading all the time.”

Makoto tilts his head and sighs, “now I see who the culprit is. I should have known better. Oh! That reminds me. I talked to my landlord yesterday about having you and Rei taking over my place if I move in with Sousuke. Well, he told me that there is someone who lives in a two-bedroom apartment that needs to move in to a one-bedroom apartment because his roommate is studying abroad. Anyway, my landlord and I went to go visit him and the person who needs a one-bedroom is someone we all know. He graduated from Iwatobi. You won’t believe who it is.”

Nagisa’s head shoots up as he listens intently to Makoto’s words and his lips form a smile, “oh, oh! Is it the president of the student body, from last year? Oh! What’s his name. Umm…Tanaka-san? Oh! Or is it, the funny guy from Haru-chan’s class…uhh…Fukuda-san?”

The brunette shakes his head, “no. Not those guys. I’ll tell you. It’s Sera-kun. You know the guy that hung out with Rei…he was also the captain of the track team. I saw him a lot during the captains meetings, but we didn’t talk to each other often.”

Nagisa’s eyes widen as he grabs the screen of the laptop and says, “no way! Tada-chan? I had no idea you guys lived in the same apartment complex. That’s so cool!”

The emerald-eyed teen raises an eyebrow at the nickname and thinks, _‘eh? Tada-chan? Not Tadanori-chan? When did Nagisa and Sera-kun become close? Hmm? Maybe it’s because of Rei.’_ Makoto smiles and continues, “well, he took a look at my apartment and is willing to move in to my apartment, if you guys are willing to move into his. His apartment is on the other side of the building, makes sense that we haven’t run into each other. Also, he’s on the second floor and…”

Nagisa giggles and says, “oh wow! That is so cool. I’ll talk to Rei-chan about this. I am 98 percent sure that Rei-chan would jump on this. It would save us a trip to Tokyo, and Rei can talk to Tada-chan too. Rei-chan talks to his beloved ‘Sera-senpai’ every couple of weeks through emails. Oh! We are gonna have so much fun in Tokyo!”

Makoto smiles as he watches Nagisa bounce around on the screen and says, “yeah. It will be nice having you and Rei nearby. I really miss all of you. It would have been really nice if Gou-kun decided to come to Tokyo too, but I understand that she wants to stay close to home. Gives me another good reason to visit home during breaks and holidays.”

Nagisa stops bouncing around and his face becomes more serious, “ne, Mako-chan. Are you really going to be okay living with Sou-chan? You said that he lives in some fancy place, like a condo, right? And…he has an empty room right now. How close are you and Sou-chan?”

Makoto stares at the pink-eyed teen in bewilderment, processing his words carefully. The brunette blinks a few times, his mouth parting about to say something before shutting his lips together again. The emerald-eyed teen looks away and thinks, _‘what does that mean? Sousuke and I are just friends. Well, that’s not all. I think I do have some sort of feelings for him. No. I’m attracted to him, like really attracted to him. After all, I almost kissed him. But, we’re just friends. He loves Rin.’_

Nagisa tilts his head to the side as he watches the emerald-eyed teen curiously. The blond says with a slight tease to his voice, “ne, Mako-chan…are you two very close friends? Or are you two super close friends? Or maybe you two are friends with benefits?”

Makoto tenses up when he hears Nagisa’s prying, particularly when he mentions the friends with benefits. The brunette stutters, “Na-Nagisa! Wha-what are you implying? Sousuke and I, we, we aren’t, we just aren’t like that. We’re close friends. Just close friends, not boyfrien…” The emerald-eyed teen face palms and continues with a slight blush on his cheeks, “we are just friends. Nothing more. We don’t do things like that. I…I really don’t want to think about things like that.”

Nagisa raises an eyebrow, his curiosity growing bigger. The blond thinks, _‘ah! Mako-chan is all cute and flustered. He is really easy to read…something happened between them and now he’s all confused. Aww! Mako-chan! You should just admit that you like him. Sou-chan is hot! I would snag him all for myself if I was his type of guy…but he’s too broody for my taste.’_ The pink-eyed teen smiles and says, “ok, Mako-chan! You and Sou-chan are very close friends.”

A woman knocks on Nagisa’s door, comes in and says, “Nagisa. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were busy.”

The pink-eyed teen looks up from his laptop to stare at his mother standing in the doorway. He says, “ah, mom. Did you need help with something?”

Nagisa’s mother shakes her head and says, “it’s dinner time. I really am sorry for getting home so late, and preparing dinner later than usual. Please come down, Nagisa. I made oden.”

The blond says, “okay, I’ll be down in a moment. Let me just say good-bye to Mako-chan.”

The blond woman smiles and says, “alright, we’ll be waiting for you downstairs.” Nagisa’s mother leaves the door slightly ajar as she retreats back to the dining room downstairs.

Makoto chuckles to himself as he listens to Nagisa and his mother converse. He remembers a time when the blond was having some family concerns with his parents in regards to studying and getting good grades. That was a difficult time for Nagisa, but he also learned more about the pink-eyed teen.

Nagisa sighs dramatically, “awww! I didn’t realize we’ve been talking for so long, Mako-chan!” All of a sudden, the blond’s stomach grumbles and the pink-eyed teen winks while sticking out his tongue.

The brunette laughs and says, “you better go. You’re stomach is demanding sustenance. We’ll talk again later, Nagisa. Go eat and enjoy your dinner with your family.”

Nagisa smiles as he salutes, “roger, Mako-chan! Talk to you later.”

The two teens wave to each other before hanging up. Makoto runs a hand through his hair and thinks about the time he’s been away from Iwatobi, away from his friends and family back home. He closes his eyes, leans back in his chair, facing the ceiling as memories of smiles and laughter fill his thoughts.

The emerald-eyed teen thinks, _‘I wonder…if we have changed. Will Ran and Ren be different when I see them? I bet they have gotten taller. Those two little rascals, before I know it, they will be teenagers and adults. I don’t want to think about that. But what about Rei and Nagisa? Hmm…what about Rin? I should text him and check on him. I don’t think I got anything from Haru or Rin yet. I hope he landed ok.’_

The brunette opens his eyes and looks around his room searching for his cellphone. He searches his desk first, then gets up to look over at his bed and under his pillows, and finally looks over at his nightstand. Makoto scratches his head before heading to the kitchen. He finds his cellphone in the kitchen and jumps up on the countertop, sitting down as he unlocks his phone.

Makoto smiles as he reads the message from Rin. He sighs to himself and says, “thank goodness. I’m so glad he made it here safely and that Haru is with him.” The brunette knits his eyebrows as he reads the redhead’s message again. He thinks, _‘he texted Sousuke too. I wonder if Rin knows about the fancy party he’s at right now. Hmm, I’ll text him too. Just in case.’_

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

I got a text from Rin. He said that he texted you too. Rin is here safe and sound and Haru is with him. I know you’re busy at your father’s Christmas party, but when you are done, call me. Rin said that we should do something together tomorrow. I was thinking of taking Rin to Momento Café. Wondering if that is something you wouldn’t mind doing. After all, it’s been quite a long time since we have seen Rin and I wanted to make sure that you and Rin had some quality time together. ^_^ ]

The brunette pushes the send button and furrows his eyebrows with a frown. He thinks, _‘hmm, can that be misinterpreted? The whole quality time thing? Ugh, I shouldn’t think too hard on this. I think he’ll know what I mean.’_ The emerald-eyed teen rubs his face before sliding off the kitchen counter. Makoto puts his phone back in his jean pocket as he washes the dishes from eating dinner earlier. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 21st, Sunday, 7: 17 pm **

Sousuke bows after dancing on the dance floor with Sakura, his stepmother. The raven-haired teen extends his arm to his stepmother and leads her back to the table.

Sakura’s long auburn bob shoulder length hair glistened under the chandelier lights. She is wearing a jade-colored sequined lace bodice dress with a sweetheart neckline and a chiffon A-line skirt that goes down about 2 inches below her knee, a matching bolero jacket, and a simple white hairband. Sakura slips her hand around Sousuke’s arm, smiles up at the teal-eyed teen, and says, “thank you Sousuke. I do enjoy spending time with you.”

Sousuke is wearing a sleek white suit with black piping and trim along the pockets, and lapels, a black dress shirt, and a pale blue bowtie. He looks down at his stepmother with a small smile, “you’re welcome. I’m sure dad would have taken you on the dance floor if he wasn’t discussing business with his associates.”

Sakura chortles as they walk over to their table, “ah, yes. Ichiro did promise to take me to the dance floor. I will make sure that he fulfills his promise to me, Sousuke. Thanks for indulging this old woman’s request.”

The teal-eyed teen places his hand over Sakura’s hand holding his bicep. He stops walking as they are right in front of their table, “I…I was also looking for something to do, Sakura. You know I’m not fond of these sorts of events. Here, let me pull out your chair.”

The auburn-haired woman nods as she lets go of Sousuke’s arm and watches the young man pull the chair out for her. She sits down and says, “thank you. I know these business parties and get-togethers aren’t pleasurable for you, Sousuke. However, I want you to know that I appreciate what you are doing for your father. You really are a good dancer, Sousuke. I’m surprised Yumiko isn’t hunting you down again for a dance.”

The raven-haired teen looks away as he rubs his neck, “Yumiko and I have shared a couple of dances already. I don’t think I can manage any more dances, quite frankly.”

Sakura nods as she scans the banquet hall looking for Ichiro, and finds the tall, serious man taking to his secretary. Her caramel eyes catch the older man’s teal eyes for a moment, a message sent to each other through eye contact. The auburn-haired woman breaks eye contact with Ichiro, looks up at Sousuke who is standing on her right side and says, “You know, you don’t have to keep me company. Go ahead and get a drink, or step out for a few moments. If you really can’t stand being here any longer, Sousuke…you can leave. I can tell your father that you are tired and need some rest. Besides, your father will be coming this way.”

Sousuke nods and says, “thanks. I think I will get a drink or something.” He smiles at Sakura before walking over to the large table with several fluted glasses filled with champagne. He places his hand in his pocket with his cellphone and remembers that he got a few texts. The raven-haired teen looks around briefly and decides to step out of the banquet hall. The teal-eyed teen heads to the restrooms, remembering that there was a small hallway nearby that is actually a dead-end with a bench.

As he walks down the small hallway, Sousuke pulls out his phone and checks his messages. He reads Rin and Makoto’s messages before sitting down on the bench and calling the brunette.

Makoto answers after the third ring and says, “Hello, Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen smiles and says, “yo! You wanted me to call you.”

The brunette quirks his eyebrows, “wait, you’re done with the Christmas party already?”

Sousuke snorts as he leans back against the wooden bench, “nah. I’m still at the Christmas party. I’ll probably leave soon though. I’m bored out of my mind, so I decided to call you. I got Rin’s text by the way. And, thanks for making sure I got his message too.”

The emerald-eyed teen says, “no problem. Oh! My question. What do you think? About going to Momento Café?”

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, “As long as you aren’t working, I’m down with that. If you want to make him something, you can make him that delicious chai at my place if you want. I just don’t want you going behind the counter and making us all drinks. Rin is here to see you as well, so yeah.”

Makoto smiles on the other end of the line and says, “that’s so sweet. I wasn’t planning on doing anything like that, but I probably would have done it. Ok, I promise I won’t do that, and we can all spend time together. You, me, Rin, and Haru.”

Sousuke sighs silently as he listens to the brunette’s sweet melodious voice, a small smile plastered on his lips as he thinks, _‘god, I needed this. Hearing a familiar and kind voice. I’ve been so tense. I hate these parties. I should have asked Makoto to come with me to this thing, maybe I wouldn’t have been so bored. Yumiko already gave me a hard time with my supposedly ‘indifferent’ and ‘intimidating’ presence that she left me to mingle with the ‘eligible men.’ Ugh…such a pain. Wait…Rin and Haru? They wanted some alone time. I wonder what they are doing.’_

The brunette waits for Sousuke to reply back to his response, but Sousuke has been silent on the other end for some time. The emerald-eyed teen wonders if the teal-eyed teen is thinking deeply about something he said, and continues to wait for the raven-haired teen to say something.

Sousuke asks, “hey, do you know why Rin and Haru want some alone time? Besides the fact that they haven’t seen each other in what…seven months or something.”

Makoto takes a deep breath as he contemplates Sousuke’s question. He thinks, _‘wha? He can’t be serious?! He doesn’t want me to really answer this question, right? Wait…parties like that usually serve alcohol. Sousuke, don’t tell me you are tipsy or something.’_ The emerald-eyed teen says nervously, “uh, well, I think that I will refrain from answering that question. I don’t think you really want to know. I can’t tell if you are serious or if you had too much to drink. And if you did have too much to drink, you should know better considering you aren’t even twenty yet, Sousuke.”

Sousuke frowns as he listens to Makoto’s response. He thinks, _‘hah? I’m serious, well mainly curi…oh. They want to have sex. I should have known that.’_ The raven-haired teen rubs his neck as realization sets in and snorts when Makoto mentions alcohol. He says with amusement, “oh? You think I’m drunk, huh? Well, I will admit that I had a couple of glasses of wine and some champagne. And even though I’m not quite of age yet, no one really cared if I drank or not. I may have a little bit of a buzz, but I’m not drunk, Makoto. And let me guess, Rin and Haru are planning a night of hot blazing sex, is that right? Those horny bastards.”

The brunette’s eyes widen as he listens to Sousuke’s response. Makoto’s ears start to turn reddish-pink with a slight blush and he is rendered speechless momentarily. He thinks, _‘Sousuke! Oh my, oh my god! A buzz? You drank!? And…whoa! Did he just call them horny bastards? I mean, I have a potty mouth sometimes, but I wasn’t expecting him to say something like that.’_

The teal-eyed teen notices that the brunette is silent on the other end and sighs, “Sorry. Was that too much? I mean no disrespect with that last thing I said. Just...I haven’t come to terms with Rin and Haru doing that sort of thing with each other. In fact, I don’t really want to think about it either.”

Makoto says quickly, “Uh, no, no, you don’t need to apologize. I was just…a little shocked that you said it like that. That’s all. And don’t picture it, just don’t. I mean, I don’t know what they are planning to do tonight, but I wouldn’t rule that out either. Let’s just leave that subject alone. Rin and Haru are gonna do whatever they want to do. And…shit. I’m sorry. Now I’m rambling. Sousuke, are you ok? Do you need me to come by and pick you up or something?”

Sousuke scoffs, “I know Rin, when he wants something he will go and get it eventually. It may not end up being exactly the way he pictured it, but he will make it happen. In fact, he’ll probably cry about it too. You’re right though. I shouldn’t have asked, I guess I thought it may have been something more…I don’t know…innocent maybe.”

The teal-eyed teen knits his eyebrows as he ponders, _‘hmm, come and get me? Always looking out for others. I gotta say, that does sound nice right now, but I can just have the company car take me to your place, Makoto. Actually, why don’t I do that now. I don’t really want to stay here.’_

Sousuke continues, “I don’t have to stay here. Sakura said I could go. Why don’t I stop by your place, would that be ok?”

The brunette listens to the raven-haired teen and thinks, _‘he is right about Rin. But did he just say that he was thinking that Rin and Haru would do something more innocent? He did, didn’t he? I wonder if he has a hard time embracing the thought of Rin and Haru being sexual with each other. I mean, I did when I first figured out about their relationship too, but Sousuke is still in love with Rin. He must be devastated.’_

Makoto says, “ok. Let’s leave that whole situation alone. But, wait a minute. I don’t want you walking out in the cold. Really, let me come and get you and then…”

The teal-eyed teen looks perplexed and interrupts, “Makoto. Stop. I won’t be taking the train or anything. I’ll just use my dad’s company car. That’s how I got here to begin with. Besides, I don’t want to put you out either. I’m gonna head downstairs now and call the company car over. I’ll text you when I have an idea how long it will take me to get to your place.”

Makoto sighs in defeats, “alright. But I was gonna suggest that I take you back to your place, but I’m fine with you coming over here. I have to warn you, I don’t have a whole lot of food here. I haven’t gone shopping, but I do have basic things if you are hungry.”

Sousuke smiles and says, “you worry too much. I had plenty to eat here at the party. I’ll contact you again, ok Makoto.”

The brunette and the teal-eyed teen say their good-byes. Sousuke gets up off the bench as he texts Sakura and Yumiko that he’s leaving the party and heading over to a friend’s place. The teal-eyed teen decides to wash up in the nearby restroom before calling the chauffer for his ride.

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** December 21st, Sunday, 7: 51 pm **

Haru opens the door to his apartment and quickly ushers Rin to come in. Once the two teens enter the apartment, the navy-haired teen quickly slips out of his black and blue sneakers, turns on the light, and switches the heater on to make the room toasty.

Rin puts down his large duffle bag and backpack on the step to the rest of the apartment as he allows his eyes to wander. He notices the small kitchen on his left with all the necessities for cooking, a tatami mat floor for the living room where a square kotatsu is with four cushions. There is a two-seat fold out couch that the redhead believes turns into a futon, a decent sized T.V., and a medium sized bookcase filled with books and office supplies. Rin says as he looks around, “uh, sorry. Pardon my intrusion. I should have said that earlier.”

Haru takes his time trying to figure out how to turn the heat up on the thermostat, and when he finally gets it to the setting he was looking for, he hears Rin’s voice. The navy-haired teen turns his head to look at the crimson-eyed teen. He notices Rin taking off his hunter green winter jacket off and walks back over to the redhead to take off his own coat and scarf, revealing that he is wearing a dark grey sweater. Haru says, “make yourself at home Rin.”

The navy-haired teen places his coat, scarf, and the black baseball cap on one of the hooks by the entryway, and takes off his black and blue gloves as he watches Rin.

Rin notices where Haru places his coat and does the same by putting his green jacket on one of the hooks next to Haru’s navy coat. The redhead takes in the image of Haru in black jeans and a grey sweater. When Rin’s eyes come back up to the navy-haired teen’s face, the two gaze at each other. The redhead smiles sweetly as he says, “I just realized…we are all alone right now. It’s been awhile, Haru. I gotta say, you have a really cozy place here, it suits you somehow. I will…”

The sapphire-eyed teen takes off his gloves, but when his eyes are met with those crimson orbs, he tightens his hold on the fabric in his hand. Hearing Rin’s spunky voice in a sweeter tone in person makes the navy-haired teen hold his breath as he listens to the redhead. With the thought of them finally being along, together, in his apartment, with no one else around, Haru gently tosses his gloves on the floor as he walks over to Rin, leaps into the air, wrapping his legs around the crimson-eyed teen’s waist, and embracing the redhead’s neck with his arms.

Rin stumbles backwards until his back hits the door behind him and instinctively holds Haru’s hips with his hands, not wanting to drop the navy-haired teen. He says with shock with a hint of annoyance, “oi, oi, Haru! What the…shit. What would you have done if I dropped you? You shouldn’t…” The redhead looks up to stare into the free-swimmer’s face, pauses when he gazes into those gorgeous blue orbs.

The all-around swimmer’s crimson eyes waver under Haru’s emotional stare. Rin’s heart starts pounding in his chest as he continues to peer into those big beautiful sapphire eyes, seeing so much desire, longing, and affection within those orbs, it leaves the redhead speechless and full of wonderment. There is something more in those blue eyes, other emotions that the crimson-eyed teen can’t place, but he senses something welling in his chest, and that feeling is devotion and love.

He thinks, _‘God, Haru. I am so in love with you, you have no idea. I love you, so much. I don’t remember when you snatched my heart, but I’ve always known I was smitten with you. And for the longest time, I wanted to deny these feelings, because I convinced myself that you never would return my strong feelings of love for you. Sometimes, I can’t believe we have become, well…a ‘we.’ Even now, with you in my arms like this, it feels like a dream. There is no way, I can be so lucky.’_

The two teens stare at each other in silence, nothing but their soft breathing can be heard between them. Haru moves his hand up to Rin’s cheek, gently caressing his fingers across Rin’s smooth tawny-peach skin, feeling an influx of emotions flood his being, from the tip of his fingers, down to toes, there is just something about the redhead that he finally embraced when they shared their feelings back during that trip in Australia.

That week in Australia, Haru found his dream, he was able to taste a portion of that dream, and the chains around his heart broke. Haru felt free, but it wasn’t just finding his dream. He found his feelings for Rin that week, and at this very moment, the navy-haired teen is feeling a resurgence of those novel emotions from that one night they consummated their desires for each other.

Haru bites the inside of his bottom lip as an attempt to calm his racing heart, a pink flush staining his cheeks as memories of that night in Australia invade his mind, their first time making love to each other. It was clumsy, exciting, awkward, and absolutely beautiful. The navy-haired teen didn’t care about the mistakes they made, the thing that enveloped his heart and his soul was the fact that Rin held veneration for him, for his love of water, that in some way they shared something with a marvelous passion.

Haru remembers his thoughts and feelings when Rin left Iwatobi for Australia the first time. The navy-haired teen thought Rin was crazy for leaving the first time, but he didn’t say anything about it really. Haru missed his smiling face during practices, but dismissed his feelings of missing the redhead’s presence.

When Rin came back from Australia during the winter break, Rin had asked Haru to race. Haru remembers noticing something was amiss with the crimson-eyed teen, but with some convincing Haru decided to fulfill Rin’s wish. After they raced at their swim club, when Rin said he was giving up swimming and all that, it broke the sapphire-eyed teen’s heart. At the time, Haru thought he was honoring his friendship with Rin by racing him, he didn’t realize at the time how much was riding on that race.

Afterwards, when Rin just left with anger, the sapphire-eyed teen realized he had done something rotten. Haru had held onto feelings of dislike for racing, for competition, and soon a part of him resented the water from time to time, like he didn’t deserve the water’s attention. He blamed himself for hurting the redhead, and he pushed those difficult emotions away and gave up swimming even if his entire being screamed at him to swim so many times.

As Haru continues to peer into Rin’s eyes, he feels grateful that they have worked together to conquer their own personal demons, and that they have allowed each other to support and guide each other towards their true selves in some way. The sapphire-eyed teen holds so many emotions for the redhead that continues to hold him up, figuratively and literally.

The navy-haired teen cups the redhead’s face with both hands, running his thumb over Rin’s cheekbones as he says tenderly, “Rin, I…” Haru feels his throat dry up, the words, ‘I love you,’ stuck on the tip of his tongue. The navy-haired teen’s eyes glint with conflict and he decides to show Rin rather than tell him.

Haru bends down and captures Rin’s parted lips in a gentle kiss, expressing his adoration for the redhead before him. The navy-haired teen moans into the kiss as he slowly invades Rin’s warm mouth, tenderly tasting his beloved crimson-eyed teen holding him up, his heart fluttering in his chest.

Rin heart stops when he hears Haru’s sweet tone. He thinks, _‘Haru…’_ The redhead continues to peer into those blue eyes, and for a moment he notices something sad in those eyes. Rin moves his hand to cup the sapphire-eyed teen’s ass, opens his mouth to say something, but his lips are enveloped swiftly. The redhead’s eyes widen briefly until he feels that heavenly tongue dancing in his mouth leisurely. Rin closes his eyes and slips his own tongue into Haru’s parted lips, relishing the navy-haired teen’s sweet, zesty essence.

The kiss starts to become sloppy as the gentleness turns more needy and passionate, Rin starts massaging Haru’s round ass with his fingers as Haru tightens his hold on the redhead’s waist with his legs and runs his hands through Rin’s red locks, gently grazing the base of Rin’s scalp with his fingertips.

The sapphire-eyed teen breaks the kiss, panting heavily as he nuzzles against Rin’s cheek and says between puffs of air, “Rin…mmm…I…we…ahh…you…said you…didn’t eat…yet.”

Rin instantly misses those delectable lips pressed against his own, but when he hears Haru breathing heavily, he smiles, licking his lips and savoring the moment that Haru just bestowed upon him. This kiss was different from the kiss he received earlier in the men’s restroom, this kiss started off with such a strong emotional connection, like a message given only through action, but as the two became more involved in the kiss, it became sensual and needy. The previous kiss was sudden, sexy, and hungry.

When the redhead hears Haru stumble with his words, he can’t help but blush, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with all sorts of emotions. The crimson-eyed teen’s knees start to feel shaky and his eyes start to water.

The sapphire-eyed teen notices that the all-around swimmer is not as stable and releases his hold around the redhead’s waist, planting his feet firmly on the floor as he gazes up at the crimson-eyed teen. Haru observes Rin place his forearm over his eyes and a stream of tears flowing down his cheeks, but he also sees a deep red flush color his whole face, or what he can see of his face.

The navy-haired tilts his head slightly, but smiles to himself as he hears Rin sniffle. Rin still has one hand on Haru’s hip and suddenly the redhead pulls the sapphire-eyed teen closer with a strong grip. The free-swimmer’s eyes widen as their hips clash together and says, “Rin, I’m not going anywhere.”

Haru tenderly grasps Rin’s forearm covering the all-round swimmer’s eyes and pulls his arm away from his face. Rin’s eyes are closed as more tears fall from his beautiful lashes. The navy-haired teen cups the redhead’s face and wipes away the stream of tears with his thumbs. Haru gets on his tiptoes and plants lingering kisses on Rin’s right eyelid, and left eyelid before saying, “I’ll make you dinner, Rin. Don’t cry.”

Rin couldn’t contain his feelings anymore, and the river of tears just welled up within him and burst through his eyes. Feeling ridiculous for crying in front of his boyfriend like this, the redhead covers his eyes with his forearm shielding his tears from the navy-haired teen as Haru unwinds his legs from his waist.

The crimson-eyed teen feels his face simmering with heat, and tries to control his sobs, sobs of happiness. He thinks, _‘I am so lucky, to have you Haru. I was so nervous coming back here. I didn’t know what to expect, I just knew I wanted to see you badly. To touch you again. Seeing you like this, wanting me like this, it’s so romantic.’_

The crimson-eyed teen tightens his hold on Haru’s hips and pulls him forward, not wanting the navy-haired teen to suddenly leave him. The sapphire-eyed teen’s words make Rin’s heart burst into euphoria as he tries to smile and contain his overflowing feelings of contentment. The all-around swimmer feels a gentle force around his arm and allows Haru to take down his arm from his face.

Rin continues to shut his eyes, feeling the trickling of water sliding down his face. The redhead takes a few unsteady breaths and holds his breath when soft fingertips stroke against his cheeks, brushing the crimson-eyed teen’s tears. This tender gesture is followed by Haru’s lips delicately press against his eyelids.

Rin smiles, feeling more calm, and he slowly exhales. When the all-around swimmer feels Haru’s hips move downward from tiptoeing up to kiss him, the redhead opens his eyes and says, “I’m not crying.”

The sapphire-eyed teen scoffs lightly with a smile, “yes, you are. You’re such a crybaby, Rin.

The crimson-eyed teen rubs his eyes with his hand and says, “I am not! I just got something in my eye.” He thinks, _‘you too Haru? I get enough of the ‘crybaby’ thing from Sousuke, but really? I have to get it from you? It’s not my fault that I get all emotional…sometimes.’_

The navy-haired teen sighs as he takes Rin’s hand that is still on his hip and raises it up to his lips, “Go sit down, Rin. I’ll make dinner.” Haru sweetly pecks the back of the redhead’s hand before releasing him and saunters off into the small kitchen.

The crimson-eyed teen just watches Haru grasp his hand, squeezing him before bestowing such a romantic act. Rin lips part in shock as his mind tries to comprehend what just happened. His cheeks flush pink again as the sapphire-eyed teen walks into the kitchen. Rin thinks, _‘shit…did he just…kiss my hand? Just like that? Like it was the most natural thing to do after seeing me cry? When, when did Haru become like this? That was so…adorable, and crap…I feel like I’m falling in love with him all over again.’_

Rin is about to follow Haru when he realizes that he still has his shoes on. The redhead pouts slightly as he bends down and undoes his hi-top laces and walks into the small kitchen. The redhead takes a couple steps into the kitchen before he halts, observing Haru opening the refrigerator to pull out a packet of meat or something and soy sauce. The navy-haired teen closes the fridge and puts the items down on the kitchen counter as he pulls out a knife out of the wooden knife block nearby.

The crimson-eyed teen waits for Haru to put the knife down on top of the bamboo cutting board before he walks over behind the sapphire-eyed teen. He slightly bends down to entwine his arms around Haru’s waist and whispers in the navy-haired teen’s ear, “you are full of surprises today, Haru. I’m…still trying to wrap my mind around it all. The kiss in the bathroom, the kiss we just shared moments ago, and then that sweet peck on the back of my hand. I…I lo…uh…I…I’m really lucky.”

Rin knits his eyebrows cursing himself internally as he embraces Haru snuggly, thinking, _‘uh…why can’t I say it? I love you. I’ve been saying it…just not with my words.’_ The redhead sighs as he licks the shell of Haru’s ear.

The navy-haired teen freezes when he feels Rin’s arms snake around his waist and the redhead’s breath makes Haru’s body tremble with delight. The sapphire-eyed teen was about to pull the clear plastic bag off the covered styrofoam container with two fillets of mackerel, instead his hands releases the plastic bag and linger in the air as the crimson-eyed teen whispers in his ear. Haru swallows as his cheeks tint with slight pinkness and he closes his eyes as he let’s that sexy voice vibrate through his ear, making his whole body quiver with lust.

When Rin’s arms tighten around his waist, a soft gasp escapes his lips followed by a moan when the redhead licks his ear. Haru moves his hands over the crimson-eyed teen’s arm around his waist, gently caressing his fingertips down Rin’s arms until he finds those strong hands around him and intertwines his fingers between the redhead’s fingers. The sapphire-eyed teen mutters, “Rin…wait. Please, wait. I want you…but we should eat first.”

Rin softly chuckles, his breath ghosting over Haru’s ear and neck, making the navy-haired teen moan erotically. The redhead tenderly squeezes Haru’s fingers between his own and says in a deep tone, “you’re right…Haru. We should wait. We really should. But there is one thing I’ve been wanting to do.”

The redhead slides his tongue over Haru’s neck, as he releases his hold on one of Haru’s hands, bringing his hand up and under the navy-haired teen’s arm, grasping the collar of the sapphire-eyed teen’s sweater, pulling it towards Haru’s shoulder. Rin tenderly caresses his tongue over Haru’s flesh, right in the crook of the free-swimmer’s neck and shoulder and bites his boyfriend. Rin squeezes Haru’s hand as he sucks on the navy-haired teen’s skin.

The sapphire-eyed teen feels Rin’s warm breath tingling his skin, a moan escaping his lips, but the crimson-eyed teen’s voice makes the navy-haired teen’s heart pound loudly in his chest, and he could hear the soft thuds of his heartbeat in his ears. He can feel a hot deep red blush on his cheeks as the redhead’s wet tongue slides up and down his neck, and he releases a silent gasp through parted lips.

When the crimson-eyed teen grazes his teeth against Haru’s soft skin, biting the navy-haired teen, Haru winces, moans, and swiftly runs his fingertips through Rin’s red locks, grasping a fistful of the all-round swimmer’s hair. Haru’s knees buck and his toes curl feeling a slight pain on his neck, but a surge of desire coursing through his veins. The sapphire-eyed teen thinks, _‘ah! Rin…that hurts and feels so good at the same time.’_ Haru presses his ass against the redhead’s crotch as he throws his head back against Rin’s shoulder.

Rin moans when he feels Haru’s luscious tush ram up against his crotch. He nimbly rolls his hips forward, as the redhead releases Haru’s flesh with a lewd, wet sound. The crimson-eyed teen nibbles on the navy-haired teen’s soft earlobe and says, “I thought we were waiting…Haru.”

Haru tries to contain his desire for the redhead behind him, but Rin’s deep moan, the crimson-eyed teen’s hips pressing up against his bum, and the moist popping sound when the redhead releases his flesh, makes his knees go weak. The navy-haired teen places his hand on the counter to stabilize himself.

Haru bites the inside of his bottom lip as Rin plays with his earlobe, restraining himself from moaning again. The navy-haired teen breathes heavily as he releases his hold on Rin’s red locks and murmurs, “ye-yeah. I will cook…”

Rin interrupts and says, “you’ve done enough, Haru. The least I could do is make us dinner.” The redhead straightens his back, peers over the sapphire-eyed teen’s shoulder, and smiles. He can see that the styrofoam container holds fillets of mackerel as the plastic bag was pulled partway, “I see…we are having mackerel for dinner. I should have known. Why don’t you go sit down and relax, Haru. I’ll take care of this.” The redhead unwraps his hold on the navy-haired teen slowly.

Haru opens his eyes leisurely, bringing his head forward before turning around to gaze into those crimson eyes. The navy-haired teen can clearly see pink stained cheeks, and affection in those orbs. He swallows before saying, “you…cook?”

Rin notices Haru’s red stained cheeks starting to become pink and thinks, _‘damn…Haru. You look delicious this way.’_ The redhead chuckles when he hears the navy-haired teen’s question and responds, “yeah, I can cook. We have a kitchen on the first floor of our dormitory. I’ve been, uh, cooking a few things…you know a few Japanese dishes.” The crimson-eyed teen looks away as he scratches his cheek.

Haru is about to turn around and start cooking again, until the redhead grabs the sapphire-eyed teen’s bicep and gently pulls the free-swimmer away from the kitchen counter. Rin says, “come on, Haru. I promise I won’t overcook the mackerel. How about something simple like mackerel shioyaki?”

The navy-haired teen sighs and says, “fine. But, I’m watching you.”

Rin huffs, “talk about distrust. Fine, you can watch me cook. But no help unless I’m really struggling, which I doubt will happen. I’ve made mackerel shioyaki several times in Australia.”

The sapphire-eyed teen moves aside and leans against the counter next to Rin and thinks, _‘he made mackerel shioyaki many times? In Australia? Why would he make that particular dish there? It’s not like…’_ Haru’s train of thought stops as he realizes why the redhead made mackerel shioyaki. It’s the same reason why the navy-haired teen made pork shougayaki from time to time. The free-swimmer looks down at the green counter in front of him and continues his thoughts, _‘you’ve been practicing. Making one of my favorite dishes. You haven’t changed. You still think of your friends all the time. Rin...’_

Haru decides to let Rin cook without his supervision and says, “I’m going to move your bags into the bedroom. If you need me, let me know.”

Rin gives Haru his shark-tooth grin and says, “heh. You aren’t the only one with surprises!” The redhead returns to preparing the fish in front of him.

The navy-haired teen pats Rin’s ass before walking out of the kitchen to grab Rin’s duffle bag and backpack.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

** December 21st, Sunday, 8: 14 pm **

Makoto is watching a video recording on his laptop that Honda-san had given him yesterday. After his workout with Haru, the navy-haired teen wanted to head to the pool and do some practice laps. While Makoto was watching the sapphire-eyed teen in the large pool, Haru’s coach, Honda-san, stood next to the brunette and asked how the free-swimmer has been doing.

The emerald-eyed teen talked to Honda-san about several things, mainly about swimming and Haru’s progress. During their conversation, Honda-san mentioned that he scouts out potential swimmers from high schools in the Tokyo area, and sometimes other areas of Japan. The brunette asked the older man if he ever went to Tokitsu High School to scout anyone.

Honda-san took a moment to ponder the question and mentioned that he recorded all the swimming events that he had seen. Curious the older man asked Makoto about his interest in Tokitsu High School. The brunette told Honda-san that he has a friend who swam during competitions a couple years ago, and that he never got a chance to see how his swimming has improved during that time.

After their conversation, Honda-san left to talk to one of his students. Haru spent quite a bit of time just practicing and floating in the pool when the other students left. Makoto just watched the navy-haired teen float about in the water, and it reminded him of all the times they would practice in the pool at Iwatobi High School. Haru would always swim every chance he got, and when he was done with swimming, he’d just float in the water. The brunette didn’t have the heart to tell the navy-haired teen to get out of the pool, so he just watched Haru float about in the water until the emerald-eyed teen got hungry for dinner.

Before Haru or Makoto were able to walk out the door of the Sports Center, Honda-san stopped the teens and handed the brunette a few dvds. The brunette took the dvds and looked down to find the words, ‘scout, Tokitsu High,’ with the years listed as well. Makoto looked up to say something but Honda-san just smiled at the brunette, telling him to return the dvds when he was done with them.

Makoto did watch the first dvd last night and didn’t see Sousuke in it at all. After getting off the phone with Sousuke, the brunette decided to watch the other dvds before the raven-haired teen got to his place. The other two dvds had the teal-eyed teen in the competitions, and he was surprised about his times, and how beautifully he swam, it reminded him so much of Rin’s butterfly style.

The brunette thinks to himself as he watches with interest, _‘wow. Sousuke’s form is just…perfect. The way he just cuts through the water, he really is a force to be reckoned with. So, all that effort he put in, all that training…I can see it. He worked so hard. Sousuke, you really would have been an amazing professional swimmer.’_

Makoto suddenly becomes sad as he continues to watch a different heat and thinks, _‘you could have been in the same league as Haru and Rin. Scouted, swimming on the Olympic stage with both of them.’_ The brunette turns off the dvd until he hears someone knocking on the door.

Makoto quickly ejects the dvd, puts it back into the case and places it back inside his top drawer. He walks over to the door and opens it.

After the raven-haired teen raps on Makoto’s apartment door, he leans against the doorframe crossing his arms until he feels something press up against his leg. The teal-eyed teen looks down to find a black cat circling around his leg, rubbing up against pant leg.

The ex-butterfly swimmer tilts his head and just when he was about to bend down and pet the black cat rubbing up against him, the door opens and Sousuke’s gaze looks up to find Makoto standing in front of the door.

The brunette smiles at Sousuke and says, “hi, Sousuke. Please come in and…” Before the emerald-eyed teen could continue his sentence he hears a cat meow below him. Makoto looks down and says, “oh, Mr. Bean! What are you doing out here in the cold? You poor thing!”

Makoto bends down and picks up the black fluffy cat and says to the teal-eyed teen, “Sousuke, come in. I’m just going to give Mr. Bean back to Yamada-san.” The brunette opens the door wider, allowing the raven-haired teen to come in.

Sousuke walks in and closes the door as he says, “thanks, Makoto. And…if you’re going back outside, here, take my coat. It’s already warm. Well, warmer than the coat you have hanging there.” The teal-eyed teen unbuttons his black winter coat and places it over Makoto’s shoulders. With one hand the ex-butterfly swimmer unravels the grey scarf around his neck, dropping his hand down to his side as he says, “here, give me the cat and put it on.”

The brunette observes Sousuke take off his coat, take a step closer to him and place the heavy black coat on his shoulders. The two teens stare at each other, Makoto feeling flabbergasted by the sweet gesture and speechless, Sousuke wondering what the brunette is thinking.

The raven-haired teen tilts his head slightly and says, “um, you ok?”

Makoto shakes his head lightly and says, “uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just, you, you are…I don’t know. I, um…I should bring Mr. Bean back. Yamada-san probably doesn’t know he’s out and about. Yeah.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows and huffs gently, “ok. Well, pass me Mr. Bean so you can put my coat on.”

Makoto is about to give Mr. Bean to the raven-haired teen but stops when his eyes travel downwards, taking in the image of Sousuke in a fancy white suit with black piping. His mouth parts as he thinks, _‘oh. Wow. He looks, really good…in white. It reminds me of the Samezuka uniform, but this is way better. And he’s wearing a bowtie this time. Crap, he’s hot. I don’t think I can be around him while he’s wearing that. It’s going to have to come off…no, I mean stay on. No, ugh, dammit.’_

Makoto bends down and places Mr. Bean on the floor and says, “uh, no. I bet that suit is hot, I mean expensive. Sorry. I don’t want anything bad to happen to your suit. Besides, Mr. Bean has been in here many times.” The brunette slips his arms through the sleeves of the black winter coat and buttoning it up around his torso. The emerald-eyed teen smiles as he feels warmth emanate from the coat, like a warm hug.

Sousuke observes Makoto put the cat down on the floor and put the coat on. He says, “well, if you are so worried about my suit, uh…Mr. Bean already left his calling on my pant leg. He was all rubbing up against me before you opened the door. He must be a big shedder.”

The brunette bends down to look at the raven-haired teen’s pant legs, and notices some black fur on Sousuke’s white suit. The emerald-eyed teen pats Sousuke’s leg trying to get the fur off, but fails to get it all off. He says with amusement, “awww. Mr. Bean likes you. But, yeah. He did leave some fur on you. Don’t worry. I have a lint roller in my room.”

Makoto gets up and slips on some sneakers as he says, “you can use it. It’s on my dresser, it has a blue handle, and I think it’s on the right side. Anyway, I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home, Sousuke.”

The brunette quickly glances up at the teal-eyed teen before bending down again calling out to Mr. Bean in a sweet tone, “come here, Mr. Bean. Come on. There you are. Come on, I’m taking you home, Mr. Bean.”

The yellow-eyed cat trots over to Makoto and rubs his face against the emerald-eyed teen’s extended hand, allowing the backstroke swimmer to pick him up with ease.

Sousuke just watches Makoto, thinking, _‘huh…he likes me. I don’t know about that. He just came up to me, and starting doing that rubbing thing on my leg. You really like cats. And cats really like you. Such a cat whisperer. Cute.’_ The raven-haired teen slips out of his black leather slip-on dress shoes, and walks up the step into Makoto’s apartment. The teal-eyed teen walks over to the hooks on the wall and places his scarf on one of them.

Makoto smiles as he watches Sousuke slip out of his shoes and says, “I’ll be right back.” The brunette opens the door walking out into the pathway of the apartment complex.

Sousuke takes off his gloves and loosely places them in his suit jacket pocket. He walks into Makoto’s bedroom and stops in front of the dresser. He looks over at the right side and finds the lint roller the brunette mentioned. The raven-haired teen picks up the lint roller, undoes the buttons on his suit jacket, sits down on Makoto’s bed, and begins to rid himself of Mr. Bean’s dark fur on his white suit.

After the teal-eyed teen is done with the roller, he cleans it off, places it back on the dresser and throws away the sticky film into the trash bin next to Makoto’s nightstand. Something catches the corner of his eye, and it’s Mr. Orca-cat. The teal-eyed teen huffs lightly as he picks up the fluffy stuffed animal before plopping himself on the bed again.

He thinks, _‘ah. It’s nice seeing you in your master’s room. I’ve had you for far too long.’_ The raven-haired teen is reminded of one of the last times he peered into those black beady eyes of Mr. Orca-cat and sighs as he lays down on the bed. He places Mr. Orca-cat over his eyes as he thinks, _‘dammit. That dream. You just had to remind me of that dream, didn’t you.’_

Before Sousuke could continue his thoughts, he hears the front door open, and the raven-haired teen lifts himself up, discarding the plush toy and leaving the cat in the orca suit on top of the bed. The teal-eyed teen leans over his body, resting his elbows on his thighs.

Makoto locks the door, places his keys back in his jean pocket, and shimmies out of his sneakers _._ He unbuttons Sousuke’s coat as he says, “Sousuke? Where do you want me to put your coat? Does it need a hanger? It’s really nice and comfy.”

The teal-eyed teen smiles to himself and says, “why? You want it?”

The brunette’s hand hovers over the last button as he hears Sousuke’s question. He notices that the voice came from his bedroom and saunters into room. He finds the teal-eyed teen looking up at him, sitting on his bed and his heart leaps out of his chest. The emerald-eyed teen thinks, _‘whoa. He really is like a model.’_ Makoto looks away and says, “Sousuke...what do you mean by that?”

The raven-haired teen shrugs as he looks away, “I don’t know. My dad gave that to me. Yumiko told me to wear it, so I did. You said you liked it. I don’t have any particular feelings about that coat. That’s all I meant.”

Makoto frowns slightly as he hears the ex-butterfly swimmer’s response. He walks over to his closet, grabs an empty hanger, places it on one of the knobs of his dresser as he slips the coat off and places it over the hanger, “I see. Well, it’s a nice coat. It keeps you quite warm, and I get cold easily. But of course, you warmed it up before I put it on.”

Sousuke gets up and walks over behind the brunette and says, “you think I could get changed into something more comfortable? If you don’t mind me wearing some of your clothes.”

The brunette turns around and is shocked to find the raven-haired teen so close behind him that he jumps back and bumps the dresser behind him. Makoto winces as he rubs his left shoulder, “ow. yo…you surprised me, Sousuke. I wasn’t expecting you to be right behind me.”

The teal-eyed teen observes Makoto bump into the dresser and his eyes widen. When he sees the brunette rubbing his shoulder, Sousuke quickly places his hand over the emerald-eyed teen’s and says in a worried tone, “whoa. Sorry. Damn. You startle easily.” Sousuke eyes transfix on their connected hands on Makoto’s shoulder and thinks, _‘his hand, it’s cold.’_

Once the backstroke swimmer feels Sousuke’s warm hand over his cooler hand, his gaze shoots up towards the teal-eyed teen’s face. He can see worry in his facial features, knitted eyebrows, and a slight frown. Suddenly Makoto feels his cheeks heat up and he says without thinking, “you’re hot.”

Makoto’s eyes widen at his own blunder, and he catches those teal orbs staring at him. Makoto just stares at the raven-haired teen with shock, finding that his mind is paralyzed and his lips part slightly. The emerald-eyed teen’s cheeks flush in an embarrassingly red tone as he quickly tries to rectify his mistake, “I-I…I mean….your hand. It’s hot. I mean, it’s warm. Really warm. Well, compared to my hand. I guess that does make sense since I was just outside, and…sorry.” The emerald-eyed teen closes his eyes as he winces.

When Sousuke hears Makoto’s words, he turns his head to peer into those green orbs. The raven-haired teen is met with shocked green eyes. His teal eyes reflect the same astonishment and for a moment he wonders, _‘did he mean…that I’m hot?’_ Sousuke’s cheeks start to turn pink, but then Makoto talks quickly, saying things about his hand being warm. The teal-eyed teen thinks, _‘oh. That’s what he meant. Maybe that was wishful thinking on my part.’_ The raven-haired teen looks away, steps back and releases his hold on Makoto’s hand. He says nonchalantly, “ah. I noticed your hand was cold. You should warm up with something.”

The brunette opens his eyes when he feels a lack of warm pressure over his hand holding his shoulder. He notices the teal-eyed teen staring at the wall and looks down. He thinks, _‘shit. I shouldn’t have said that.’_ Makoto remembers that Sousuke asked if he could get comfortable and says, “um, you can borrow my clothes. I don’t mind. I’ll find something for you. Give me a moment.”

The brunette turns around, picks up Sousuke’s coat on a hanger, walks over to his bedroom door and places the coat on one of the hooks he put up on the wall near the door. The emerald-eyed teen walks back to the dresser and pulls out a pair of hunter green sweatpants and a long sleeved white and black shirt with an image of cute tabby cat on the front.

Makoto turns around and offers the set of clothes to Sousuke, “Sousuke, here. I’ll be in the living room. So you can have some privacy to change.”

The raven-haired teen is feeling at war with himself. He thinks, _‘what the hell? What am I all upset about. Makoto was just being honest, and what do I expect? It’s not like he likes me like that. He probably likes blonds or something.’_ Before Sousuke could continue his thoughts, he hears his name. The ex-butterfly swimmer shifts his gaze over to the brunette in front of him, handing him some clothes. He closes his eyes and sighs, before opening his eyes again and taking the clothes offered to him. He asks, “thanks. Hey, can I ask you something?”

The brunette tilts his head to the side as he drops his hands to the side, “hmm? Yes?”

Sousuke takes a deep breath and says while he looks at the clothes in his hands, “I don’t feel like going back to my apartment tonight. Would it be ok, if I stayed here. Just for tonight?”

The emerald-eyed teen places his hands on his hips and says, “I figured as much. I already expected you to stay the night, and it’s fine with me. After our phone conversation, I wondered why you wanted to come over, and so late too. I wouldn’t be comfortable with you heading back home after you made the effort to stop by here. Besides, maybe you just need some company, right?”

The teal-eyed teen gives the brunette a small smile, but there is a tinge of sadness behind his eyes that the backstroke swimmer notices. Sousuke replies, “thanks. You’re right. I don’t think I want to be alone right now. I don’t even…”

Makoto places a hand on Sousuke’s bicep and says, “you don’t have to tell me anything about what happened tonight. Just get comfortable, and I’ll pick out a movie for us to watch. And if you want, I can make us some popcorn too.” The emerald-eyed teen walks out of the bedroom, closing the door.

Sousuke watches the brunette walk out of the bedroom, his eyes lingering on the emerald-eyed teen’s ass, noticing a slight sway to his hips. The raven-haired teen runs a hand through his hair as he thinks, _‘I was checking him out, wasn’t I? Maybe I did have too much to drink tonight.’_ The teal-eyed teen walks over to the bed, placing the clothes on the bed, his eyes finding Mr. Orca-cat smiling at him.

Sousuke makes a face at the plush toy as he undoes his bow-tie thinking, _‘I can’t help but think you are laughing at me.’_ The raven-haired teen takes off his suit jacket and continues his thoughts, _‘I’m glad I’m here and not at that stupid party anymore. Maybe I’ll tell Makoto about it tomorrow, but for now, I just want to spend some time with him.’_

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** December 21st, Sunday, 8:59 pm **

Rin is in the kitchen washing the dishes while Haru leans over the kitchen counter top, propping his head up with the palm of his hand. The sapphire-eyed teen watches the redhead wash the utensils in the sink and plop them into the dish drying rack on the other side. Haru smiles as he watches the crimson-eyed teen doing something so domestic. His mind wanders to the dinner they just ate, the navy-haired teen was surprised. When Rin said he had been making Japanese food in Australia, he believed him, but tasting the results of the redhead’s efforts was something else.

Usually people overcook fish by putting the protein in the pan before it is hot enough to crisp up the skin while keeping the center nice and juicy. He was far too used to eating either soggy mackerel or crispy mackerel that is like jerky in the center. Haru was expecting something that was decent, that may need some improvements, but the fish was cooked medium-rare, just right.

Haru will admit that Rin put a little too much soy sauce in the dish, and maybe just a tad too much ginger and ginger juice, but knowing that the redhead made him one of his favorites, the navy-haired teen was unable to hide the tomato colored blush on his face as he stuffed himself eloquently.

Rin didn’t shut-up about how red Haru’s face was until the navy-haired teen shot a glare at the redhead, jabbed his chopsticks onto Rin’s plate, cutting a piece of mackerel, and shoving the food in Rin’s open mouth. The all-around swimmer’s crimson eyes widen in shock, before he started chewing. Haru’s lips upturned into a smirk when he saw the redhead blush from his cheeks to his neck.

The rest of the dinner was fairly silent after that, but Rin did return the favor, feeding the navy-haired teen his last bite of mackerel. Haru remembers opening his mouth, leaning forward, taking the bite from Rin’s chopsticks while gazing into those beautiful crimson eyes.

Haru’s thoughts are shaken when he feels a pair of warm, soft lips brush against his cheek lightly. The navy-haired teen shifts his gaze and finds Rin standing right next to him.

The redhead gives the navy-haired teen a shark-tooth grin and says, “what are you thinking about, Haru? Is it me?”

The navy-haired teen shifts his gaze, looking at down at the kitchen counter and thinks, _‘I’m not telling him that’s true. He already has that sexy smile on his face too.’_

Haru says nonchalantly, “I was thinking about how to improve your cooking skills. I don’t have my favorite recipes here with me. I’ve memorized them. So, when we get back to Iwatobi, I will have to teach you some things.”

Rin knits his eyebrows and huffs, “che. That’s a little harsh, Haru. Are you saying you didn’t enjoy the meal I made you?” The redhead unties the dark blue apron with a dolphin on it, and places it on the hook in the kitchen. He thinks, _‘figures. I thought I did a fair job with dinner. Seems I need a little more practice.’_

Haru straightens up, standing upright as he watches the redhead walk away from him. The crimson-eyed teen’s words make the navy-haired teen bite his bottom inner lip. He doesn’t want to make the redhead upset, or worse, cry.

The sapphire-eyed teen walks up behind the redhead as he places the apron on the hook and Haru slips his arms around Rin’s waist and says, “Rin. I enjoyed dinner. You made one of my favorites.” Haru closes his eyes and squeezes the redhead as he clutches the black fabric of Rin’s polo shirt. The navy-haired teen exhales as he nuzzles his cheek against Rin’s back. He thinks, _‘I don’t care what your food taste like…if you make it for me, I’ll eat it.’_

Rin stiffens when he suddenly feels Haru’s arms snake around his waist, and relaxes when he looks down to find Haru’s hand on around his body. Rin moves his head slightly to listen to Haru’s words, and he chuckles. He thinks, _‘oi, Haru. Dammit, that’s cute. Just…’_ The redhead’s thoughts are rattled when he sees Haru’s hands grasp his shirt, and he feels a gentle pressure on his back moving back and forth. Rin can only imagine what Haru is doing behind him, rubbing his cheek against his back and the crimson-eyed teen’s face breaks out into a blush.

Rin places his hand over Haru’s wrist as he caresses the back of the navy-haired teen’s hand with his thumb, gently petting the sapphire-eyed teen. The redhead’s thoughts become jumbled as Haru continues the sweet, romantic gesture and says, “take a shower with me.”

The free-swimmer stops nuzzling Rin’s back and says, “ok. Can we use the tub afterwards?”

Rin mouth parts when he realizes what he says, grasps Haru’s wrists to disengage the sweet hug the navy-haired teen was giving him so he can turn around to look at the sapphire-eyed teen face-to-face. The redhead is met with clear blue eyes staring up at him curiously. The crimson-eyed teen’s face darkens as he stumbles with his words, “wh-wha? Did you, did you just say, ok? I mean…huh?”

Haru smiles softly as he grabs Rin’s wrist and drags the hesitant redhead into the bathroom. The navy-haired teen pushes the crimson-eyed teen into the bathroom as he closes the door, pressing his back against the wooden door. Haru looks down at the green tiled floor and says, “yes. Let’s take a shower. Then we can soak in the tub…together.”

Rin stumbles into the bathroom, catching himself as he is pushed into the small room. The redhead quickly turns around to find the navy-haired teen against the door. Rin thinks, _‘wha…wait. I…um…maybe this is a bad idea, I mean…Haru…I…’_

Haru lifts his gaze to Rin and notices the shocked expression on his face. The navy-haired teen pushes himself off the door as he crosses his arms around his torso, grasping the hem of his sweater. Haru swiftly pulls the grey fabric off of his body and discards it on the floor as he approaches the redhead.

The sapphire-eyed teen stops right in front of Rin as he slips his hand under the black fabric of the redhead’s polo shirt, caressing the solid muscles under that fabric. Haru looks up at the crimson-eyed teen with hunger and says, “let me see…how strong you have become, Rin.”

The all-around swimmer’s mind becomes hazy as he watches the navy-haired teen pull the sweater over his head. Rin can’t keep his eyes off Haru, as he observes the free-swimmer’s torso sway from side to side, and when that grey fabric is thrown aside, the redhead swallows audibly. Haru is still wearing a white short-sleeved undershirt that fits securely around the sapphire-eyed teen’s body. The crimson-eyed teen feels immobilized as Haru approaches him, before he knows it, the navy-haired teen is standing in front of him and he can feel Haru’s warm hand on his belly, making the redhead gasp unintentionally.

Without much thought, Rin hooks two fingers over the top of Haru’s black jeans, pulling him closer, their crotches bumping against each other. The redhead’s heart throbs in his ears as he cups the back of Haru’s head with his hand, crushing his lips against the navy-haired teen’s.

It starts off as a chaste kiss, but the navy-haired teen licks Rin’s bottom lip, demanding entrance into Rin’s hot mouth as he slips his other hand under the crimson-eyed teen’s shirt, running his fingers against Rin’s peachy flesh.

When Rin feels a hot tongue run along his bottom lip, the all-around swimmer moans softly. Suddenly, Haru slips his tongue into Rin’s mouth, twisting and turning the slippery muscle over his. The redhead moans greedily, as he fights the sapphire-eyed teen for dominance of the fiery kiss.

Haru tastes the saltiness of soy sauce and mackerel, and the tang of ginger that dances on Rin’s tongue. The navy-haired teen just can’t get enough of the flavors in Rin’s cavern, mingling with the redhead’s own sweet flavor. He thinks, _‘Rin…you taste so good. My favorite things…I must have…more.’_ The sapphire-eyed teen continues caressing Rin’s torso, running his fingers over every bump and crevice until he reaches Rin’s chest. Haru’s fingers move out, grazing against the redhead’s nipples, drawing circles around the tender flesh.

The crimson-eyed teen feels overwhelmed with lust when the navy-haired teen gently runs his fingers over his nipples, causing the redhead to break the kiss, gasping for air. Rin drops his forehead against Haru’s shoulder as he feels his shaft becoming hard. He says between pants, “Ha-Haru…you…ahh…you…feel…so good…”

The redhead moves his hands to grasp the navy-haired teen’s butt cheek, kneading the delectable, muscular ass through the sapphire-eyed teen’s jeans as he rolls his hips forward a few times, moaning as he feels his cock becoming harder with each thrust of his hips.

Haru stops his ministrations with his fingers, a little disappointed Rin broke the kiss. The navy-haired teen was savoring the flavors in Rin’s delicious mouth, but he wasn’t ready for it to end so soon. Just when the sapphire-eyed teen was about to protest, he hears Rin’s voice, and he feels himself becoming hotter with each word. The navy-haired teen’s heart blooms in his chest, feeling all sorts of want, need, and adoration for the redhead.

When the redhead’s hands massage his ass, Haru gasps loudly, throwing his head back as he moves his hands up Rin’s chest, running his nails against the redhead’s chest, feeling a strong burst of desire in the pit of his belly. The feel of Rin’s hips thrusting right into his makes the free-swimmer inhale sharply, moaning fervidly as he thrusts his own hips forward.

The navy-haired teen feels himself becoming hard with each thrust, he pulls and pushes Rin against the tiled wall, next to the showerhead. Haru grabs Rin’s black and red plaid jeans, unbuttoning them and unzips them gingerly as he says in an erotic tone, “Rin. I want to see you. Only you.”

The crimson-eyed teen’s mind reels in uncertainty as he is abruptly pulled and pushed against a cool tiled wall. The redhead was enjoying the enticing sounds that was emanating from Haru’s throat. Rin feels hurried hands pull on his pants, and the sound of his jeans being unzipped, has the redhead looking down at what Haru is doing. His breath hitches when he hears Haru’s voice, it sounds so unfamiliar, but sexy. He whispers, “Ha…Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen looks up when he hears his name, and blue and red orbs stare at each other with yearning. Haru grabs the hem of Rin’s polo shirt, pulling it off of the redhead and tossing the shirt off to side somewhere.

After Haru pulls off Rin’s shirt, the crimson-eyed teen looks down and grasps the front of Haru’s black jeans. The redhead quickly undoes the button and carefully unzips Haru’s fly. Rin hooks his thumbs over the top of the navy-haired teen’s jeans, pushes Haru back a bit so he can bend down and pull free-swimmer’s pants down.

Once Rin is on his knees, he looks up and notices that Haru is wearing his black jammers with a purple stripe running down the sides of his legs. The redhead blinks a few times before he chuckles and says, “Ha-Haru…I should have known. Jammers.”

Haru stumbles a bit, but is steadied by Rin’s strong grasp on his hips and stares at the crimson-eyed teen as he pulls his black pants down. When he hears Rin’s laugh, Haru huffs lightly and says, “of course. Take them off, Rin. Or do you want to watch me pull them off.”

Rin lifts his head to gaze into those deep blue eyes. The redhead’s heart stops as he processes Haru’s suggestion. Rin cups the navy-haired teen’s ass, pulling the sapphire-eyed teen closer to him as he plants a kiss on Haru’s half-hard penis. He sees the free-swimmer’s eyes grow darker with lust and the crimson-eyed teen looks at the bulge in Haru’s jammers and licks the black fabric that keeps the sapphire-eyed teen’s shaft hidden.

The sapphire-eyed teen watches the redhead with lusty eyes as Rin licks the bulge through his jammers. Haru moans, closes his eyes as his knees bucks, and he slowly falls to his knees, grasping Rin’s shoulder with one hand, feeling completely undone just by a simple action.

The crimson-eyed teen tightens his hold on Haru’s hips as the navy-haired teen falls to the floor in front of him. Rin makes sure that the free-swimmer doesn’t fall on his knees so harshly and says, “Haru? You ok? Too much?” The redhead cups the sapphire-eyed teen’s cheek gently.

Haru nuzzles his cheek against Rin’s hand, opening his eyes the navy-haired teen sees those crimson eyes flicker with concern. The sapphire-eyed teen smiles sweetly and plants his hand over Rin’s hand closing his eyes again. Haru moves his hand from Rin’s shoulder, down his chiseled chest, down those absolutely perfect bumps of his six-pack, slips his hand under the redhead’s boxers until his hand reaches that hot flesh of desire.

Rin’s eyes widen when he sees Haru nuzzle into his hand with such affection, and his heart melts when the navy-haired teen’s hand is over his. He thinks, _‘oh, Haru…you are so sweet and…’_ He gasps when the sapphire-eyed teen’s hand trails down his body, grazing his fingertips over his muscles, feeling him up.

Rin’s heart starts to pound with delight, but when Haru’s hand gets closer to his crotch, the redhead’s breath hitches. He slips his hand around the back of Haru’s neck as he bumps his forehead with the sapphire-eyed teen. Rin closes his eyes, bites his bottom lip as the navy-haired teen’s palm rubs up against his straining shaft. The redhead whispers softly, “ah, Haru…I, ah, want you.”

The navy-haired teen relishes in the pleasing sounds the redhead is making, feeling his cock twitch with anticipation. A mild pressure rests on his forehead and Haru feels Rin’s warm breath wash over his face, and when the sapphire-eyed teen finally touches that glorious hard member with his hand, he licks his lips. Rin’s words ring in his ears and he says, “take it off, Rin.” Haru retracts his hand from Rin’s penis and fiddles with the band of the crimson-eyed teen’s boxers. He says with a hint of desperation, “off. Everything.”

Rin knits his eyebrows when the navy-haired teen removes his hand from his sensitive shaft, missing the gentle ministrations he was receiving. He chuckles when he hears Haru’s voice and says, “you too. Everything…off.”

The redhead releases his hold on the free-swimmer, gets up, pulls down his black and red plaid jeans, and throws them off to the side without a care. Rin looks down to find Haru’s deep blue orbs staring at him in awe. The crimson-eyed teen can’t help but give the navy-haired teen a half-smirk as he threads his thumbs over the rim of his shark printed burgundy boxers. Rin says in a deep tone, “get up, Haru. Show me what your hips can do.”

The navy-haired teen notices Rin’s soothing hands leave his flesh, stares up at the redhead now standing before him. Haru’s eyes sparkle with enchantment as he gazes up at Rin’s beautiful body. He thinks, _‘Rin…you look stronger, but more than that. You look…dreamy. Like a prince.’_ The sapphire-eyed teen watches Rin quickly shed his jeans off his body, revealing the shark printed boxers underneath. Their eyes meet, and he can see those crimson orbs study his face, his eyes. Haru swallows as his body heats up with that red stare.

Haru observes a twinkle in those eyes, a devilish half-smirk appear on those delicious lips, Rin rimming his thumbs over the band of the shark-printed boxers and his cheeks burn with rapture. The view of staring up at the tawny peach-skinned teen with those solid and definitive muscles makes the navy-haired teen’s cock strain painfully against his skin-tight jammers.

The free-swimmer gets up at Rin’s request, never taking his eyes off those gorgeous crimson orbs. When his feet are planted on the tiled floor, Haru breaks their eye contact as he slips his thumbs over the edge of his jammers, swaying his hips side to side as he takes off the black jammers carefully over his body and freeing his penis from the restricting fabric. Haru bites back a moan when his shaft is completely unconstrained, discards his jammers, and takes off his socks.

The redhead maintains his eye contact with the navy-haired teen as he gets up before him. Rin can’t help but lick his lips as he sees eagerness in those deep blue orbs, but once their eye contact is broken, the crimson-eyed teen’s eyes drift downward, watching Haru rock those hips back and forth, slithering out of the black jammers. Rin takes a deep breath through his nose as he observes the sapphire-eyed teen’s hardening cock spring forth. He just stares at the navy-haired teen’s shaft with want and as soon as Haru is standing upright, Rin grabs Haru’s shoulders, and rams him against the wall.

Rin’s hands move down Haru’s shoulders with feather-light touches. One hand pauses on the sapphire-eyed teen’s nipple, brushing his fingertips over the sensitive flesh as his other hand continues downward. The redhead hears soft moans leaving the free-swimmer’s lips, and the crimson-eyed teen thinks, _‘damn Haru…I’ve waited so long to touch you like this…all the times we’ve skyped, doing naughty things, it made me long for this. Waiting was worth it, being with you, is always worth it.’_

The redhead’s hand brush against Haru’s muscles, Rin inhaling sharply as he makes notes to himself in regards to how toned the navy-haired teen has become over time. The crimson-eyed teen wraps his hand around Haru’s aching cock as he gently rubs his thumb over the tip as he says, “mmm, you are so beautiful, Haru.”

Haru suddenly feels Rin’s hands on his shoulders as he is shoved against the wall. The navy-haired teen grips the tiled green wall with his fingertips as he closes his eyes. The action reminds him of the time they were second-years in high school, when they met at the sports store for swimsuits. But this was different, Rin trails his hands down his body and the navy-haired teen unintentionally curves his lower back as the simmering touch continues to burn through his heart. The sapphire-eyed teen moans lustfully when Rin draws circles around his nipple, running his fingers between the nub and gently pulling his nipple forward.

Haru’s body burns with desire as Rin continues to trail his other hand further down his body, grasping his hard penis and playing with the tip. Haru’s face turns bright red as he hears Rin’s voice, and he thinks, _‘Rin, you are beautiful…I, I want to feel you Rin.’_ The navy-haired teen says between moans, “wa-ah, wait…you…mmm…you…Rin…off. Off, Rin.” The sapphire-eyed teen opens his eyes as he hands pull Rin’s boxers down his hips just a little bit.

Rin heart pounds in his chest as he continues to touch Haru sinfully, but the navy-haired teen’s words and actions have the redhead looking down. The crimson-eyed teen stops his ministrations as he says, “oh, yeah. I’ll take it off.” Rin takes a step back, swiftly pulls down his boxers as he lightly whimpers when his hard cock brushes against the band of his boxers. Rin throws them off to the side as he pulls off his socks.

The redhead briskly presses his body against the navy-haired teen, his arm snaking around Haru’s waist, and their cocks stroke against each other erotically. Rin moans lewdly, encompassing his hand around both their penises as he says, “touch me, Haru. I want you hand around me too.”

The sapphire-eyed teen feels the warmth that the redhead emitted leave his body, Haru closes his eyes again as he slightly regrets asking the crimson-eyed teen to leave him. He tries to calm his nerves as he waits for the redhead to return, and before he knows it, Rin’s arm comes around the small of his back, gently massaging the side of his waist.

The navy-haired teen inhales sharply as their shafts brush against each other, releases a raw moan as he opens his eyes, Haru’s gaze hazy with lust. The sapphire-eyed teen whimpers when he feels Rin’s warm hand wrap around both their engorged members as he reaches up to grasp the back of crimson-eyed teen’s neck and kneads the delicate skin sweetly. Haru moans loudly as Rin’s hand slides down their cocks, feeling the precum leaking from the tip of his own shaft, and says in a shaky voice, “mmm, Rin…ahh, I, I…” The free-swimmer’s mind becomes blank, his senses overflowing with a deep-rooted craving as he moves both his hands downwards.

Haru places one hand around their thick erections, the navy-haired teen’s face flushing, while his other hand goes over the back of the redhead’s hand, feeling the slippery substance over Rin’s fingers. The sapphire-eyed teen swallows as he leads Rin’s hand up their shafts, hearing his own moan escape his lips, and a deep voice moan before feeling a sweltering warm pressure on his shoulder and a unsteady breath wash over his flesh. The free-swimmer can’t help but slip his thumb over the tips of their cocks, feeling more of the warm slippery fluid coat their fingers as he whispers softly, “Rin, more…I, I want more.”

The redhead pulls Haru’s hips closer to him, making the navy-haired teen’s cock rock against their hands and his cock as he rolls his hips forward as well. Rin moans scrumptiously as he lifts his forehead that was resting on Haru’s shoulder as he flicks his tongue over the shell of the sapphire-eyed teen’s ear, murmuring, “as…you wish…Haru.”

Rin quickens his pace as he slides his hand up and down their connected shafts, moaning into Haru’s ear alluringly. The crimson-eyed teen can feel Haru’s hands keep up with the pace the redhead has set, their fingers brushing up against each other, as he notices the sapphire-eyed teen’s hand around the back of his hand gently clench around him. He thinks it’s cute how the free-swimmer’s hand is over his, almost in a possessive manner, but the action holds some other kind of emotion that the crimson-eyed teen can’t place.

The redhead continues stroking their cocks, and feels Haru’s thumb constantly brush up against the tip of his shaft, causing the crimson-eyed teen to mewl enticingly in the navy-haired teen’s ear. Rin can hear the loud gasps that fall from the sapphire-eyed teen’s lips, the coarse moans that Haru tries to bite back, and it drives the crimson-eyed teen wild. Rin continues to thrust his hand up and down in a rhythmical hurried pace as the heat shared between them becomes unbearably hot. The redhead bites the navy-haired teen’s earlobe as he thinks, _‘dammit…I want this to last. Oh, Haru…I’m getting close. I can’t get enough…of you. I love your voice in the throws of passion, it’s sexy, babe.’_

Haru’s toes try to curl under the solidity of the titled floor below him, he can feel his knees slightly shake as the overwhelming passion flows through his body. The navy-haired teen feels his heart pound in his chest, the caresses of Rin’s fingertips against his waist, sending shivers throughout his being. The sapphire-eyed teen tries to conceal his erotic moans by biting his bottom lip, feeling Rin’s hot mouth next to his ear, his breath making the free-swimmer fire up further with a boiling desire. Haru notices Rin’s pace quicken, and he moves his hands in time with Rin, wanting to be close to him, wanting nothing more than to just ‘ _being_ ’ with him in passionate bliss. The navy-haired teen’s breathlessly says, “more…Rin…faster…I…I’m…ahh.”

Haru’s body writhes in ecstasy as he throws his head back into the tiled wall gently, arching his back wantonly as his cum splashes all over their torsos. The navy-haired teen mutters Rin’s name over and over as he continues to slide his hand up and down their shafts, riding out the rest of his orgasm.

Rin brushes the tip of the sapphire-eyed teen’s cock, and feels the splatter of cum on his body. The redhead moans as realization hit him, Haru has reached his climax. The crimson-eyed teen smiles tenderly as he continues to slide his hand over their shafts, wanting Haru to ride out his orgasm, and trying to reach his own. Rin feels Haru’s hand continue to move up and down their cocks, and the thought of the navy-haired teen jacking them off, throws Rin down the spiral of his own climax. Rin pants heavily as he gasps with his own orgasm. The redhead continues to slide his hand up and down their joined penises, he grunts with euphoria, and drags his nails across Haru’s tender flesh on the navy-haired teen’s waist as he breathlessly moans Haru’s name.

The two teens unwrap their hands from their members, panting densely, and Rin embraces the sapphire-eyed teen lovingly. The redhead tightly squeezes Haru’s waist as he crushes his body over the free-swimmer, not caring about the cum all over their bodies. Rin whispers, “Haru…I am so happy…to be here with you.” The redhead thinks, _‘I am totally in love with you, Haru. One day…I will be able to say those words to you.’_

Haru moved his hands to the side, relishing in the filled feeling of his orgasm. All of a sudden, the navy-haired teen feels Rin’s arms surround his body with an affectionate embrace. The sapphire-eyed teen is about to say something, but the redhead’s masculine voice fills his senses. The free-swimmer opens his eyes as he listens to Rin’s words. Haru heart softens and his eyes start to water. Without much thought, the sapphire-eyed teen envelops his arms around Rin’s shoulders, drawing tender circles on Rin’s creamy skin. He thinks, _‘Rin…I’m so happy to be with you too. I love you.’_

The navy-haired teen closes his eyes and lets the tears fall down his face. He sighs as he holds on the redhead securely. They haven’t seen each other since they left for university back in Iwatobi, and their last night together was two evenings before they left home. Haru remembers that night, and in the moment, he feels like they just picked up right where they left off. They promised each other to keep in contact, to satisfy their needs any means necessary, and they have done just that. The memories make the sapphire-eyed teen smile and he says, “Rin…I want to see you in the water.” 

Rin chuckles as he whispers in the navy-haired teen’s ear, “oh? Wanting to see me all wet already.”

The free-swimmer’s eyes widen before he playfully smacks the back of crimson-eyed teen’s head. Haru knits his eyebrows as he realizes that he hit the redhead with his cum filled hand. The navy-haired teen stares at his hand for a moment thinking, _‘oops. I shouldn’t have used that hand. He’ll take a shower anyway…no big deal.’_ Haru silently laughs to himself, shifts his gaze away from Rin, an embarrassed blush staining his cheeks as he says, “maybe I just want to see you covered in water…with my _beloved_...water. Then we can take a bath together.”

The redhead feels Haru’s smack and laughs wholeheartedly, but when he hears Haru’s words, Rin frowns slightly and says, “oi, oi.” The crimson-eyed teen squeezes Haru as he bites his earlobe before saying, “are you saying you love the water more than me? That’s harsh, Haru! You know that I…” Rin’s eyes widen as he realizes what his own words imply.

The all-around swimmer flushes profusely as he continues, “uh…well, yeah…I guess you do love the water…a lot, huh? Alright, alright. Let’s take a shower now. Since we made a pretty big mess.”

Rin untangles his arms around Haru’s waist with a slight stumble, but catches himself as he takes a couple steps back. He refuses to meet those deep blue eyes, afraid to see the navy-haired teen question his previous statement. The redhead moves to the side and turns the knobs for the showerhead, looking up at the spray of warm water as it hits his chest.

Haru listens to Rin’s response and his heart nearly stops at the implication the redhead was going with his words. But then the crimson-eyed teen went a different direction, covering up the meaning behind his words with more words. Haru wonders if Rin really wanted to say something else, something more intimate and meaningful, but he doesn’t even know if he can say those words back to the redhead.

The navy-haired teen notices the all-around swimmer unwrap his arms around him, feeling their sticky chests disconnect, and leaving the sapphire-eyed teen feeling only the coolness of the tiled wall. He watches the redhead move away and turn on the showerhead.

Haru’s eyes widen in astonishment. Seeing Rin under the spray of immaculate water, watching the spray of water hit Rin’s tawny-peach skin and leaving rivulets and droplets of water rolling down his flawless body makes the navy-haired teen gasp at the scene before him. The sapphire-eyed teen continues to observe the redhead dip his head under the splash of water, thinking, _‘amazing. I can see the water accept Rin so preciously. Rin…you look glorious. And the water…it sparkles around you. Beautiful.’_

The redhead dips his head under the stream of water, enjoying the warmth. After a few moments of enjoying the heat beating down on his body, the crimson-eyed teen moves away from the stream of water, shaking his head back and forth, and running a hand through his now wet locks of hair. The all-around swimmer opens his eyes and finds his gaze settling on the navy-haired teen still standing against the wall.

Rin peers at the sight of Haru’s naked form, ogling his desirable cock, admiring his sculpted muscles, and noticing his cum-stained torso and chest gleaming in the light as well as a blush on his cheeks. Finally, the crimson-eyed looks into those deep blue orbs and finds Haru’s gaze glistening with some kind of emotion. Rin’s cheeks start to heat up as he realizes that the sapphire-eyed teen probably has been staring at him since he turned on the showerhead. Rin looks away as he scratches the back of his head and says, “uh…are you joining me, Haru?”

The sapphire-eyed teen shifts his gaze when Rin stares at him with a blush on his cheeks and says, “yeah.” The free-swimmer pushes himself off the titled wall, walks over to the redhead, feeling the heated gentle spray of water hit the side of his body as he cups the back of the crimson-eyed teen’s neck and pulls him down for a kiss.

The kiss starts off slow and sensual, just a simple pressing of lips, until Haru pulls back slightly before tenderly biting Rin’s bottom lip as the free-swimmer slips his other hand around the crimson-eyed teen’s back, pressing his hand firmly on Rin’s ass, kneading the flesh between his fingertips.

Rin observes the navy-haired teen walk towards him with purpose. The redhead’s eyes waver under those deep blue determined gaze, feeling his cheeks burn a darker shade of red. In one swift movement, Haru pulls him down for a kiss, a sweet smashing of lips. Before the redhead knows what hits him, the navy-haired teen moves back, ending the tenderness. The crimson-eyed teen sighs in contentment for a moment before he moans, feeling a gentle pull on his bottom lip and a hand massaging his ass. Rin’s blush turns a darker shade of red as he opens his eyes to find Haru’s half-lidded deep blue orbs begging him to do something about his little attack. Rin’s heart swells with rapture and rivalry, his crimson eyes reflecting desire and playfulness.

The navy-haired teen takes in a shaky breath as he releases Rin’s bottom lip. The sapphire-eyed teen licks his upper lip.

The crimson-eyed teen watches Haru’s tongue, impatiently waiting for that delightful muscle to stop in its tracks. When the free-swimmer is done moistening his lip, and teasing him at the same time, Rin grunts as he cups Haru’s face and forcefully crashes their mouths together in a sloppy kiss.

The two teens compete with each other, fighting for dominance in the kiss. Their tongues twisting and thrusting over and under each other, tasting and feeling each other. Rin moans with fervor, moving his hands past Haru’s ears, running his fingers through the sapphire-eyed teen’s dark blue locks and clasping his hand around the free-swimmer’s hair, deepening the hungry kiss.

Haru flushes when Rin grasps his hair gently, pulling him closer to the redhead. The navy-haired teen arches his back, releases Rin’s butt and places his hand under the redhead’s arm, and over his shoulder. He continues to tangle his tongue with the crimson-eyed teen above him, feeling raw and cherished. Haru breaks the kiss by moving his head to the side slightly, panting heavily.

The redhead was enjoying their playful rivalry, and was a little disappointed to find that Haru’s lips were gone. Rin hears the sapphire-eyed teen panting near him and he smiles as he breathes in much needed air. The crimson-eyed teen untangles his hands from Haru’s navy locks and rests his hands on the free-swimmer’s neck loosely.

Before the redhead could open his eyes, he hears Haru’s vulnerable voice say between pants, “You…the water…my friends…my family…are my everything. I…really missed you, Rin. And, don’t cry.”

Rin opens his eyes and is met with transparent blue eyes. The redhead can’t help but break into a precious smile, eyes becoming slits due to his wide smile and says, “Haru, you…that was romantic! I love it!” The crimson-eyed teen wraps his arms around the navy-haired teen’s shoulders and squeezes him feeling his whole being fluttering with happiness.

Haru accepts the hug willingly, his cheeks stained pink with Rin’s response. The navy-haired teen is glad that the redhead is unable to stare at his face, but he smiles knowing that he has made the crimson-eyed teen cheerful. He says after a couple of moments, “let’s take a shower. I want to take a bath afterwards.”

Rin chuckles and says, “you and your bath. You know, Makoto tells me that he still comes over here pulling you out of your bathtub. I swear, you never change, Haru.” The crimson-eyed teen releases the shorter teen, kissing his cheek tenderly before grabbing the shampoo bottle and squirting the contents into his hands.

The navy-haired teen takes the opportunity to submerge himself under the spray of water, thinking to himself, _‘I have a surprise for you Rin. Sakura petals in the bathtub.’_

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

** December 21st, Sunday, 11: 41 pm **

Makoto is in his bedroom unfolding the futon that he had stored away in his closet. The brunette shakes out the futon and places it on the floor, smoothing out the wrinkles in the fabric. The emerald-eyed teen gets up, walks over to his closet and pulls out a couple of blankets from the top shelf and lays the folded fabric on his bed before he hears a deep voice say, “I gotta say, that movie was interesting. I liked all the action. Next time we should watch a horror film.”

The teal-eyed teen leans against the doorframe as he watches the brunette turn around to face him, making a face at the raven-haired teen. He smirks at the emerald-eyed teen and says, “so, one of your co-workers lent you that Captain America movie, huh? It’s a good thing it had subtitles, I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with all the English. Maybe we should have waited for Rin to watch it.”

Makoto chuckles as he picks up one of the blankets, unravels it, and says, “yeah, Watanabe-san. She’s a big fan of Marvel and Disney films. She told me that she hunts down the superhero movies and cartoons, but her English is pretty good, so she can keep up with the English. I’m glad she lent me a copy with subtitles though, I don’t think I would be able to keep up either. I don’t know if Rin has seen _Winter Soldier,_ or the first one.” The brunette gently places the blanket over the futon before picking up the second one.

The raven-haired teen continues to watch the backstroke swimmer place the blankets down on the futon before he says, “Hm, you could be right about that. I’m not sure if Rin’s into superhero movies. Although, he loves romance films. Did you watch the first one?” Sousuke walks into the bedroom and places his hand on the brunette’s shoulder.

Makoto unravels the second blanket and places it over the futon before he feels Sousuke’s hand on his shoulder. The emerald-eyed teen turns his head, peers into those teal eyes, and says, “huh? The first Captain America movie?”

Sousuke scoffs quietly and says, “yeah, the first movie. This is the first one I’ve seen.”

The brunette eyes widen as he says, “eh? Well, yeah I’ve seen the first one. Ren loves superheroes, so we rented it. How come you didn’t tell me you didn’t see the first one?”

The teal-eyed teen removes his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and runs his hand through his hair, “I didn’t know. I don’t keep up with all the movies. Besides, I think I got the gist of it. I understood most of it.”

The emerald-eyed teen chuckles, “alright. As long as you weren’t sitting next to me bored out of your mind. I guess you’re right.” Makoto grabs a pillow from his bed and gently throws it on the futon.

Sousuke watches the brunette and says, “so, are you a Captain America fan?”

Makoto turns his head and quirks an eyebrow at the raven-haired teen, “are you a Captain America fan?”

The raven-haired teen shrugs, “not really. He seems a little naïve. The guy with the eye patch was pretty cool though.”

The brunette places a hand on his hip as he places his other hand between his chin thinking for a moment before he says, “well, I liked Bucky. The Winter Soldier. He saved his friend at the end…I thought that was sweet.”

Sousuke snorts as he cross his arms, “figures. I actually watched you during that whole scene. You were getting all teary-eyed about it, but now I know why. I thought it was because Captain America got hurt and all that. After all he refused to defeat his friend and took all the punches.”

Makoto eyes widen when he hears the raven-haired teen’s response. He thinks, _‘he was watching me? Why was he watching me?’_ The emerald-eyed teen laughs nervously, staring down at the carpeted floor, “you were watching me…instead of the movie?”

The raven-haired teen’s lips part when he hears the backstroke swimmer’s voice and says carefully, “well, just for a little bit. I was curious if you…uh…got emotional like Rin does during scenes like that. You know…like do I need to keep some tissues near or something?” Sousuke slightly tightens his hold on his bicep as he thinks, _‘damn. Why did I have to mention that? I didn’t need to tell him that I was staring at him. Well, I mean, I’m glad I did watch him…he’s so expressive. I don’t think I’ve seen him look so sad in more of a touched sort of way. His eyes reflecting the light from the screen, like he was really into it. He’s really quiet during movies, not like Yumiko. Rin is pretty quiet too, but that’s because he doesn’t want anyone noticing when he’s crying, the big crybaby. Glad I came up with some kind of cover. That would have been awkward.’_

Makoto smiles sadly as he listens to the raven-haired teen’s explanation. He thinks, _‘ah. That makes sense. Rin does have a tendency to cry during emotional parts of movies, but if I recall correctly, he really bawls during romantic films.’_ The brunette looks up at the raven-haired teen and says, “oh. Well, you don’t have to worry about that. If I needed tissues, there were some near me. I know Rin can be stubborn about having tissues near. He always thinks that he won’t cry.” Makoto chuckles to himself.

Sousuke smiles and says, “yeah. Rin never changes.” The teal-eyed teen looks down at the futon and says, “thanks for making my bed for the night. I’ll make sure to fold it up in the morning for you.” The ex-butterfly swimmer uncrosses his arms and starts to walk over to the side of the futon.

The brunette quickly grabs Sousuke’s wrist to stop him in his tracks. Makoto says, “wait. I don’t want you sleeping on the floor. You’re sleeping in my bed tonight, Sousuke. I won’t take no for an answer.” He thinks, _‘no, Sousuke. I’m not letting you sleep on the floor. Someone has to take care of your shoulder. Besides, I really don’t mind sleeping on the floor.’_

The teal-eyed teen looks back when he feels a warm hand around his wrist. Sousuke turns around and says, “ha? But this is your place. You should sleep in your own bed.” He thinks, _‘sleep in you bed? You can’t be serious. That’s…well yours. I shouldn’t be sleeping in your bed.’_

Makoto releases the teal-eyed teen’s wrist as he crosses his arms with a small frown on his face, “ok. You’re right. This is my place. But, you are my guest. Trust me, my bed is much more comfortable than the futon. I’ve slept on both. And, I would prefer if you slept in my bed tonight, besides Mr. Orca-cat can keep you company.” The brunette stares at the raven-haired teen with clarity and unwavering conviction in his green eyes, daring the teal-eyed teen to argue with him on the matter.

Sousuke peers into those emerald eyes, and swallows silently. He has seen different expressions on the brunette’s face, but this is one of the first times he recalls the backstroke swimmer exhibiting a direct forceful fearlessness in his eyes. Makoto’s tone held some kind of finality on the matter, and the raven-haired teen finds himself at a loss for words. He thinks, _‘whoa, Makoto has become bolder. What happens if I defy him on this? Will he be mad?’_

The teal-eyed teen knits his eyebrows as he decides to see what happens if he refuses the emerald-eyed teen. Sousuke raises up his head slightly, gazing down at the brunette with an indifferent frown on his face as he says, “what if I don’t want to sleep in your bed? Are we just gonna have to share the futon instead?”

The emerald-eyed teen watches the raven-haired teen’s expression change from shock to disapproval. Makoto slightly quivers under those cool teal eyes, and listens to Sousuke’s words. He thinks, _‘what? Share? Share the futon? Oh, no. No, we are not sharing the futon. You aren’t getting on the floor.’_

The brunette takes a deep breath as he forces a smile on his face as he says unyieldingly, “I don’t think so, Sousuke. You will be sleeping on my bed. If I have to strap you down, I will.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow and says, “strap me down? With what?” He takes a quick look around the room, and finds nothing noteworthy and says coolly, “I don’t see anything that can take me down.”

The emerald-eyed teen titters and says, “is that a challenge, Sousuke? There are many things hidden in this room…things you could never imagine are in my possession. Do you really want me to pull those things out just to restrain you? Just to get you on my bed?”

The raven-haired teen eyes widen momentarily baffled by Makoto’s words. He wasn't expecting the brunette to say something quite like that. It sounded pretty kinky. He thinks, _‘crap…he didn’t just say that, did he? What could he possibly have hidden in this room? Handcuffs? Leather straps? A whip? A straitjacket? Dammit…I really shouldn’t wonder.’_

Makoto notices the raven-haired teen taken off guard by his words and takes the opportunity to take a step forward, turn on his heel so his back is towards the teal-eyed teen, grabs his left wrist as he bends forward and lightly pulls the ex-butterfly swimmer on his back, lifting him off the floor. He says, “you know, all I have to do is just carry you over to the bed and just pin you down.” Makoto grabs Sousuke’s leg making sure that he has a good grip on Sousuke as he looks over to the bed, which isn’t that far away.

The raven-haired teen’s mouth opens wide as he is being tenderly pulled onto Makoto’s back and lifted off the floor. He thinks, _‘shit…Makoto! What the hell are you doing!?’_ He says, “hey! Makoto! What are you doing!? Put me down, Makoto! Seriously! You shouldn’t be carrying me!” The teal-eyed teen places his hand on Makoto’s hip trying to find a way off the brunette without hurting him or himself.

Makoto starts walking over towards the bed and says, “stop moving around back there! Besides, you aren’t that heavy. Just because you are a smidgen taller than me doesn’t mean I can’t carry you. The bed isn’t that far away.” The brunette finally gets over to the bed, turns around to gently place the big oaf on the bed.

As Makoto looks over his shoulder to gauge how he should put down the ex-butterfly swimmer, Sousuke struggles behind the brunette, causing the emerald-eyed teen to lose his balance and falls on the bed in an ungraceful manner.

Sousuke falls onto the bed and grunts when Makoto’s body hits his torso. Thankfully the raven-haired teen’s head hits the pillow, but the brunette’s head is cradled in the teal-eyed teen’s left arm, the emerald-eyed teen’s body laying over the ex-butterfly swimmer’s torso, and one of his legs tangled with Makoto’s leg.

The raven-haired teen lifts his torso off the bed to make sure Makoto is okay and he finds the brunette trying to get up. Sousuke lifts his hands over the brunette’s torso and says, “dude. What the hell? You aren’t getting away with that!” Sousuke starts tickling the emerald-eyed teen.

The brunette gasps as he falls onto the bed on top of Sousuke. He notices that the impact of the fall wasn’t too bad, but the brunette also hears the teal-eyed teen grunt. He thinks, _‘shit. Oh shit! I can’t believe I lost my balance! Did I hurt him!? Crap, I think I might have hurt him.’_ Makoto tries to get up carefully without hurting the raven-haired teen under him. Suddenly, the emerald-eyed teen feels strong fingers moving along the sides of his torso, tickling him. Makoto breaks out into a fit of laughter, trying to hold his sides, and falling back down on the ex-butterfly swimmer as he between laughs, “stop it. St-stop! Ack…that’s…no. No more. Sou…sou…stop. That…tickles! Oh my…god! Sousuke.”

The teal-eyed teen smiles as he hears Makoto’s laughter. Makoto falls back down on his arm, trying to swat his hands away from his body. Every time the brunette asked him to stop, he would ferociously continue tickling up and down the sides of the emerald-eyed teen’s torso. Sousuke’s smile widens as the backstroke swimmer’s whole face turns red and the words become only laugher falling through those lips. The raven-haired stops his revenge when he realizes that the brunette in his arms seems to have difficulty breathing and watches him.

Sousuke’s smile fades as a pink flush stains his cheeks. His teal eyes wavers as he continues staring at Makoto, noticing his adam’s apple bobbing with each laugh, his nice smooth clear skin around his neck, his defined jawline, his supple parted lips, and the cute crinkles around his eyes when he laughs. The teal-eyed teen swallows silently, as he continues to watch the brunette in his arms tries to control his fit of laughter. He thinks, _‘wow. He is beautiful when he laughs. I can watch this…forever.’_

Makoto holds his sides when Sousuke’s fingers leaves his torso. The brunette just let’s all the laughter out, trying to control his body and emotions once his laughing fit starts to wear off. The brunette can feel tears leaving his eyes towards the end of his laughing fit and lifts one hand to wipe the tears from both eyes.

Makoto covers his mouth as he opens his eyes slowly. The brunette is met with shimmering teal eyes that reflect some kind of wonder. The backstroke swimmer blinks a couple of times thinking, _‘why is he looking at me like that? His eyes…they glisten. It reminds me of the ocean when the calming waves roll up…kissing the shoreline. Is he blushing? He looks…so charming.’_

The brunette feels his ears burn, and he moves his hand over his ear as he chuckles nervously, “uh…sorry. I am quite ticklish. You got me good.” Makoto gives Sousuke a small smile trying to will a blush from spreading to his cheeks.

Sousuke breaks eye contact when he sees the brunette’s smile, looking away. He can tell that there is a blush on his cheeks, and doesn’t want to further embarrass himself in front of the teen in his arms. He says carefully, “I’ve noticed. You aren’t hurt or anything…are you?”

With Sousuke’s question, Makoto’s eyes widen and he quickly gets off of the raven-haired teen, shifts his weight on the bed to face the teal-eyed teen, and sits in seiza as he places his palm in between Sousuke’s legs, leaning forward with an outstretched arm. Makoto places his hand on the teal-eyed teen’s right shoulder and says with concern, “how about you? Are you hurt? Is your shoulder ok?”

The raven-haired teen feels Makoto’s hand on his shoulder, followed by apprehensive questions. Sousuke turns his head to find the emerald-eyed teen staring at his shoulder with worry. The teal-eyed teen gazes at those green eyes momentarily, finding something interesting in those eyes.

Every time his family asks about his health or looked at him with worry or concern, he saw pity, shame, and reproach. It always made him feel bitter, guilty, and remorseful for his past choices. But here, Makoto is staring at him with worry, but he gets this feeling that the brunette isn’t judging him, and that he is asking him as a whole person rather than just a part of him.

Sousuke closes his eyes and thinks, _‘Makoto. How do you do that? When you ask, I don’t feel judged. Damn…my dad just gave me crap about my shoulder, and here you are asking a similar question, but it comes across so differently.’_

Sousuke says in a vulnerable whisper, “I’m…I’m ok, Makoto. Nothing you did really hurt me. My shoulder is fine. You didn’t pull my right arm when you carried me. It was my left.”

The emerald-eyed teen’s ears perk up when he hears Sousuke’s unguarded murmur. He looks up to find the raven-haired teen’s eyebrows slightly knitted. Without much thought, Makoto starts to move his hand with the intention of cupping the teal-eyed teen’s cheek tenderly, but he stops, his hand hovering in the air. He thinks, _‘what am I doing? I wanted to comfort him in some way…there is sadness behind those words. Something…something else is bothering him. He said I didn’t hurt him. I have to trust his words.’_

Makoto drops his hand and places it over the back of his other hand as he says, “ok. I just wanted to make sure. I lost my footing…and I sort of dropped you on the bed. I wasn’t sure if I hurt you or not. And…you didn’t hurt me. You broke my fall.”

Sousuke smiles as he opens his eyes to find curious green orbs gazing at him. He says softly, “good. I’m glad I was there to catch you then. Next time…give me some kind of warning before you pull me over and carry me like that. I thought you wouldn’t be able to handle a big guy like me.”

The brunette chuckles feeling relief hearing the raven-haired teen’s words, “alright. I’ll give you some kind of warning next time. I’m not weak, Sousuke. If I wanted to, I could have carried you much further. Besides, I don’t think you are any heavier than I am.”

The teal-eyed teen scoffs lightly, rubbing his neck, “I didn’t say you were weak. I just didn’t want you to hurt yourself.” Sousuke looks at the brunette before him, quickly assessing the emerald-eyed teen’s size and muscle mass before he continues, “you’re right. You and I are probably around the same weight. If I can carry you, I shouldn’t be so surprised that you could too. I guess I’m just used to guys being shorter than me…and you I guess.”

Makoto smiles, sitting back down on the bed in seiza as he says, “glad that’s all settled. So, you’re sleeping in my bed, and I’ll be close by on the futon. Do you need anything before heading to bed?”

Sousuke huffs as he says, “I guess I don’t have a choice do I? Just…” The raven-haired teen crosses his legs on the bed as he thinks, _‘I guess I’m just a little nervous for some reason. Sleeping in Makoto’s bed. Who knows what happened on this bed. That Takeshi guy seems kinda…physical.’_ The teal-eyed teen frowns lightly at his own thoughts.

The brunette watches Sousuke’s facial expressions wondering what the raven-haired teen could be thinking. Makoto ponders, _‘hmm. He really seems hesitant to be sleeping on the bed. I wonder why. Besides the fact that I don’t want him sleeping on the floor…he has a westernized bed in his own place. I thought that it would be more comfortable for him. So what could it be?’_

Makoto says carefully, “I changed the sheets last night…if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Sousuke shifts his eyes and side glances over at the brunette sitting in front of him. He notices the brunette fussing over his thoughts, and taking a stab at what could be concerning him. The raven-haired teen thinks, _‘I should just put that out of my mind. He’ll continue worrying like crazy if I let it show.’_ The teal-eyed teen sighs and says, “yeah, you got me. Well, since that’s settled, let’s just get to bed.”

Makoto knits his eyebrows and frowns lightly momentarily. He watches the teal-eyed teen’s face noticing that he isn’t going to get anything else out of Sousuke. The brunette nods as he gets off the bed. He says, “let me just make sure everything is turned off in the living room. Besides, I left my cell in the kitchen.”

Sousuke nods at the brunette as he leaves the bedroom. The raven-haired teen gets up, pulls the covers, sits back down on the bed as he takes off his socks getting ready for bed.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------

** December 21st, Sunday, 10: 52 pm **

Rin is in the white tub with Haru between his legs, leaning against his chest as the two teens are surrounded by sakura flowers; the flowers stained the water a pale pink color. The redhead smiles as he recalls finishing up his shower to find Haru preparing their bath. The navy-haired teen was being secretive about something, but the crimson-eyed teen wasn’t sure until he took a peek over his shoulder to find sakura flowers in the bathtub as the sapphire-eyed teen filled the bath with water.

Rin was really surprised to see the bathtub filled with sakura flowers, and when Haru turned around to lead them into the tub, the redhead couldn’t help but kiss the navy-haired teen sweetly on the forehead before enveloping his lips over Haru’s.

The two teens argued about their seating arrangement, as Haru wanted to be the one to spoon the redhead, and Rin wanted to do the same. Rin lightly glared at the sapphire-eyed teen, as Haru did the same. Rin suggested rock-paper-scissors and whoever won three rounds got to choose. They both got one round, but they kept tying for the third, which frustrated the redhead. Haru conceded saying that since the redhead didn’t have a bathtub in his dormitory, he can spoon him in the bathtub, the water will accept him either way.

Rin’s thoughts shift as his eyes notices a blue dolphin swimming farther down towards the other side of the bathtub. He thinks, _‘he brought that here? I remember that dolphin toy. Haru’s had that for a long time, not sure how long, but it does look familiar, like I’ve seen it somewhere else. Anyway, I recall Haru playing with it when he took a bath back at his house.’_ The redhead asks, “do you always have that dolphin in the tub with you, Haru?”

The sapphire-eyed teen nods and says, “yes. Usually. He’s my companion.” The navy-haired teen leans his head back on Rin’s broad chest, his eyes cast downward as he bring his hands close to the water’s surface, quickly making a fist over the water as he squirts forward, hitting the dolphin in front of them.

Rin jerks his body forward when he witnesses Haru’s little trick. He says, “how did you do that?”

The navy-haired teen slightly frowns as Rin moves behind him. Haru tilts his body to the side as he twists his torso, and turns his head to stare at the redhead through the corner of his eyes. He says, “it’s not hard. I can show you.” 

The redhead smiles, “yeah. Show me, Haru.” Rin sits up, looking over Haru’s shoulder.

Haru turns his head back and smiles to himself. He looks down and places his hand over Rin’s right hand, leading the redhead closer to surface of the water. He says, “here. I’ll do it with my left. You can try with your right.” The navy-haired teen quickly makes a fist, squirting a stream of water over to the other side.

Rin watches the navy-haired teen closely, and makes a quickly makes a fist with his hand, but the stream of water is puny because he wasn’t close enough to the surface. The redhead grunts behind the sapphire-eyed teen.

Haru chuckles lightly and says, “here.” The free-swimmer places his hands over Rin’s hand, lifting their hands closer to the water’s surface. He says, “try again.”

The crimson-eyed teen licks his lips and says, “ok.” Rin tries again, this time Haru gently helps him swiftly make a fist in the water, and they squirt a stream of water all the way to the other end of the tub, hitting the titled wall.

Rin chuckles as he says, “let me try again.”

Haru releases his hold on the redhead and watches the crimson-eyed teen try again. The sapphire-eyed teen smiles as the all-around swimmer is able to squirt a stream of water.

Rin smiles as he says, “alright. Maybe we should head to bed, Haru. It’s been a long day, and I’m getting tired.”

Haru sighs lightly, knowing that the redhead is right. He thinks, ‘ _Yeah…he mentioned it was an 11 hour flight…that’s a long time to be in the air.’_ They have been soaking in the tub for a while, and the water has become lukewarm. The navy-haired teen nods as he gently pulls Rin’s arm off his torso, getting out of the tub, grabbing the fluffy blue towels on the towel rack.

Rin gets up carefully, getting out of the bathtub, and notices Haru handing him a towel. The redhead takes the towel and starts drying off this body.

The navy-haired teen says, “go to the washroom and dry you’re hair, Rin. It’s in the second drawer of the bathroom cabinet. I’ll be there in a minute.”

The crimson-eyed teen shifts his gaze over to Haru and nods, “alright.”

Rin walks out of the bathroom and heads over to the small washroom. As he stands in front of the faucet with a mirror above it, he decides to finish off drying his body and towel dries his hair. After drying his hair with the towel, he ties the baby blue towel around his waist as he looks through the cabinet drawers. When he finds the white hair dryer, he plugs it in and starts drying his hair.

Haru walks into the washroom when Rin is just about done with the hair dryer. The navy-haired teen leans against the doorframe watching the redhead rustle his crimson locks with his hand with the hair dryer. The sapphire-eyed teen smiles as the all-around swimmer looks over at him with a shark-like grin. Rin takes a few steps towards Haru, grabs his wrist and leads him closer to the faucet before the redhead turns the hair dryer facing the free-swimmer.

Haru closes his eyes as he feels the hot air blasts into his hair and face. He opens one eye to find Rin running his hand through his hair as he dries it. The navy-haired teen places his hands on Rin’s smooth chest as the redhead continues to dry his dark blue locks. The sapphire-eyed teen trails his hands up tracing with his fingertips the crimson-eyed teen’s pronounced collarbone. All of a sudden, Rin places his hand on Haru’s shoulder and gently pushes the free-swimmer to turn around.

Haru turns on his heel, facing the doorway, disappointed that he couldn’t continue exploring the crimson-eyed teen’s body. He sighs, but it falls on deaf ears as the hair dryer drowns out his voice.

After a few minutes, Rin turns off the hair dryer and says, “how’s that?” The redhead places the hair dryer on the faucet counter.

Haru turns around and runs his hands through his hair. He says with satisfaction, “good.” The navy-haired teen looks up at the crimson-eyed teen and threads his fingers through Rin’s red silky hair and says, “you’re good too.”

Rin chuckles as he gently wraps his hand around Haru’s wrist and says, “c’mon. Let’s get to bed.” The redhead releases Haru’s arm, and unplugs the hair dryer.

The sapphire-eyed teen nods and says, “I’ll meet you there when you are done.” The navy-haired teen turns on his heel and swiftly saunters out of the washroom.

Rin rolls up the cord of the hair dyer as he watches Haru leave the washroom. He thinks, _‘huh…I wonder what he’s up to. He left in a hurry.’_ The crimson-eyed teen shrugs to himself, bending down and pulling the drawer open to put the hair dryer away. The redhead looks at himself in the mirror running his hands through his hair, finger combing his red locks.

Rin looks down and finds that his white and red toothbrush is in a toothbrush holder next to Haru’s. The all-around swimmer thinks, _‘Haru. I should have known he would go through my bags. Glad this was the last thing I packed, makes it easier to find. He must have dealt with it while I was cooking.’_ He smiles to himself as he decides to brush his teeth before heading over to bed.

After Rin brushes his teeth and wipes his mouth with a hand towel, he heads over to Haru’s bedroom and says, “oi, Haru. Did you get dressed yet?” Before the redhead could open the slightly ajar door, the navy-haired teen comes out and says, “no.”

The crimson-eyed teen tilts his head to the side with eyebrows raised. His eyes travel down the sapphire-eyed teen’s body and notices that Haru still has a towel hanging around his waist. He says with amusement, “eh? I thought you would have changed by…” Rin watches the free swimmer walk pass him.

The navy-haired teen places his hands on Rin’s shoulder blades and says, “let’s go to bed.” He’s glad that the crimson-eyed can’t see his face, feeling his cheeks slightly flush, a little embarrassed about what he had prepared for the redhead. Haru pushes Rin closer to his bedroom. He thinks, _‘maybe I overdid it. Rin does like romance. Makoto did say it would be romantic. Well…it’s too late to backtrack now. I’ll just show him.’_

Rin tries to look back at the sapphire-eyed teen and suddenly he feels a strong push forward. He says, “oi, Haru! What are you doing? We need to change first. We can’t just go to bed in a tow…” The redhead is pushed into Haru’s bedroom and his eyes widen with shock that he stops talking.

The crimson-eyed teen notices that the room is dim with only two star lamps hanging from the ceiling lighting the whole room. The star lamps are a beautiful shade of cerulean blue with images of dolphins, shells, droplets of water, and a sand dollar in the center. Rin notices that the droplets of water glow pretty shade of bluish-green, the small starfish glow a lovely shade sunny yellow, and the dolphins glow in a sky blue color. Rin’s eyes travel downwards, and everything is clean and tidy, but the large, queen sized futon on the floor is what has the redhead rendered speechless.

The all-around swimmer’s eyes slowly scan the off-white plush futon, noticing dried sakura blossoms spread out all over the inviting futon with a white sheet and two blankets on top, folded down.

Haru closes his bedroom door as Rin looks around the room. He walks over to the side of the redhead to gaze up at his face and he can clearly see shock within the crimson-eyed teen’s face, and a hint of a fierce blush staining his cheeks. The sapphire-eyed teen intertwines his fingers with the redhead, leading him over to the futon as he says, “let’s lie down, Rin.”

The redhead stupefied, follows Haru over to the futon, thinking, _‘Haru…wha? What’s all this? Did you…just…shit. This is too much. This is…romantic, just…damn, Haru. First the tub of sakura flowers, now this.’_

The navy-haired teen carefully walks onto the foot of the futon, turns to face the redhead and grasps his other hand as he asks, “Rin…Rin are you ok?”

The all-around swimmer stares down at Haru, his eyes focusing on those deep blue orbs and says, “Haru…what is all this?”

The navy-haired teen looks away, tenderly squeezing Rin’s hands, and feeling his heart race within his chest. He thinks, _‘I did this for you, Rin. I did this because I wanted you to know how much you mean to me.’_ He says in a calm voice, “I thought you would like it.”

The redhead squeezes Haru’s hands when he feels the gentle pressure from the navy-haired teen and says, “I do. I really do like this. I just…I guess I’m surprised that you would do all this. It really is amazing, Haru.”

Haru shifts his eyes over to peer at the crimson-eyed teen in front of him, and he can still see those rosy cheeks, indicating that Rin does indeed likes the gesture the sapphire-eyed teen has displayed. He smiles and says tenderly, “lie down, Rin. I want to see you…with the sakura blossoms.”

The crimson-eyed teen’s blushes an even darker shade of red as he stammers, “wha-what? Shouldn’t we get changed first before we get into the…”

Haru turns his head and gazes at the redhead. He listens to Rin’s words, but as soon as he realizes what the all-around swimmer intentions are, the navy-haired teen shakes his head, answering Rin’s question.

Rin blinks a couple of times and asks cautiously, “uh…so we aren’t getting changed? We are sleeping naked?”

Haru finds it amusing that the redhead seems to be nervous and nods his head. The sapphire-eyed teen gets down on his knees and gently pulls Rin’s hands, illustrating to the crimson-eyed teen to come down on the futon with him.

The all-around swimmer observes the navy-haired teen get down on the futon, and he let out a shaky breath. He feels a gentle pull on his hands and without much thought, the redhead gets down on his knees.

The free-swimmer focuses his attention on the crimson-eyed teen, and when the redhead kneels down beside him, Haru untangles his hands with Rin, swiftly pulls the towel off the all-around swimmer, throwing it off to the side.

Before Rin could retort, the navy-haired teen quickly leans forward, cradling the back of Rin’s head, and capturing Rin’s parted lips in a blistering kiss. Haru gently continues to lean forward causing the redhead to descend into the futon. The sapphire-eyed teen pulls off his own towel, tossing it in the same direction as the previous towel, placing his hand down on the soft futon below, near Rin’s waist as the free-swimmer continues to lean forward into the kiss.

The all-around swimmer is blown away with Haru’s haste, pulling off his towel and kissing him abruptly. At first his eyes widen, but as the navy-haired teen thrusts his tongue into his mouth, Rin can’t help but wrap his arms around the free swimmer, tenderly kneading the back of Haru’s neck. The redhead softly falls onto futon, feeling himself being lead down into the futon with care. Rin feels his body heat up with desire as he succumbs to the smoldering kiss. The crimson-eyed teen wraps his legs around Haru’s waist as he is gingerly placed on the futon.

Haru moans into the kiss, moving his hand on the futon to wrap around Rin’s thigh, massaging the hard muscle. The navy-haired teen breaks the kiss as he bumps his forehead with Rin’s before rubbing his nose over the redhead’s. Haru breathes heavily as he catches his breath from the steamy kiss, feeling the sizzling heat build in the pit of his belly.

The free-swimmer licks his lips tasting a hint of mint. Haru smiles as he realizes that the crimson-eyed teen had brushed his teeth while he was setting things up in the bedroom. Carefully the navy-haired teen releases his hold on the back of Rin’s head and slides his hand out to place his palm on the fluffy pillow, lifting himself back up a bit so he can peer down at the sight of Rin on the futon with the spread of sakura blossoms.

The sapphire-eyed teen watches the redhead with his eyes closed, head tilted to the side, panting, with a slight blush on his cheeks, and sakura flowers around the redhead. Haru just stares down at the redhead, his eyes sparkling as he is awestruck at the beauty before him. Subconsciously, the navy-haired teen strokes his fingertips over Rin’s thigh; caressing up Rin’s hip and down to the redhead’s knee.

Rin bites his lip when the kiss ends, relishing in the delightful feeling of having his mouth ravished so intensely by his boyfriend. The redhead feels Haru press his forehead with his, and their noses brush against each other as the navy-haired teen’s warm breath sweeping over his face.

The redhead shudders as he releases his hold on Haru’s neck, dropping his hands down on the pillow beneath him, moving his head to the side, panting as he thinks, _‘he’s left me breathless. Haru…how many surprises are you going to spring on me before the day ends? I am gonna get you back, I promise you that. When we get back to Iwatobi…I promise. I will do something special for you.’_

The redhead notices a thrilling pressure fondling up and down his hip, thigh, and knee. Rin sighs as he opens his eyes to find deep blue orbs gazing down at him. The redhead watches Haru above him and his heart starts fluttering. Rin breaks into a smile before he grins. The crimson-eyed teen tightens his hold on Haru’s waist as he grasps the navy-haired teen’s biceps, turning them over so the sapphire-eyed teen is pinned down on the futon.

The navy-haired teen gasps as Rin’s legs tighten around his waist, and being swiftly turned over. Haru closes his eyes as the quick action takes place. The sapphire-eyed teen hears the redhead’s deep voice say, “Haru…what did you have planned tonight? The mood lighting, the sakura flowers, sleeping in the nude...” Rin leans down and whispers in Haru’s ear in a lust filled tone, “it makes me think that you want to do naughty things…Ha-ru.”

Haru opens his eyes when he hears the redhead say his name in that deep tone, and a shiver runs through his body. He can feel Rin’s weight on his belly and his hands reach up to place them on the redhead’s smooth thighs. The navy-haired teen says softly, “I wanted you to fill me tonight, but I changed my mind. I want to be the one to fill you…Rin.”

Rin lifts himself up to look into those clear blue eyes. The redhead grins and says, “oh? How are you going to manage that, Haru? I’m on top right now.”

The navy-haired teen narrows his eyes slightly before he smirks, “then you will have to bounce, Rin. You can touch yourself as I pound into you.”

The all-around swimmer’s eyes widen as he just stares at Haru. The redhead’s cheeks flush. Rin feels the heat on his cheeks, covers his face with his hands as he says, “Haru! Do you have to say something so embarrassing?”

Haru smiles as he witnesses the crimson-eyed teen blush and cover his face. The sapphire-eyed teen moves his hands up to Rin’s hips as he massages the flesh around the redhead’s hipbone and says salaciously, “you on top like this, bouncing up and down, moaning my name, Rin…as you slide your hands down your beautiful body. Your hands wrapping around your own…” The navy-haired teen thrusts his hips upwards to see what the redhead would do.

Rin inhales sharply as Haru paints a picture and when he feels the free-swimmer’s hips lightly jerk upwards, the crimson-eyed teen says quickly, “Haru!”

The navy-haired teen lifts himself up as he pries one of Rin’s hands away from his face. Haru takes Rin’s hand into his and nuzzles the redhead’s hand sweetly. Haru looks into those crimson eyes and says, “Rin, I want to please you tonight. You had a long flight, and you said you were tired. I want you to relax, and let me do all the work.”

The crimson-eyed teen stares at Haru as he removes one of his hands away from his face. He listens to Haru’s words, and he drops his other hand down from his face as he thinks, _‘did he just say he would do all the work? I thought he said that being on the top is too much work…that it was too much effort.’_ Rin says as he shifts his gaze to the side, “how about we challenge each other…” Before the redhead could finish his sentence, Haru lies back down on the futon and says, “or you could remain on top and give me a show, just like our skype chats.”

Rin knits his eyebrows and decides to caress the navy-haired teen’s chest, brushing against Haru’s nipples as he says, “I’m not the only one giving a show during our skype chats, Haru. If I recall correctly, you used a dildo last time, you really got me off with that. What did you call it?”

The navy-haired teen quivers and arches his back as Rin tantalizes his sensitive flesh as he answers the redhead’s question in a bare whisper, “saba-kun.” Haru moans lightly with Rin’s feather light touches and says as he murmurs, “why? You want me to take saba-kun out for you? You want a show, Rin?”

The redhead bites his bottom lip, considering Haru’s suggestion as he continues fondling the sapphire-eyed teen’s supple nipples. The crimson-eyed teen inhales sharply as watches the navy-haired teen below him react to his ministrations. Desire pools deep within the redhead’s belly, and he feels his cock becoming harder and harder with each caress of Haru’s body.

Rin says defenselessly, “I don’t think…I will be able to keep myself away from you, Haru. It’s been…” The all-around swimmer gently squeezes the pert nubs between his fingers and continues, “way too long.”

Haru gasps as he gazes up at the crimson-eyed teen above him with hazy half-lidded eyes as Rin tantalizes his flesh. The navy-haired teen’s skin sizzles with hunger, his shaft hardening and a flush staining his cheeks and ears. Rin’s raw words linger in the air as the navy-haired teen thinks, _‘it has been too long…I’ve missed your touch on my body, your gaze as embarrassing as it is, but tonight…tonight I will have you, Rin.’_

The sapphire-eyed teen moans and exhales roughly as he whispers, “Rin, I want you.” Haru gets the sudden urge to lift himself up to cover his lips over the redhead’s in a sloppy, wet kiss.

Rin’s eyes were focused on Haru’s deliciously perky nipples and failed to notice Haru moving up and is caught off-guard as the navy-haired teen kisses him. The crimson-eyed teen embraces the free-swimmer, placing one hand around Haru’s shoulder and running his other hand through navy strands, caressing his scalp.

Rin melts into a clumsy, moist kiss feeling his senses swarming with erotic delight. The all-around swimmer feels the navy-haired teen wrap his arm around his waist, pulling the redhead closer. The two teens moan softly into the kiss as Rin’s hardening dick brushes against Haru’s abs.

The navy-haired teen flips them over, breaking the kiss as he gently pulls Rin’s bottom lip between his teeth and letting go before saying in a breathy tone, “mmm, Rin…I…am with you. I will always be…” The sapphire-eyed teen slightly knits his eyebrows and descends down Rin’s body. Haru thrusts his tongue over Rin’s chest, right over Rin’s heart as he continues, “here. I’ll always be right here.”

The free-swimmer swirls his tongue over Rin’s flesh, moving over to the redhead’s nipple and envelops his mouth over the soft, sensitive flesh. Haru twirls his tongue over the nub before gently grasping it between his teeth and pulling on the plump bud of flesh and letting go. Haru licks his lips as he was rewarded with a wanton moan from the redhead, Rin grasping a handful of his navy hair between his fingers. The navy-haired teen smiles as he does the same to the other nipple.

Rin’s heart palpitates with exhilaration as his back hits the downy futon. His back arches up forward as Haru pulls his bottom lip and his blood blisters with radiating heat exploding throughout his body, his penis twitching with prurient energy.

When the sapphire-eyed teen releases his lip, Rin bites his lower lip, as he listens to Haru’s words. The crimson-eyed teen tries to process his words, but his mind seems sluggish with his senses overflowing with desire. As Haru whirls his tongue over his chest, Rin moves one of his hands, his palm against his forehead as he listens to the navy-haired teen’s words. He thinks with a fog, _‘huh? Always be...here. On my chest? Wait, my chest…no…that’s not what he means. He means…my heart. Always be in my heart…Haru.’_

The redhead’s hand in Haru’s hair tightens slightly as the meaning of the sapphire-eyed teen’s words hit the crimson-eyed teen. As the free-swimmer moves over to his tender nipples, Rin’s body reacts abruptly, muscles tensing as Haru’s slippery tongue entices deep moans to escape from the crimson-eyed teen’s mouth and Rin curls his toes over the blankets below him, as he grasps onto one of the dried sakura blossoms on the futon.

Rin moans as he silently mouths Haru’s name, his voice failing him as his sense of touch drowns into the ministrations of the navy-haired teen’s performance. He thinks, _‘Haru, damn. When did you get so good at this? Why am I not fighting back? I’ve never seen Haru take initiative before…not in the bedroom, not when we are physically together. I like this, seeing him like this…so passionate.’_

Haru feels his shaft throb painfully, as he has become fully hard listening to Rin’s delectable voice fill the room. The free-swimmer swirls his tongue over the crimson-eyed teen’s nub one last time before raising himself up to gaze over at his nightstand nearby. Carefully the navy-haired teen crawls up Rin’s body to get to the nightstand to grab some lube from the drawer.

As the redhead feels the sapphire-eyed teen shift above him, he unfastens his hand from Haru’s hair, and drops his other hand from his face onto the pillow below him to have a clear view of Haru. Rin smiles as he is met with Haru’s lower half. The redhead swallows as he stares at the magnificently hard cock with pearls of pre-cum starting to leak from the tip. The crimson-eyed teen grasps the base of Haru’s penis as he ascends from the pillow to flick his tongue over the tip, tasting the salty pearls of pre-cum.

The navy-haired teen gets the drawer open and just when he’s about to grab the bottle of lube, he feels a hot pressure surrounding the base of his dick and a slick wetness twirl over the tip of his shaft. Haru gasps lewdly followed by a fragmented moan as his heart races and his body become torrid with hunger for the redhead below him.

The sapphire-eyed teen fumbles with his drawer, trying to pick up the lube inside. Haru’s knees start to shake with anticipation as Rin continues to fondle the tip of the free-swimmer’s thick cock with his mouth. The navy-haired teen struggles for a few moments internally and tries to obtain the bottle of lube from the drawer. Once Haru has the clear bottle of lube in his hand, he shifts his body just enough to look down at the redhead below him and says ardently, “Rin…impatient.”

The crimson-eyed teen was just about to whirl his tongue over the tip again, but notices Haru’s movement and peers up to find deep blue eyes staring down at him. Rin gives the navy-haired teen his signature toothy grin as he hears his words. The redhead retorts intimately, “I can’t help it when your dick is in my face, Haru. It begged to be licked.” The all-around swimmer keeps his crimson gaze dead set on the deep blue stare as he opens his mouth and grazes the tip with his teeth.

Haru eyes waver with a dark carnal desire, biting his lip to prevent a moan from escaping his lips as he watches the redhead. He thinks, _‘ahhh, Rin. Feels…so good.’_ The navy-haired teen brings his hand down to press his thumb over the redhead’s lips only to find Rin’s hand over his, the crimson-eyed teen’s lips gently kissing the palm of his hand before he thrusts his tongue over the palm of Haru’s hand and drawing a solid line up his thumb. The sapphire-eyed teen’s breath hitches at the act, something about it makes Haru bubble up with devotion before the navy-haired teen travels back down, allowing the redhead to play with his hand.

The sapphire-eyed gently unravels his hand from Rin’s grasp, trailing his fingertips over the redhead’s body. He lightly grazes his fingers over the crimson-eyed teen’s jaw, neck, collarbone, and when Haru gets to his chest he says with admiration, “I’ve heard that your chest is your best feature, Rin.”

The all-around swimmer props himself on his elbows as he peers into those blue eyes focused on his chest. The redhead clicks his tongue and asks curiously, “who said that?”

Haru shifts his eyes up to meet the crimson gaze and smiles secretively. Rin tilts his head completely unaware that the navy-haired teen releases the bottle of lube in his hand to grasp Rin’s dick, brushing his thumb over the tip delicately. The crimson-eyed teen gasps, throwing his head back slightly as Haru says with a hint of provocation, “teammates…I overheard it from someone.”

Rin closes his eyes as Haru caresses his shaft gingerly, sending a sizzling bolt of electricity through his body. The redhead almost missed Haru’s taunting words. With his head tilted back, the crimson-eyed teen says in a disintegrated tone, “oh? I’m going to have to punish that teammate when I get back. To Iwa…Iwatobi.”

Haru chuckles softly as he moves his hand further down from Rin’s chest, caressing the redhead’s bumps of hard muscle on his torso and his bellybutton until his hand reaches the base of the crimson-eyed teen’s cock. The navy-haired teen grazes his fingertips over the tender underside of all-around swimmer’s penis, running up the popping vein of his shaft as he says, “you’re handsome, Rin. I find your other features just as enticing…but your chest is…good. I like it.” Haru shifts his gaze to the side, feeling too exposed with the words he just uttered into the atmosphere.

Rin smiles as he listens to the sapphire-eyed teen’s words, knowing that Haru was unsure about his words. He thinks, _‘cute, Haru. But with your hands on my dick like that.... If you’re going to fuck me, do it already. I can’t wait anymore, you tease. You’re driving me crazy.”_ The redhead lifts his head to meet those deep blue orbs and says, “are you nervous, Haru? You’re taking your sweet time driving me crazy…I want you Haru. But, if you don’t move along…I will flip us over and pummel into you until you scream my name in absolute…ahh!”

Haru squeezes Rin’s throbbing cock with one hand as he flicks his thumb over the tip harshly, flicking the slippery liquid trailing down the tip of Rin’s shaft. The navy-haired teen knows that tone of voice…he’s challenging him. He thinks _‘not tonight. This time, I’m pleasuring you.’_ The sapphire-eyed teen releases one hand to grab the bottle of lube on the futon as he quickly rubs his hand down to the base, and up and over the tip before he uncaps the lube, squirting the clear liquid over his fingers, the sweet smell of cheery blossoms raises from his hand to his nose. Haru smiles as the scent fills him with memories of Rin standing in front of a particular sakura tree. He spreads Rin’s legs and tenderly rubs his fingers against Rin’s hole.

Rin’s elbows quiver and collapse as Haru squeezes his penis. The redhead falls unto the futon, gasping erratically. He meant to taunt the navy-haired teen, but he wasn’t expecting him to squeeze him so firmly. It was so racy, and the motions that came after, has the crimson-eyed teen grasping the futon under him both hands. He thinks, _‘damn, that worked. Better than I thought it would…Haru.”_

The crimson-eyed teen moans as his breathing becomes irregular, trying to calm his racing heart, until he hears a snapping sound. The redhead’s eyes wander over to the navy-haired teen between his legs with a bottle of lube in his hand. Rin watches the sapphire-eyed teen pour the liquid onto his fingers, spread his legs and when he feels those hot fingers circling around his entrance, the all-around swimmer moans with anticipation. He says with a little concern, “Ha-Haru…didn’t you forget something?”

Haru looks up at the redhead and says, “no. I haven’t forgotten anything.” Swiftly, the navy-haired teen probes his finger into Rin’s entrance, gently sliding his slick finger into the redhead as he puts down the bottle of lube next to him. The sapphire-eyed teen leans over Rin, capturing his lips in another wet kiss.

The all-around swimmer winces and gasps emphatically as the foreign intrusion enters him. Rin reminds himself to relax, just like he would tell the navy-haired teen to during their bouts in the past. Before the crimson-eyed teen knows it, Haru snatches a kiss from him, taking his breath away.

The redhead raises his arms up the sapphire-eyed teen’s shoulders, raking his nails up and over his shoulder blades as he ferociously tries to dominate the kiss. He thinks, _‘haven’t forgotten anything…my ass. This is the first time for me. The first time on the bottom. You would know, Haru…don’t tell me you actually forgot.’_

The free-swimmer struggles to dominate the kiss, but decides to stick a second finger into Rin’s entrance, scissoring him before thrusting his fingers in and out. Haru looses the battle for dominance, allowing the crimson-eyed teen to passionately enthrall his mouth with hot desire. Haru moans into the kiss before he breaks the kiss, bumping their foreheads together as he says between pants, “I… haven’t forgotten. You…gave me pleasure. This…this time…it’s my turn. Your first…I will…I will be careful. Re-remember…a couple months ago, we talked about getting tested. I did that. I want to feel you, Rin. Just…you. You did the same…so…can we…”

The redhead whines slightly when the kiss ends, but moans when Haru’s fingers move in and out. He can feel his body getting used to the intrusion, but when the navy-haired teen speaks, Rin ears perk up, not wanting to miss a single word. Rin flushes completely from head to toe, feeling validated. He thinks, _‘you haven’t forgotten. Haru…why didn’t you mention this before? I came out clean with my test. You wouldn’t ask unless you were too…damn. Let’s do this, Haru. You’re the only one…so show me. Show me your burning passion.’_

Haru nuzzles Rin’s forehead, ceasing his movements with his fingers as he waits for Rin’s response. He thinks, _‘we don’t have to. I have condoms. I can wait, Rin.’_ Before the free-swimmer could continue his thoughts, the redhead says with certitude, “yes. Yes, Haru. I trust you completely. No condoms. Just you and me. I want just you…too.”

The navy-haired teen opens his eyes and lifts his forehead to gaze into those beautiful ruby eyes. Haru’s eyes waver with dedication, and uncertainty. The sapphire-eyed teen peers into those big, clear red eyes and finds authenticity and resolve. The free-swimmer can sense an overwhelming heat radiating from the redhead, and Haru’s face flushes deeply. He thinks, _‘Rin. This time…I want to see your face blaze with bliss…show me a sight I’ve never seen before. I want to embrace every part of you.’_

Haru nods firmly and says, “I won’t hold back, Rin.”

Rin snorts gently, grinning and running a hand through Haru’s hair as he says confidently, “give it to me baby. Tonight…I’m all yours.”

The navy-haired teen shifts his gaze feeling a sense of honor with Rin’s words. Haru sighs contently as he kisses the crimson-eyed teen while sticking in a third finger into the redhead’s entrance.

Rin winces slightly, his body tensing with a third finger inserted into him, but Haru’s tongue darting around in his wet cavern sends shivers through his soul and he kisses back with the same passion he had previously, sucking on the navy-haired teen’s tongue.

Haru waits a moment before moving his fingers in and out in a slow rhythm. As the navy-haired teen shoves his fingers into Rin’s entrance, he curls his appendages to see if he can find the redhead’s sweet spot. When Haru tries a couple more times, the crimson-eyed teen breaks the kiss abruptly, a shining sliver of saliva connecting their lips until it snaps.

Rin turns his head to the side with a ragged moan, feeling his sweet spot being delicately brushed against. Haru licks his lips and tries again, moving his fingers in and out, curling them around the same angle. Rin moans throaty as he rakes his nails against the sapphire-eyed teen’s arms, leaving angry red lines in their wake.

The crimson-eyed teen’s face contorts in sensual sexiness. The redhead says in a whisper, “Ha-Haru…ahh…more.” He thinks, _‘put it in, Haru. Fuck me. I’m ready. I can’t wait anymore.’_

The navy-haired teen holds his breath as he watches the redhead below him. Witnessing the all-around swimmer’s face writhe in rapture sends a searing, throbbing craving through his body. With impatience, the sapphire-eyed teen removes his appendages from Rin’s hot entrance, grabbing the bottle of lube, splattering the transparent liquid over his hand and rubbing the substance over his own cock. Haru moans in anticipation, coating his dick heavily before lining himself up to Rin’s entrance.

The redhead feels the hotness of the free-swimmer’s fingers disappear from his opening and looks down with a steamy half-lidded gaze. He hears the snap of the lube being opened, and his heart rate quickens in expectancy of the upcoming act. Rin’s body is already coursing with tremendous, amatory heat and yearning. As Haru lines himself up, the all-around swimmer says thickly, “Haru…” He thinks, _‘do it. Do it, Haru. I want it.”_

The sapphire-eyed teen shifts his stare up at the redhead and sees lust in eyes and expression. The image of Rin’s visage with his name escaping those red, kissed-bruised lips sends an electric current through the navy-haired teen. Haru takes a moment to burn the illustration into his memory before his eyes shift downward.

The free-swimmer’s heart swells with apprehensive excitement as he tightens his hold on Rin’s hips, inching closer to Rin’s entrance until the tip of his throbbing, slick cock kisses the sensitive ring of muscle. Haru exhales as he penetrates Rin’s entrance slowly. The navy-haired teen gasps as the tight ring of muscle clamps around his shaft.

The redhead throws his head back as the feeling of the sapphire-eyed teen’s cock brushes against his opening. He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath, knowing what’s to come. When Haru inserts his dick into his entrance, Rin whimpers as he winces from the intrusion, grasping fistfuls of the futon beneath him. He says between gasps, “keep going…Ha…ru.”

The free-swimmer heeds the redhead’s words, fully aware that crimson-eyed teen is feeling pain from his thrust. He continues seating himself into the redhead’s entrance, leisurely entering the all-around swimmer and making sure to keep his ears open for Rin’s voice.

The crimson-eyed teen tries to even out his breathing, reminding himself to relax and embrace the foreign hardness entering his body. Rin continues to gasp until he feels Haru come to a halt, and the redhead comes to the conclusion that the navy-haired teen is fully seated within him. When the all-around swimmer opens his eyes, a tear falls as he sees the sapphire-eyed teen shifting his position to lean over the redhead. Rin smiles at Haru and says, “give…me a minute.”

The sapphire-eyed teen nods and lifts his hand up to sweep the tear away from the crimson-eyed teen’s cheek and says sensitively, “you…feel good. So, good.” Haru cascades downward kissing those plump lips sweetly as he trails his hand down from Rin’s face to fondle the redhead’s nipple between his fingers.

Rin gasps, parting his lips when Haru twists his pert nub between his thumb and forefinger, granting the navy-haired teen full access to his wet cavern. The free-swimmer twirls his tongue with the crimson-eyed teen, moaning fiercely. The heat between the two teens re-ignites into a sweltering passion as they kiss each other lovingly and soon the redhead’s pain dissipates.

The crimson-eyed teen turns his head, ending their burning kiss for much needed air. He moans gutturally, respiring wildly, as Haru continues to tantalize his nipple and says between breaths, “more…Haru…give it…ahhh…pound me.”

Haru let’s out a shaky breath as he wraps his arm around Rin’s arched waist, rolling his hips back, and thrusting his hips forward. The sapphire-eyed teen grunts lightly, feeling the tightness of Rin’s muscle around his cock clamp down on him as he lunges forward.

Rin arches his back further as the navy-haired teen drives into him, it feels foreign at first, but when Haru continues plunging his thick, hard shaft into him, an erotic thrill fills his being. The redhead’s moans salaciously as the navy-haired teen gets so close to his sweet spot. The crimson-eyed teen raises his arms to loosely embrace Haru around the shoulders as he lewdly whispers, “more…faster, Haru, ahh.”

The sapphire-eyed teen’s heart swells when he hears Rin’s deep voice become fragmented in frenzied elation, the crimson-eyed teen’s sexy voice fills his ears and Haru earnestly complies with Rin’s demands. The free-swimmer thrusts his hips faster, pounding into the redhead, panting delightfully with rousing stimulation.

The all-around swimmer wraps his legs around Haru’s waist, feeling erogenous sizzling pulsation throbbing through his unattended cock. The redhead moves one hand from the navy-haired teen’s shoulder and wraps his hand around his slick erection. Rin bites Haru’s earlobe as he strokes his own dick, moaning with eroticism. He thinks, _‘ah, Haru…it feels so hot.’_

The navy-haired teen curls his toes with a sharp gasp as the redhead chomps down on his ear, shoving his shaft forcefully and hitting the crimson-eyed teen’s sweet spot. The all-around swimmer’s throaty blissful shrill reaches Haru’s ears, causing the sapphire-eyed teen to bite down on the inside of his lower lip as he harshly glides his nails against the redhead’s back. He thinks, _‘Rin, I want to hear more…it’s beautiful.’_

Rin’s hand stills as Haru hits his prostate, causing the all-around swimmer to moan in an embarrassingly provocative manner. He whispers huskily, “there…Haru… again.” The redhead blushes profusely as a part of him feels seduced into saying sincere yet awkward words. The redhead languidly caresses his pulsing cock, swirling beads of pre-cum around his throbbing flesh. He feels himself burn hotly with sizzling passion and moves his hips downwards to crash into Haru’s penetration, craving to experience that hit of invigorating arousal.

The sapphire-eyed teen explodes with spontaneous sensual tremors, his body reacting and absolved from the realm of thought, and flows into the realm of spiritual emotion. Haru’s soul stirs with raw emotion, thrusting his hips strongly into his boyfriend, wanting to overload his sense of hearing with Rin’s deliciously crude moans, to over-stimulate his sense of touch with the crimson-eyed teen’s moist flesh surrounding his body, and just slam into the throws of passion that burns inside his heart.

The free-swimmer pounds into the redhead, panting heavily, meeting Rin’s downward push with his upward drive; the sound of wet, slippery flesh slapping together sends a shiver throughout Haru’s body as he senses an intense deep pleasure rising within him. The navy-haired teen murmurs vulnerably, “I’m…I’m gonna…Rin…” He thinks, _‘I’m gonna cum, Rin. I’m gonna explode, you feel so incredible.’_

Rin’s body glows hotly with wanton abandon, rubbing his dewy cock erratically, feeling a pulsating high surge through his senses. The redhead moans in ecstasy with each thrust hitting his sweet spot, he claws Haru’s shoulder leaving dark red lines in the aftermath. Feeling the navy-haired teen submit to his desires, riding out the bodily emotions so vehemently makes the crimson-eyed teen captivated wholeheartedly. The redhead’s sense of hearing heightens with Haru’s words, throwing the all-around swimmer into a world of rhapsody. He says between pants, “yes…Haru…cum…I’m…ahhh, Haru.”

Rin cums rashly, showering a searing stream of creamy seed all over his torso, splattering Haru’s torso as he rides out the rest of his orgasm. The redhead arcs his back as he pulls the navy-haired teen closer to him, biting down on the sapphire-eyed teen’s shoulder to prevent himself from screaming in complete bliss. The redhead whimpers raunchily as the free-swimmer continues to pound into his entrance anxiously awaiting Haru’s orgasm.

The sapphire-eyed teen moans raucously as he hears Rin’s voice in various octaves of splintered euphoria, and feels Rin’s nails skim his skin voraciously. Haru plunges his shaft harshly through Rin’s entrance, hitting that wondrous bundle of pleasure over and over again, building that sexual tension within his body, and greedily imploring for his sweet release.

When the redhead cums, Haru feels the unbelievable arc in Rin’s back, and his hot white thickness sputter onto his torso. The navy-haired teen gasps with surprising blitheness. Suddenly he feels a delightful, yet painful sting on his shoulder and a wet tongue lapping at his moist skin that sends the free-swimmer pounding into Rin harder, his release teetering right at the edge.

Haru slams into Rin’s opening, biting his lip as Rin’s tight muscle clenches around his dick, giving the navy-haired teen overflowing sensitivity. Haru pours his own sweet orgasm into the redhead as he gasps Rin’s name in an erotic shrill, tightly holding Rin’s waist in his grasp as he leisurely drives the rest of his orgasm.

The crimson-eyed teen’s body vibrates with indulgence he feels Haru’s hot cum fill his body, warming him up from the inside. He wraps his arms around the navy-haired teen’s shoulders, embracing the free-swimmer with all his strength. He moans hoarsely, “Haru…amazing …I…mmm.”

The sapphire-eyed teen holds Rin with his arm firmly around the redhead’s waist, not wanting to let go of this ephemeral moment of bliss and afterglow. Haru pants tiredly as he says delicately, “Rin…ahh…mmm…Rin.” He thinks, _‘I want to say it, I want to say I love you, but…I can’t. Rin…’_

The two teens remain in each other’s arms just feeling each other in the moment, savoring the afterglow of their sexual amour. Rin is the first to break the silence as he whispers into Haru’s ear, “we should clean up, Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen nods feeling filled, loved and a little crestfallen that their enterprise had to end. Haru loosens his hold on the crimson-eyed teen, and moves back marginally only to capture Rin’s lips in an urgent kiss. A meeting of lips that hold much more meaning for the navy-haired teen as it’s a message, a promise, a commitment to remain true to Rin, and his very own dream that the redhead guided him to.

Rin mouth is conquered by the free-swimmer’s supple lips, and the crimson-eyed teen senses that the kiss is imperative in some way. The all-around swimmer moans into the vital kiss sweetly, feeling his heart well with intensity. His cheeks burn deeply and for some reason, his eyes start to water, feeling a flood of sentiment coming through the kiss, through the exploration of each other’s hot caverns.

Haru breaks the kiss as the kiss becomes salty. The free-swimmer opens his eyes to find tears streaming down Rin’s cheeks through his closed eyes. The sapphire-eyed teen wipes away Rin’s tears with his hand and says, “let’s clean up, Rin.” The redhead sighs and nods, but says nothing more as the two teens disentangle from each other.

The free-swimmer pushes Rin down on the futon as he leans over to grab the box of tissues to clean up their messy bodies. The redhead looks over to the side and finds himself staring at Haru’s hips as the navy-haired teen gets some tissues. The crimson-eyed teen props himself on his elbow, snakes his arm around the sapphire-eyed teen’s hips, squeezing the free-swimmer’s ass as he places a chaste kiss on Haru’s hipbone.

Once Haru has the tissue box in his hand, he feels Rin’s arm and hand around his body, and a gentle kiss on his hip. The navy-haired teen shifts his body slightly to look down at the redhead below.

Rin half-smirks as he looks up into those blue eyes, and says, “I don’t think I can pick just one feature when it comes to you, Haru. There are too many things you do that I adore.”

Haru’s eyes waver in a daze, he wasn’t expecting the all-around swimmer to make a comment on that. The navy-haired teen’s eyes smile with affection before he looks away, pulling some tissues from the box and handing it to the crimson-eyed teen.

The redhead smirks as he watches the sapphire-eyed teen shyly avoids direct compliments and takes the tissues that are given to him. The two teens silently clean themselves; Haru finishes up first, grabs the soiled tissues, and tosses them in the trash.

When Haru comes back and starts to lie down on the futon next to Rin, the redhead drapes his arm around the navy-haired teen’s waist, pulling him down on the futon as he wraps them up in the blankets with his other hand. The crimson-eyed teen slides his leg over Haru’s body, partially leaning on the sapphire-eyed teen with his hand resting on Haru’s chest as he says, “you do this thing, Haru. When you get embarrassed or something, you turn away and blush…it’s adorable.”

The free-swimmer’s eyes widen as he is suddenly lying on his back with Rin’s arm embracing the small of his back. Haru subconsciously wraps his arm under the redhead’s bicep and over his shoulder as he listens to the crimson-eyed teen talk. Haru’s lips part as Rin describes a behavior that he does and he knits his eyebrows feeling exposed as he turns his head away and says firmly, “I do not.”

Rin chuckles above him as he draws squiggly lines with his index finger over the sapphire-eyed teen chest. The redhead bends down as he hovers over Haru’s ear and says in a raspy tone, “you’re doing it now, Haru.”

Haru’s cheeks heat up as Rin continues drawing random things on his chest, leaving featherlike, tingly electricity over his flesh. The navy-haired teen gasps when he hears Rin’s sexy voice causing the free-swimmer’s face to heat up a notch. The sapphire-eyed teen huffs lightly as he says, “no. I’m not.”

The crimson-eyed teen clicks his tongue and says, “if you say so. I’ll just dream about your blushy face. Maybe I’ll dream you up in a naughty fluffy heart-shaped apron with nothing else…cooking just for me.”

The free-swimmer’s cheeks bursts into a deep shade of red, and he closes his eyes as he covers his mouth with the back of his hand with a shivering sigh.

Rin lifts his head to stare at the navy-haired teen and finds Haru flushing and covering part of his face. Rin grins as he rests his head over the sapphire-eyed teen’s chest, listening to the free-swimmer’s mildly quickened heartbeat. The redhead yawns as he closes his eyes and says in a sleepy tone, “goodnight, Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen opens his eyes as he hears Rin’s drowsy voice. He turns his head to find a cascade of red hair over his chest. Haru stares for a few moments, feeling a steady stream of breath tickle his chest before he brings his hand over the crimson-eyed teen’s hair, gently petting him. He thinks, _‘we haven’t done this in awhile. I wanted to listen to your heartbeat before falling asleep, but I guess I can allow you this, Rin.’_

Haru closes his eyes as he continues to pet the redhead on his chest thinking about the last time they shared an intimate moment like this, not the ones they’ve shared through skype, but this physical intimacy. The navy-haired teen smiles as he recalls that night at his house in Iwatobi.

The sapphire-eyed teen shifts his body slightly only to find the redhead’s arm bothering his posture. Haru slowly lifts himself up and gently guides the crimson-eyed teen down on the futon, on his back. The free-swimmer props himself up on his elbow as he brushes red locks away from Rin’s content slumberous face.

Haru chuckles softly as he thinks, _‘Rin…this is my favorite feature. Your sleeping face. I bet you don’t know this…but after sex, you get this angelic look on your face when you are sleeping. It’s beautiful. Too bad I can’t share this with you.’_

The navy-haired teen rests his head on Rin’s shoulder, cuddling his boyfriend as he drifts into dreamland full of felicity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this took so long to put up. It's been a rather challenging couple of weeks. But I'm glad I got this chapter out finally and am looking forward to writing the next chapter.
> 
> I hope the RinHaru/HaruRin wasn't overly fluffy for you guys, but after the craziness I really think I needed to write some fluff...hehe. 
> 
> Thank you so much for your patience, support, and encouragement. Your comments always cheer me up and are very uplifting XD I will reply to comments soon if I haven't replied to you yet.


	13. Chapter 13

** December 22nd, Monday, 9: 38 am **

The cold, blistery wind is howling and blowing wintery gusts against the frost-covered window. Makoto shivers and grasps his soft, fluffy blanket, but throws it off minutes later. He tosses and turns in his disturbed sleep. He dreams of running away from something, some terrifying thing chasing him as he runs through vivid colors that turn into the streets of Tokyo. But there are no cars, no signs of life anywhere. He runs in the middle of the street from a large mass of darkness that seems to be walking slowly, but every time Makoto looks back, the black mass of darkness gets closer and closer to him.

The brunette looks behind to find the mass reaching out towards him with an eerie aura, the emerald-eyed teen’s knees buck unexpectedly causing Makoto to fall painfully onto the concrete floor.

The emerald-eyed teen feels a sharp sting on his shoulder as he hits the rough, solid floor beneath him. Makoto steals a glance up, panic bubbling up in his gut as he observes the creature standing right at his feet with a hand extended out towards him. The brunette tries to move back, away from the stranger in front of him but he finds himself shaking with fear.

Suddenly, something comes flying through the air, a flash of metal flickers and a piercing buzzing noise zips through the air and the dark creature is thrown back, far away from the backstroke swimmer. Makoto’s eyes are focused on the flying thing that is now partway stuck in the concrete. It’s round, concaved, and silver with brown leather straps in the back.

Makoto hears a faraway voice calling his name. It’s rough, stern, and cautionary. The emerald-eyed teen looks up above him trying to find the owner of that voice. Looking frantically for the mysterious voice, the brunette hears that deep voice reverberate throughout the atmosphere, and it says, “Makoto, seize it! Fight back!”

The backstroke swimmer’s eyes shimmer with fear, and he turns his head to inspect the frightening beast. Makoto finds the creature getting back up from the concrete with a fierce dark chocolate stare boring into his emerald gaze. 

Makoto trembles as he crouches over to pick up the round concave metal thing stuck in the cemented floor. He knits his eyebrows as he finds himself struggling to pull the round object from the ground. The brunette grunts as he uses his strength, his muscles bulging and tensing to force the metal object out of the ground. Suddenly, the metal object is released from its confines, causing the emerald-eyed teen to fall ungracefully onto his back.

With haste, Makoto gets up onto his feet, taking a few steps back as he notices the creature of darkness approaching him at quickening pace. The emerald-eyed teen’s knees trembles with fear as the creature stands before him, the dark monster’s arms raised. Makoto raises the object over his head, feeling a bone-crushing impact hitting the metal and he grunts as the reverberations of the hit go through his body.

The brunette’s muscles tighten as he takes on the impact, looks up to find the monster raising his arms above its head for another hit, leaving the creature’s torso wide open for an attack.

Makoto swallows down his fear and uncertainty remembering the voice telling him to fight back. The emerald-eyed teen pulls back and thrusts the metal object attached to his forearm forward with all his might. The dark brown-eyed creature is thrown back until it hits a building, crumbling with the foundation.

The backstroke swimmer pants heavily as he watches the monster fly through the air and falling into brick building. Makoto blinks in bewilderment, _‘what the hell just happened? Did I just kill someone?’_

The emerald-eyed teen stares at the back of the metal object attached to him, turns it over to get a look of the other side. Makoto notices rings of reds and white surrounding the metal object with a blue circle and a white star right in the center. The backstroke swimmer knits his eyebrows, confused as he brings down the shield connected to him and notices his clothes. He’s wearing blue pants, brown gloves and belt, a long sleeved mock neck shirt that is mainly blue with red and white vertical stripes on his torso, and a white star on his chest.

The brunette pulls the front of his shirt, thinking, _‘what the? Who am I?’_ Makoto hears a heavy plop on his left side, turns his head to find someone crouched down. The raven-haired man slowly gets up, and the emerald-eyed teen looks at the man. The backstroke swimmer notices that the man is wearing black pants, and a black long sleeved shirt with one side being sleeveless. The man is wearing one black glove, and his left arm is metal carrying a large sub-machine gun.

The man stares at Makoto with his bright teal eyes and says, “don’t dawdle. You have to fight back.”

The brunette looks at the teal-eyed teen and says with a shaky voice, “who am I? Who are you?”

The raven-haired teen saunters over to the brunette with a raised eyebrow, “you should know who I am, Makoto…or should I say, Cap.”

The emerald-eyed teen stares at the slightly taller man, thinking, _‘that’s right. It’s Sousuke. But, his arm…is he the Winter Soldier?’_ Makoto frowns and says, “but, Sousuke…your arm is covered in metal?”

The raven-haired teen sighs deeply and says, “yeah, long story. Things happened.” The ex-butterfly swimmer turns his head in the direction of the creature, “keep your guard up. That thing is coming.” Sousuke lifts up the sub-machine gun, ready to shoot the monster hiding in the rubble.

The backstroke swimmer hears bricks falling from the collapsed building and shifts his gaze to find the dark creature rising from the fallen debris. The brunette feels his heart race with apprehension and thoughts of them dying during this fight sitting at the pit of his stomach. Makoto quickly turns his head to find Sousuke glaring at the creature.

Makoto quickly moves his arm, grasps the black fabric on Sousuke’s chest pulling him in close until the two teens are centimeters apart. The brunette darts his eyes upwards into those teal orbs and says in a bare whisper, “I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but…” The emerald-eyed teen pulls the slightly shocked raven-haired teen closer, crushing their lips together desperately.

The two teens relish in the moment of their desire for each other in that one kiss, a simple, soft pressing of lips. Makoto intended to relay a clear message to the teal-eyed teen, a hopeful promise of devotion to the raven-haired teen. The backstroke swimmer pulls back gently, opening his eyes to gaze into those teal orbs and says, “just in case…I wanted to tell you how I felt.” Makoto releases his hold on the raven-haired teen casting his eyes downwards, noticing the scratches on the gun Sousuke is holding.

The teal-eyed teen licks his lips, raises his bare hand, placing his index finger under Makoto’s chin and raising up the brunette’s gaze to meet him face-to-face.

The emerald-eyed teen meets a cold, indifferent stare in those teal orbs. Makoto winces slightly under that piercing gaze, but it melts a moment later. The brunette is met with an amused smirk and a playful teal gaze as the raven-haired teen says, “I like it when you’re bold, Makoto. Trust me. We will make it through this.” The ex-butterfly swimmer turns his head to look at the monster’s status in the rubble as he continues, “now that I know where you stand, I will give you a night to remember.”

The brunette gives the raven-haired teen a dumbstruck expression, his mouth hanging open until he sees Sousuke ready his weapon and shoots the beast charging at them. Makoto pushes his thoughts of desire, and the promise for an eventful night with the Winter Soldier for another time as he focuses his attention on the creature before him. The emerald-eyed teen runs over to the dark monster with a blazing confidence given to him by the ex-butterfly swimmer.

Makoto unlatches the metal shield attached to his forearm and throws it at the creature. The brunette comes to a halt as apprehension and a feeling of foreboding fills his body. The emerald-eyed teen watches the creature cross his arms over his body, blocking the shield from penetrating him. The dark, eerie monster slides back from the force the backstroke swimmer mustered through his shield. The beast unleashes a cry of discomfort as he digs his toes into the concrete, breaking up the smooth floor into pathways of rubble.

The dark chocolate-eyed fiend takes hold of the shield as the force pulling him back comes to a stop. The frightening beast throws his head back in a bloodcurdling scream.

Both Makoto and Sousuke cover their ears in agony, the screech piercing their eardrums horribly. The emerald-eyed teen’s knees buckle, falling to the floor as he tries to protect his hearing from the omnipresent jarring static reverberating throughout the air.

When the earsplitting sound dissipates, Makoto pants heavily with a mixture of relief and pain as he tries to recollect his senses. The emerald-eyed teen opens his eyes slowly, his vision fuzzy as he tries to focus his sense of sight on what lies before him. He finds the palms of his hands flush against the pavement, his nails harshly clawing the concrete. Makoto lifts his head and finds the whole world shake around him. The brunette bangs his hand over his forehead as an attempt to steady the world around him, muttering curses under his breath.

The brunette feels a pair of strong arms wrap around his torso, pulling him up to stand. Makoto stumbles as his weak knees fail to cooperate, and leans against the warm solid figure behind him. The emerald-eyed teen throws his head back as he murmurs, “Sou, Sousuke…wha, what just…”

The teal-eyed teen interrupts soothingly and whispers in Makoto’s ear, “shhh. Don’t worry about that. We have bigger problems approaching us, Cap. C’mon, pull yourself together.”

The backstroke swimmer knits his eyebrows as forces himself to take on his full weight. He grunts in pain as the brunette forces his body to cooperate with his will to stand and fight against his enemies. Makoto places his brown-gloved hand over the Winter Soldier’s metal forearm around his waist and says, “thanks. I got this, Bucky.”

Sousuke releases Captain America, taking a step to the side as he pulls his gun up into both hands, gazing at the brunette next to him, “no problem. Let’s take this shithead out.”

Makoto steals a glance at his taller teal-eyed partner and smiles, “yeah. Let’s save the world.”

The two teens feel a wave of shock throughout the atmosphere and direct their attention to the monstrosity in front of them. The creepy creature had split into several armed men, lined up in rows of ten with several rows behind them. The dark monsters resemble a cross between Hydra members and storm troopers donned in a black shadowy opaque form with devilish glowing burgundy eyes. There is one shadowy figure in front of this army of echo-like Hydra storm troopers, a man wearing the same exact outfit as Makoto, but all the shades are darkened. He is a grim Captain America with a fringe of blond hair and coffee-colored eyes with a menacing sneer.

Makoto’s eyes widen as memories of the blond figure flood his mind. He remembers playing basketball with the coffee-eyed teen, smiling, laughing, and attempts to beat each other in a one-on-one match. The brunette frowns deeply as the positive memories turn sour in his mind. Recollections of arguments, hurtful, angry words, assaulting his best friend, and a broken bond fill the brunette’s mind. The backstroke swimmer stares into those dark brown eyes with an aching determination to overcome his battle. Makoto’s eyes slightly waver under that pernicious glare, feeling an overwhelming greedy hunger bore into his heart from the grim Captain America.

Makoto closes his eyes, sundering further contact between them, severing the grim Captain America’s rekindling of the bond they once shared. The brunette feels his heart crack over the mending of the once broken heart. The emerald-eyed teen tells himself, _‘no. I can’t go back to him. Takeshi. I thought you were the one, I tried to make it work, I don’t want to compromise myself, my family, my friends just to appease your desire of possessiveness. You don’t trust me, you didn’t embrace all of me, you denied me freedom. If I must, I will fight you. You can’t intimidate me anymore! I choose someone else as my partner.’_

The brunette opens his eyes, a clear conviction radiating through his gaze back to the grim Captain America before him, Takeshi. With courage, Makoto slowly takes steps towards the Captain of the shadow-like Hydra storm troopers, pulling out his silver magnum gun from the holster of his belt, aiming for Takeshi as he says calmly, “I will not go back to the way things were, Takeshi.”

In the background, the emerald-eyed teen hears a faint fractured voice, “Makoto. Makoto…I will wait.”

The backstroke swimmer stops, his outstretched arm shaking, realizing that the voice he heard came from the Winter Soldier. Makoto whips around to look back at the teal-eyed teen only to find the one-armed metal clad teen with his back to him. A dim aura surrounding the raven-haired teen with his head bowed down, and his sub-machine gun dropped on the floor.

The brunette yearns to run back to the Winter Soldier’s side, but the aura that surrounds Sousuke prevents him from lifting his legs and backtracking down the path he walked. Instead, Makoto longingly stares at the teal-eyed teen’s strong, broad back. He tries to get words that are stuck in his throat out and spoken, but the syllables perish, falling deep into his heart. Doubt fills the emerald-eyed teen’s soul, ambiguity, rejection, and fear quietly bubbles within his heart, bleeding into his mind.

A soft, bright voice quietly fills the air and whispers, “don’t give up, Makoto. Fight the battle in front of you. He will wait for you.”

Suddenly some dazzling, and glaring lights shine above the Winter Soldier causing the kind-hearted Captain to wince and cover his face from the blaring light. Makoto dares to open his eyes, wanting to see who is talking to him. He finds shades of blue, red, pink, purple, yellow, orange, white and grey lights above Sousuke. The emerald-eyed teen can’t determine exactly how many lights are there, but they feel familiar, like friends and family.

The soft voice says in a murmur, “look ahead. We will be here…waiting for you. Don’t forget us.”

Sousuke’s deep fractured voice says, “I promise to keep my promise. Fight back.”

The brunette sighs, the doubt still lingering within his heart, bleeding into his mind, but it’s dull. Makoto turns his back on the Winter Solider, on the shinning bright lights, and focuses his attention towards the grim Captain America with renewed resolve. The emerald-eyed teen walks towards Takeshi, and with a few steps, the walk turns into a run. The backstroke swimmer feels the urge to yell out in a battle cry, screaming at the top of his lungs as he brings up his arm, shooting at the darkened Captain America.

Takeshi deflects the bullets with the stolen shield that was thrown his way, running to meet the kind-hearted, gentle teen shooting at him.

Makoto continues shooting at Takeshi until he hears blank clicks coming from the metal weapon. He throws the gun at the grim Captain America before stooping down on his knees to sweep Takeshi’s feet.

The blond wasn’t expecting Makoto to attack from below and falls on the floor, blocking the punches with the shield. The coffee-eyed teen kicks Makoto in the stomach and takes his chance to perform a kip-up, getting back on his feet.

Makoto is thrown back, but he catches himself from falling, kneeling down as he cradles his stomach. Takeshi strikes with the shield as the brunette barely dodges the impact. The emerald-eyed teen struggles to get back up on his feet. He notices the blond above him, shield raised up high to smack the backstroke swimmer. Makoto frowns as he makes a quick decision to uppercut the blond and risk getting hit with his own shield.

The emerald-eyed teen feels the solid impact when his fist connects with Takeshi’s jaw. Makoto cries in agony and winces as the metal shield collides with his shoulder. The grim Captain America is thrown into the air, and falls down on the concrete with a loud thud, the pavement cracking upon impact.

Makoto nurses his shoulder, feeling a scorching throb coming from his shoulder. Emerald eyes shift to his injured shoulder and finds blood pooling over his hand. The brunette attempts to move his arm only to gasp and groan in pain. A dreadful tingling sensation pierces through his shoulder down his arm, as Makoto bites his bottom lip to prevent himself from crying out.

The backstroke swimmer looks down to find his shield on the floor, abandoned. Makoto struggles to move a couple feet to grasp the shield, his rightful protection from the darkened Captain America.

Takeshi gets up, a cold brown stare burning with petulance. The blond pants heavily as he holds his torso, grunting slightly. With a boiling tone, Takeshi seethes, “I’m not giving up on you, Mako! One way or another, I will have you back! Have you forgotten…how much I love you!?”

Takeshi’s coffee eyes glow red with maliciousness as a dark aura engulfs the teen, oozing out of the blond and rolls along the floor like monstrous claws trying to climb its way out of the underworld. The darkened Captain abandons everything, only submitting to his destructive desire for the brunette as he runs towards the emerald-eyed teen with bloody fists.

Makoto’s eyes widen in fear. The pain in his shoulder dulling as the atmosphere becomes darker and opaque with nefarious intentions. The brunette breaks out in a cold sweat, his life hanging on a lone tattered thread of success, praying that the thread does not snap into two, transforming into failure.

The backstroke swimmer grunts as he brings both arms over his head, covering himself with his trusty shield to take on the blows of Takeshi’s bloody fists. The wicked aura that emits from the grim Captain, claws at Makoto’s feet, digging nails into his flesh. The brunette bites back painful sobs, tears streaming down his cheeks as he is attacked from above and below.

Makoto starts to feel annihilation with all the pounding impact from hitting his shield and the fierce stabs of animalistic claws on his legs makes the brunette’s heart ache. The darkness surrounds his legs, the claws moving up his thighs feeling his fighting spirit dwindling down into a despondent sense of gloom. However there is a small fragile voice softly begging, _‘don’t give up. Believe in yourself. Now is the time…to shine bright. Enshrine yourself… your values. Your loved ones are with you.’_

The brunette opens his eyes and sees himself enshrouded in darkness, taking on the attacks from every angle. His sense of sight changes, the darkness becoming more transparent and he can see his heart dimly glow within his chest, a promise to apply himself, to advocate for himself.

The emerald-eyed teen breaks the chains of darkness that frantically grasps Makoto’s legs to pull him to the dark side. An iridescent lucent gleam warms the backstroke swimmer’s being. He hears several whimpering sounds, an animalistic and human-like despair retreating as the brunette feels a calm within his body. Makoto embraces the light that shines within him, opening his eyes slowly to find the blond tattered in his darkened Captain America suit glaring at the kind-hearted Captain America glowing with inner strength.

The emerald-eyed teen stares at Takeshi and hesitantly extends his hand to the glowering blond. The coffee-eyed teen ferments with anger, unsatisfied with the outcome of the battle and swats the offered and offending hand away from him. The grim Captain America says, “how could you?…you destroyed us.”

Makoto frowns slightly, feeling a bit sad, but not backing down on his decision of standing up for himself. Before he can come up with a response, the ground quakes abruptly and the brunette collapses into the abyss of uncertainty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The brunette’s muscles abruptly tense as he wakes from the feeling of falling, slightly moving his body upwards as he heart races with uneasiness. Makoto’s eyes quickly open as the dim light, covered by venetian blinds, travels through the small openings, softly brightening the dark room. Makoto rubs his eyes as he pushes himself up into a sitting position. His slumberous mind quickly tries to slow down his racing heart as he takes deep breaths and focuses his fuzzy sight on the blue blanket in front of him.

Makoto knits his eyebrows as he tries to recollect the memories of his dream. The events of the dream are blurry, some of the happenings fading away into a distant fantasy as he continues to focus his attention on the dream. The brunette groans softly as he remembers bits and pieces of the dream, _‘what happened? I was a superhero, Captain America. Bucky was there too, he helped me. What was I running from? Monsters? Or was it just one monster? Regardless, it was scary. But, not all of it was scary. There was some kind of light too. Ugh, what did it mean?’_

The brunette hears a soft rhythmic snore and looks up toward his bed. Confused, the emerald-eyed teen gently throws his blankets off to the side and gets up off the futon. He lethargically walks over to the side of the bed to take a look at the sleeping teen.

Makoto tilts his head to the side as he takes in the image of the raven-haired teen sleeping on his back with the blankets curled up around his neck. The backstroke swimmer notices that Sousuke looks peaceful in his sleep; the snoozing teen moves his head to the side and knits his eyebrows with a frown.

Makoto chuckles softly, _‘aww, he was dreaming so calmly but now he’s frowning. Even in his sleep he shows different expressions. It’s cute…but I don’t want him upset or worrying in his sleep.’_

The brunette squats down closer to the bed, resting one hand on the mattress and extending his other hand over to Sousuke’s face. The emerald-eyed teen gingerly rubs his index and middle fingers over the worry wrinkles in between the ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyebrows. As the backstroke swimmer delicately applies pressure on the raven-haired teen, he watches Sousuke’s agitated expression slowly turn into a more placid expression.

Sousuke’s mouth is no longer pulled downwards at the corners into a thin line, his eyebrows no longer tense, and his breathing becomes more even as the raven-haired teen relaxes in his sleep. Makoto smiles as he observes the teal-eyed teen become more composed as he rubs his fingers between the sleeping teen’s eyebrows. The brunette sighs with content as he trails down his index finger over the bridge of Sousuke’s nose, feeling the smooth and slightly bumpy curvature of the teal-eyed teen’s facial structure.

Without much thought, Makoto trails his forefinger over the tip of Sousuke’s nose, down past the philtrum, slowly over the teal-eyed teen’s parted upper lip, and softly tugs the ex-butterfly swimmer’s bottom lip. The brunette stops his movement at the edge of Sousuke’s bottom lip as he stares at the teal-eyed teen’s mouth. The emerald-eyed teen’s mind wanders, _‘his lips are a little dry, but for some reason I want to know…I want to know what they feel like. Would he taste sweet? Maybe spicy?’_

Makoto presses his lips together, holding his breath as he continues thinking, _‘if I kissed him that one time, in the pool…I would have my answer. I would know what Sousuke’s lips taste like, and what they feel like against mine. How wet his tongue is, and how ambitiously he would kiss me back. Why is it that I get this feeling…that we made a pledge to each other? But, I can’t remember. Wait, we never made a pledge to each other. Last night we watched Captain America and we went to bed, albeit with a bit of a struggle to get Sousuke into my bed, but nothing else.’_

The brunette feels a deep breath wash over his skin, it sends tingly electric currents throughout his arm and he pulls back his hand quickly. Makoto releases the breath he was holding as his heart pounds in his chest. The backstroke swimmer watches the raven-haired teen shift in his sleep, turning to sleep on his side, away from the emerald-eyed teen. Makoto sighs softly in relief, glad that he didn’t wake up the sleeping teal-eyed teen.

Makoto gets up and quietly walks out of the bedroom heading straight into the bathroom. The brunette closes the bathroom door and looks at his reflection in the mirror as he leans his palms against the bathroom sink. The emerald-eyed teen notices that there is a modest blush on his cheeks and he closes his eyes, _‘what the hell was I doing? I shouldn’t be touching him like that in his sleep. I wonder…’_

The brunette raises his hand and trails his forefinger over his the bridge of his nose, over the tip, and touching his lips with the same pressure as he did before. He stops right at the edge of his bottom lip and his thoughts go back to Sousuke’s lips. Makoto opens his eyes and drowns his thoughts with mundane things he needs to do before leaving the bathroom, like brushing his teeth, using the facilities, and taking a shower.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke stirs in his sleep as some kind of buzzing continues filling the air. The raven-haired teen opens his eyes as he tries to get familiar with his surroundings. The first thing he sees is a white wall, _‘eh? A wall? This close to my bed? Wait…this isn’t my room.’_ The teal-eyed teen hears the vibration again, rolls over to the other side and extends his hand out towards the nightstand. He knocks over Mr. Orca-cat while feeling around for the phone.

Once the ex-butterfly swimmer has the buzzing phone in his grasp, he looks at the screen and sees the name, ‘Dad,’ written on the screen. Sousuke groans internally as he sits up and slides to unlock his phone. The teal-eyed teen puts the phone to his ear and says, “hello?”

Silence fills the room as the raven-haired teen frowns. He removes the phone from his ear to look at the screen. He notices that he answered the phone too late. Sousuke puts the phone down on the bed, rubbing his face as looks around the room. He sees the futon on the floor with the blankets thrown to the side and he wonders where Makoto has gone.

Just when he was about to get up to find the missing brunette, the teal-eyed teen hears the squeaking sound of a faucet turning on. Sousuke clicks his tongue as he thinks, _‘ah. He’s taking a shower.’_ The raven-haired teen sighs as he hears his phone vibrate again.

Sousuke picks up the phone, unlocks the phone and listens to the message. All his father says is to call him back when he gets the message. The raven-haired teen can tell by his father’s tone that he wants him to do something.

The teal-eyed teen debates with himself about calling him back now or calling him back later, _‘if I call him now, I get it over with even though I don’t want to. Or I can just lie in bed until Makoto comes out and call him later. What am I doing later? Rin. We planned to meet today, but nothing conclusive. Oh, right. Makoto mentioned going to Momento Café. Will I have time to talk to my dad later? Ugh…screw this. I’ll just call him now.’_

The raven-haired teen clicks his father’s number and brings the phone up to his ear waiting for his father to answer the phone. His father answers the phone on the third ring and says, “Sousuke.”

The teal-eyed teen stiffens slightly and says carefully, “father.”

There is a long silence between the two of them. The raven-haired teen waits for his father to continue, knowing that the older man is probably overlooking some documents on the other end. 

Sousuke is used to this kind of silence from his father. Whenever he calls, he has to wait for his father to become unoccupied with whatever the older man has busied himself with. The teal-eyed teen hears some rustling of paper and he hears his father serious voice, “one second, son.”

Sousuke replies, “yes, I’ll wait.” The ex-butterfly swimmer rubs his neck as he continues waiting for his father. He looks around the room and finds a plush toy on the floor next to the nightstand. The raven-haired teen slowly reaches down and picks it up, turning the soft toy in his lap to find the smiling orange cat in an orca suit smiling at him. He thinks to himself, _‘you and I…we have to stop meeting like this. I’m beginning to think that you are always around when I’m in a difficult situation.’_

The teal-eyed teen hears his father sigh on the other end of the line, “Sousuke. Have you talked to your mother lately?”

The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows, _‘I don’t like how this is starting already.’_ Sousuke moves Mr. Orca-cat out of his lap and places it next to him on the pillow as he says firmly, “I emailed her last week.”

Sousuke’s father quickly says, “I see. You haven’t talked to her recently.”

The ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyebrow twitches slightly as he says calmly, “yes, I haven’t talked to her recently. Is there something I should be aware of?”

The older man opens a drawer to his desk and says, “yes, there is. Let me get out my schedule. I had my secretary look into your Christmas break this morning and I have appointed a time for you to have dinner with your mother before she goes on vacation with her fiancé.” Yamazaki pulls out his tablet and opens up his calendar.

Sousuke’s balls his hand into a fist as he listens to his father’s demand, _‘what? Mom wanted to meet with you, and you decided to blow her off? Dammit! It’s because you do stuff like this all the time…all for your precious company. You never went to any of my extracurricular activities, even when mom begged you. And now you’re making me fill in for you!? Don’t you think that maybe I don’t want to see her new fiancé!? Shit…I hate you right now.’_

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, calming his nerves as he says with a little bite, “oh? Can’t make the dinner to meet mom, huh? Let me guess, it’s business…it’s always business with you.”

Yamazaki sighs on the other end and says with a tinge of venom, “don’t get that tone with me, Sousuke. You’re sounding like your mother.”

Sousuke rolls his eyes and says laced with bitterness, “oya? I have a brunch scheduled to meet mom and her fiancé already. Are you telling me that I will have to go to this dinner too? When are you going to meet with her, huh? You promised that you would make time to meet her and her fiancé. Are you going to wait until the wedding this summer?”

Yamazaki is silent for a few moments before he answers his son’s questions in a cold tone, “yes, you will have to go to the dinner, Sousuke. I simply cannot make time to see her. If you are so concerned, bring your friends to the dinner. Her fiancé is paying anyway. Also, I have received the official wedding invitation from your mother. I cannot attend. Yumiko will be taking my place and I have put you down for that in the R.S.V.P as well.” 

The raven-haired teen’s eyes glimmer in surprise, _‘what? He’s not going to the wedding!? He said that he put it in his tentative schedule last night when I asked him. I told him it was going to be in the summer, he got all the details from me before the official invitations were sent! This is bullshit!’_

Sousuke gets up and stands as he says with irritation, “father. Last night at the ball, you told me that you put the wedding down on your tentative schedule. What happened!?”

Yamazaki says matter-of-factly, “yes, I realize I have told you that last night. However, I also had a tentative business trip during that time. It has come to my attention that my presence is necessary, and I have already made arrangements to go to China. I’m sorry, Sousuke. I cannot attend. I will be gone for three weeks during that time. As much as I hate to leave Sakura for such an extended time period, I don’t have a choice in the matter.”

The teal-eyed teen frowns as he says, “what about Yumiko? Does she know?”

Sousuke’s father says with indifference, “not yet. Telling you was my priority. I will talk to her afterwards.”

The raven-haired teen bites his tongue, refusing to say anything else to his father.

The tense silence lingers for a few moments before Yamazaki says forcefully, “I have scheduled a time for you to see that doctor in Iwatobi. What was his name…ah, yes…Ishii-sensei. Just to check on your progress, and to make sure you don’t overdo things during your break. It’s in the morning. Don’t skip the appointment, Sousuke. Don’t do more swimming than you are allotted either. I hope you figure out what you plan to major in during the break, Sousuke. Remember what we talked about during the ball. If you don’t commit to a major by the end of the school year, I will place you in sports medicine. That was the deal. You can’t go meandering throughout life with no goals. It’s a waste of time and money.”

Sousuke casts his eyes downward as he is scolded by his father, _‘che. You don’t trust me. Setting up a doctor’s appointment for me…reminding me of the deal we have. I know!’_ The raven-haired teen continues to maintain his silence feeling frustrated.

Yamazaki says in a harsh tone, “Sousuke!”

The teal-eyed teen grunts silently as he calmly says, “yes, father. I heard you. Have your secretary text me the dates for the doctor’s appointment and the dinner with mom. I will execute both events without fail.”

Yamazaki nods and says nonchalantly, “good. We will talk later, Sousuke. I’m quite busy today.”

Sousuke takes a deep breath and says, “thanks, father.” The two hang up after saying their goodbyes. The raven-haired teen tightens his grip on his phone as he brings it down from his ear. The teal-eyed teen glares at the screen, upset at his father for ditching the wedding, making him do things on his behalf, forcing him to see a doctor in Iwatobi, and forcing Yumiko into a situation she didn’t agree to.

The raven-haired teen puts the phone down on the night stand as he decides to make Makoto’s bed, fold up the blankets and futon on the floor, and probably play a game on his phone after he’s done cleaning up the brunette’s room.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Makoto turns the knobs of the showerhead, extending his hand into the spray of water to feel the temperature. Once it gets nice and warm, the brunette takes off his clothes and hops into the steamy stream of water.

The brunette relishes in the heat of the hot water washing over him. He feels it hit his neck as rivulets stream down his torso and down the rest of his body. The emerald-eyed teen turns around, allowing the steamy water to hit the stiff muscles in his back. Makoto rolls his neck and stretches his back to help alleviate some of the tension residing in his back muscles.

The backstroke swimmer allows his mind to wander as he moans lightly with the comforting, toasty heat gently massaging his muscles, _‘aaahhh…this feels so good right now. This hot steamy water, reminds me of a warm blanket.’_ Makoto closes his eyes as he drenches his head in the spray of water; a warm tingly sensation fills his body. The image of a tall, handsome, dark-haired man enters his mind. The brunette can’t see his eyes since they are closed, but the dark-haired man leans down to press his supple lips against the emerald-eyed teen’s mouth.

Makoto snaps his eyes open, but the image dancing along his foggy memory remains. He wonders, _‘what was that? Who was that? He was wearing dark clothes…maybe they were a black color? I can’t seem to remember. But he kissed me. Did he? Or was it me who kissed him? It doesn’t matter. I’m sure it’s nothing.’_

The brunette gets his hair nice and moist before he picks up his lavender mint scented shampoo and squirts the thick liquid on his hand before he lathers it up. Makoto rubs the shampoo in his hair, massaging his scalp with his skilled fingertips, closing his eyes once again.

The emerald-eyed teen’s mind goes back to the dark-haired teen but this time he hears a deep, sensual voice erupt from the teen’s lips uttering his name. Makoto releases the breath he was holding, feeling desire sweltering within him. The backstroke swimmer places one hand on the white tile in front of him as he bends forward to rinse his hair under the spray of water. He massages his scalp, running his other hand through his hair as his mind continues to wander with the dark-haired teen.

Makoto imagines the tall, toned, ebony-haired teen running his large hands over his chest and down his torso. The brunette grabs a fistful of his hair, gasping lightly. The teen kneels down in front of the emerald-eyed teen, grabbing Makoto’s hips with his strong hands, gently tracing and grazing the lines of the v muscle with his thumbs, one of his most sensitive spots on the backstroke swimmer’s body.

The brunette moans softly, opening his eyes as he looks down at the white tiles. He feels a flush burning his cheeks at the thought of someone touching him so intimately, and his eyes trails down his body, noticing that he is half hard. The emerald-eyed teen flushes deeper as embarrassment settles within his chest, _‘oh my god! Seriously!? This can’t be happening right now…this is so embarrassing. I mean, I have a guest, and…ugh!’_

Makoto bends his elbow, placing his forearm on the cool tile before resting his forehead against his arm as he sighs, _‘If I don’t deal with this now, it won’t be good. Damn, how long has it been since I’ve…touched myself?’_ The brunette’s other hand, still slightly sudsy from the shampoo, runs through the rest of his brown locks, trailing down the back of his neck, chest, stomach, and pelvis before his fingers brush up against his thickening penis.

The emerald-eyed teen’s breath hitches as a bolt of desire surges through him, _‘I can’t remember the last time…I’ve done this. I haven’t had sex in awhile either.’_ Makoto closes his eyes, wraps his hand around his hardening cock, sliding his hand up his shaft as he silently moans from the act.

The backstroke swimmer again starts visualizing the dark-haired teen kneeling down in front of him, stroking his slippery wet cock slowly. The brunette pants become more labored as he continues stroking his now, hard shaft with pre-cum dribbling down the tip.

Makoto swallows as he imagines the dark-haired teen’s eyes open and a pair of bluish-green orbs staring up at him as the teen flicks his tongue over the tip of his penis and then slides his tongue down, trailing the sensitive underside of his cock. The brunette moans softly envisioning the ebony-haired teen doing pleasurable things to him. Makoto continues to glide his hand up and down his shaft, feeling the slick pre-cum coating his penis as he pants unevenly. The backstroke swimmer bites the inside of his bottom lip, trying to prevent himself from becoming too noisy.

Makoto fantasizes the bluish-green eyed teen enveloping his engorged dick between his lips, thrusting his mouth down his whole shaft. The brunette makes a fist with the hand lying against the white tile as the emerald-eyed teen’s body explodes with a burning need for release. The emerald-eyed teen hastens his pace, indiscreetly gasps as he presses his forehead into his forearm. Makoto can feel the hot spray of water hitting his back muscles, and he arches his back as a stream of water falls down the cleft of his butt cheeks. Picturing a sexy teen licking him up and down, and the hot water trailing down his back, sends the backstroke swimmer into a sensory override.

The emerald-eyed teen envisions the teal-eyed teen releasing his dick with a lewd popping sound, lips reddened and moist as the raven-haired teen trails his hot tongue up his body, stopping for a moment to suck on his sensitive nipples, until he is standing right in front of him with his hand on Makoto’s ass. The brunette moans lightly, and hears his immodest voice echo off the tiled walls.

Makoto thrusts his hips in time with each pump of his fist, pushing the brunette over the edge as he can feel his climax coming within the next few strikes. The emerald-eyed teen imagines the ex-butterfly swimmer flick his tongue over the shell of his ear, whispering, “Makoto…you taste delicious.” The backstroke swimmer flushes deeply, shutting his eyes tightly as he strokes his thumb over the tip of his cock before a milky white spray of thick, hot cum stains the white tile.

The brunette rides out his orgasm, feeling the high burst throughout his body. The emerald-eyed teen says between erratic breaths, “Sou…Sousuke….ah! Sou…” Makoto continues panting softly, yet wildly, as he tries to recollect his thoughts coming down from his pleasure, _‘huh? Sousuke? I was thinking about Sousuke…’_

Makoto opens his eyes, pushing himself off the cool white tile and drenching his head in the spray of water. He rinses his hand that is covered in cum, _‘I think…I think I may be in trouble here. If I like him as more than a friend…what does that mean? But, he’s in love with someone else. I can’t change that…but…’_ The brunette sighs as he pulls the showerhead off the base to wash off the evidence of his high off the white tiled walls. The backstroke swimmer continues his thoughts, _‘either way, we are just friends. I need to be mindful of that.’_

Makoto continues taking the rest of his shower with a little more hesitancy than usual due to the fact that the raven-haired teen he was just fantasizing about is sleeping in his bedroom.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 10: 06 am **

Sousuke is lying on the made bed playing _Trivia Crack_ on his phone. After cleaning up Makoto’s room, the raven-haired teen decided to relax and play a game on his phone while he waits for Makoto to come out of the bathroom. As he’s about to finish a round of his game, the teal-eyed teen’s phone vibrates.

The raven-haired teen sighs as he checks his message from his stepsister.

[To: Sou-chan

From: Yumiko

Sou-chan! I just wanted to check in with you. Dad called me and told me about the wedding during the summer next year. He made it quite clear that he can’t attend, and that I will have to fill in for him. So…are you ok? I kinda made the assumption that he talked to you first. Call me…or at least contact me. ]

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, frowning deeply, _‘damn.’_ Sousuke sits up on the bed, planting his feet on the floor as he rests his elbows on his thighs texting Yumiko back.

[To: Yumiko

From: Sousuke

Yeah, we talked already. He told me why he couldn’t go to the wedding. I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Hey, if you can’t go to the wedding, you don’t have to go. It’s his responsibility. I’ll let my mom know when I get to Iwatobi. ]

The ex-butterfly swimmer places the phone on the bed as he runs his hands through his hair, looking down at the carpeted floor. Sousuke closes his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. He didn’t notice Makoto walk into the bedroom.

The brunette slowly walks into his bedroom to find the raven-haired teen sitting on the bed with his hands in his hair and staring at the floor. The emerald-eyed teen tightens his hold on the green towel tied around his waist as he notices that the futon, blankets, and pillows have been put away, and that his bed is made. Makoto bites his lip as he looks away, feeling a bit shameful for what he had done in the bathroom. He rubs his arm up and down then takes a deep breath to calm his anxious heart.

Makoto quietly walks over to the raven-haired teen, hearing Sousuke gently breathing in and out almost as if he’s trying to calm his nerves. The backstroke swimmer says hesitantly, “Sousuke? Are you ok?”

The raven-haired teen hears the emerald-eyed teen’s uncertain voice, opens his eyes, and lifts his head to find Makoto in a jade green towel low on his hips, damp hair with drips of water trickling onto his naked torso, and a worried face. The teal-eyed teen just stares up at the backstroke swimmer, not expecting him to be so close to him.

The brunette’s green orbs meet wide teal eyes and Makoto just stands there gazing back at Sousuke. He blinks a couple times before he tears his eyes away from those bright teal eyes, “uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you. You, um…can take a shower now. I’m done with the bathroom.” Makoto scratches his cheek, eyes focused on the raven-haired teen’s cellphone on the bed.

Sousuke closes his eyes, rubs the bridge of his nose in attempt to hide the small blush on his cheeks from showing and to calm his nerves, “I’m fine, Makoto. I just got a phone call. Nothing to worry about. Yeah, I better go do that. You got some clothes for me?”

The brunette’s eyes widen, _‘oh that right! He was wearing that nice suit last night. I don’t think he wants to get back in that…even though he looked really good in it. Let’s see…a change of clothes. Hmm…what would be comfortable…Jeans probably…maybe one of my sweaters? I should check.’_ Makoto heads over to his dresser and bends down at the waist to open the last set of drawers, looking for something that would be comfortable for the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke hears the emerald-eyed teen opening a set of drawers, looks to his side to see what the brunette is getting him. The teal-eyed teen’s mouth parts as he is met with Makoto’s ass hanging in the air, the dangerously short green towel hugging his shape and for a moment the thought of the brunette in a green towel seems so familiar. The raven-haired teen face palms as he remembers his dream, _‘that’s right…Makoto was wearing a green towel in my dream. Although it’s not like I’ve never seen him in a towel before.’_

The teal-eyed teen’s phone vibrates, catching Sousuke’s attention and breaking his thought process. He quickly picks up the phone to find Yumiko replying back to his message.

[To: Sou-chan

From: Yumiko

Ok, Sou-chan. Let’s talk about this. Honestly, I think I could make it work with my schedule but my concern is you more than anything. Dad already sent the R.S.V.P so there isn’t anything we could do about that. Since we have time, let’s talk when you come back from winter break, ok? Also, do you need help packing tonight? I don’t have a date or anything and I thought maybe I could spend some time with you before you leave to Nagoya. ]

[To: Yumiko

From: Sousuke

Alright. Let’s talk about this next year, when I get back from Iwatobi. I pack light anyway, I don’t need any help. If you just want to see me before I leave, let me get back to you. ]

Sousuke looks up from the screen of his phone to find Makoto bending forward, getting some undergarments from the other drawers of the dresser. The raven-haired teen places his phone back on the bed as he leans back on the palms of his hands, “hey, Makoto…were you singing in the shower? Like some rock song, or something? I sorta heard your voice and I was wondering what kind of song it was. It sounded kinda nice.”

The brunette holds a pair of navy straight-leg jeans that are a little too long for him, and could be just about right for Sousuke’s height, a white short-sleeved undershirt, a pair of black wool socks, and a layered v-neck black and grey sweater with five decorative black and white buttons on the right side of the v-neck collar. Makoto opens the underwear drawer when he hears Sousuke’s question.

The emerald-eyed teen freezes when he hears the question, _‘eh? He heard me!? Shit! He heard me in the shower!? Oh, crap! A song? Uh…Yeah…a song.’_ Makoto flushes in embarrassment and says stiffly, “uhh…you, you heard me, huh?” The brunette laughs nervously, “I…I wasn’t singing a specific song. I was just, ummm…playing a tune in my head and just went with it…I guess?” Makoto focuses his attention to the drawer in front of him, and finds the bright blue superman boxer briefs, _‘I can’t tell him the truth. That would be so embarrassing to admit.’_

The raven-haired teen raises an eyebrow, “oh? Just going with a tune in your head, huh?”

Makoto turns around not meeting the teal-eyed teen’s gaze as he places the clothes on the bed, “well, yeah…yeah. Uh…thanks for cleaning up in here. You really didn’t have to do that.” The brunette shifts his eyes to the side to find the raven-haired teen gazing at him curiously. The backstroke swimmer turns on his heel and heads to his closet, “I don’t think I have a guest towel in the bathroom. Let me get that for you.”

The teal-eyed teen stares at the brunette’s retreating back as Makoto slides the closet door open and digs around looking for a towel. Sousuke watches the emerald-eyed teen’s back, admiring the defined muscles, _‘wait…before I started, uh, staring…what was I thinking? The whole singing thing. I thought he was singing, but he’s too embarrassed, so it must have been something else. But what?’_

The ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes travel down to the green towel hanging around Makoto’s hips, noticing that the tie on the side isn’t as tight as it was before. He says with restraint, “uh, Makoto, your towel looks like it will fall off.”

The emerald-eyed teen opens up the set of clear plastic drawers looking for a towel to give to Sousuke. With his mind so frazzled, the brunette opens a couple drawers trying to remember where he placed the towels, only to mentally curse at himself, _‘what am I doing? Of course it’s not in the first or second drawer. I organized these things, it’s in the third drawer…why am I getting all embarrassed anyway?’_ Makoto opens the third drawer, bending down at the waist to grab a clean white towel.

The backstroke swimmer stands back up holding the soft white towel in one arm as he closes the drawer. Makoto hears Sousuke’s deep voice and turns around quickly, unsure of what the raven-haired teen said, “huh? What did you say?”

Sousuke notices the brunette’s green towel has untied and is slowly beginning to slack around his waist and slide down the emerald-eyed teen’s body. Sousuke swiftly pushes himself off the bed and darts over to Makoto trying to catch the towel as it slides off the backstroke swimmer’s body.

Makoto notices Sousuke’s nimble movements, takes a step back into the closet, and then he feels the fluffy towel tied around his waist snap free, grazing his skin as it falls to the floor. The brunette tries to catch the towel before it falls to the floor, to no avail. The emerald-eyed teen gasps as he rapidly places the folded white towel in his hand over his private area.

The raven-haired teen tries to stop, but crashes into the brunette. He places his hand up on Makoto’s chest, pushing him back into the closet.

The emerald-eyed teen quickly grasps the top of the plastic drawer set behind him as Sousuke bumps into him. The two teens stare at each other with shocked expressions.

Sousuke gazes into those big green eyes, _‘whoa. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t mean to get so close to him…like this. He’s…Makoto, he’s…so green. And he’s blushing, damn. He looks so…so nice.’_ Sousuke subconsciously presses his hand into the brunette’s chest gently, feeling heat tingle through his veins. The raven-haired teen looks down at the brunette’s smooth chest, feeling a small flush sizzling on his cheeks and wanting to hide his abashment. He says in a bare whisper, “Makoto, uh…sorry. I, I was just trying to…to help. Let me, get that towel.” The ex-butterfly swimmer bends down to grab the green towel that fell on the floor.

Makoto stares into those stunning teal eyes with surprise. The brunette swallows audibly, tightening his grip on the plastic drawer set behind him. The emerald-eyed teen’s face burns up in a deep blush as he continues staring up at the raven-haired teen, his heart beat ringing in his ears. Makoto feels a rush burst through his chest, feeling Sousuke’s warm hand against his flesh, _‘oh my gosh! He’s right in front of me. I…I can’t believe this! The towel I wore just had to fall, and I’m covering myself with…his towel. I’m practically naked, and he’s right in front of me…crap.’_

Makoto feels a tingly pressure on his chest and the brunette eyes close halfway, looking down, _‘damn…I’m in trouble. So…much trouble.’_ The emerald-eyed teen hears Sousuke’s soft voice and he wants to respond. Instead the backstroke swimmer witnesses the raven-haired teen bend down in front of him and he releases a gasp. Makoto quickly says, “Sou…Sousuke. It’s okay, you don’t have…you don’t have to do that. I can get it.” The brunette attempts to bend down to pick up the green towel.

The teal-eyed teen looks up to find Makoto bending down towards the floor, “it’s okay, Makoto. I got it. I can see you’re embarrassed…just let me get it. I’m closer to it.”

The brunette couldn’t help but stop when Sousuke looks up at him. It reminded him of his fantasy in the shower, Sousuke kneeling down in front of him sucking him off. Makoto takes his hand off of the plastic drawers and gently hits his palm against his forehead, _‘dammit…this is bad! God…here he is bending down in front of me. I shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. He’s just trying to help me. Sousuke who’s wearing my sweatpants, my black and white shirt with the cat on it…and…shit! No, no, no…I can’t start imagining him doing sexy things in my clothes.’_

The raven-haired teen squats down in front of the brunette, picking up the green towel with one hand before getting back up. Sousuke stands up and says, “uh…you should come towards me, Makoto.

Makoto’s eyes widen with Sousuke’s suggestion, _‘eh? He wants me to move closer to him? But…there’s no space between us!?’_ The brunette frets, “uh, wha? Clo-closer? May-maybe you can hold this…this towel in front of me and I’ll put that one around me.”

The raven-haired teen gives the emerald-eyed teen a puzzled look, “hah? You want me to hold the towel in front of your crotch?” Sousuke’s mouth parts as he realizes what he just said. The teal-eyed teen notices Makoto’s face and neck become so red with embarrassment that the ex-butterfly swimmer takes a step back and looks away. He says apologetically, “uh, I…I didn’t mean it like that. I mean, I could just put this one around you, instead of holding the one in front of your, um…front.” Sousuke winces at his own words, _‘real smooth. That sounded so stupid. I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore.’_

Makoto’s body stiffens with uneasiness and awkwardness that he can’t find the proper words to respond to Sousuke’s statements. The brunette bites his bottom lip to try and stop his racing heart from staining his cheeks red with embarrassment, _‘I’m such an idiot! Oh my god! He’s right. He would be holding the towel right in front of my crotch, and that would be so awkward. What a terrible suggestion, what do I do now?’_

An inept silence falls between the teens for a few moments. The raven-haired teen shifts his eyes to the side and finds the brunette looking down with red tinted cheeks. The ex-butterfly swimmer silently sighs, _‘dammit. Now I’ve done it. I’ve embarrassed the shit of him. Fuck, there isn’t anything I can say that will make this situation better. Either way, I should cover him up.’_

Sousuke takes a step forward, gently places his hands on Makoto’s shoulders and pulls him away from the closet taking a few steps back. Before the brunette registers what is happening, Sousuke leans into the emerald-eyed teen wrapping his arms around Makoto’s waist as he pulls the green towel around the brunette’s back and over his sides.

Sousuke breathes in Makoto’s scent and he holds his breath for a moment, recognizing the aroma of mint and lavender lingering over the brunette’s neck. He thinks, _‘he smells really good. In fact, it’s very calming. Hmm pretty suiting for him.’_

The brunette doesn’t remember moving forward, or Sousuke moving into his personal space. Makoto blinks as he is met with black and white fabric in front of his face. The emerald-eyed teen turns his head to the side, his glassy gaze met with a neck, _‘huh? When did he get so close to me?’_

Makoto raises his hand with the intention to gently push Sousuke’s shoulder and move the raven-haired teen away from him, instead the emerald-eyed teen feels the side of Sousuke’s warm thumb brush against his sensitive hipbone, just centimeters away from the v muscle he imagined him touching in the shower. The brunette sharply inhales and presses his hand into Sousuke’s shoulder, balling the black and white fabric of the sleeve into a fist as his grip on the white towel loosens and falls on Makoto’s and Sousuke’s feet.

The raven-haired teen feels something fall and just when he’s about to look down to see what it was he hears the emerald-eyed teen take in a sharp breath. Sousuke’s eyes widen, his heart rate quickens, and he feels something stir within him, something that he can’t quite pinpoint. The ex-butterfly swimmer turns his head to find Makoto’s hand balled into a fist on his shoulder, _‘shit, what happened? Did I do something wrong?’_

Sousuke hears the brunette’s vulnerable, quivering voice say, “Sousuke. Please…don’t look down.” The raven-haired teen trails his eyes over to Makoto’s face. Their eyes meet, and the ex-butterfly swimmer notices a hazy, glimmering kind of look in those green eyes.

Sousuke swallows at the sight of Makoto and he tightens his grip on the green towel as a rush of desire floods his senses. The teal-eyed teen bursts out loudly with little thought, “Makoto, damn. I’m so sorry. I-I just wanted to help, but I’m making things worse, huh? I’m sure we’ve seen each other naked in the locker rooms plenty of times. Uhh, I mean probably just your ass. I mean, we’ve seen each others’ asses and…crap! Sorry. I don’t mean to imply that we’ve checked each other out or anything. It just comes with the territory, you know? Swimming, showers, naked guys and…crap. I need to shut-up.”

Sousuke closes his eyes in attempt to erase everything he just said, _‘fuck! What the hell!?’_

Makoto is taken aback with Sousuke’s words, not expecting him to be blushing and so flustered as he spews out words. The brunette watches the raven-haired teen close his eyes tightly, making a face. The emerald-eyed teen feels his heart swell and exhales softly, _‘Oh, Sousuke. I, I didn’t know you were so nervous. You probably saw that I was nervous. You were blushing…so cute. That…was so cute.’_ The backstroke swimmer smiles to himself, disregarding for the moment the fact that he is butt naked in front of Sousuke.

The brunette unravels the fabric on Sousuke’s shoulder and trails his hands down to grasp the green towel that is partially around him as he says softly, “it-it’s not your fault, Sousuke. It-it’s not my fault either. Here, let me take care of…” Makoto brushes his fingers against Sousuke’s hands unintentionally, sending a sizzling fire bursting through his chest.

The raven-haired teen sighs as he hears Makoto’s words, feeling a little more at ease. However, just when Sousuke was about to open his eyes, he feels the brunette’s fingertips gently graze against his flesh, causing the raven-haired teen to snap his eyes open, feeling that stirring he felt earlier bubble up in his stomach.

Makoto raises his head and peers into those shockingly beautiful teal eyes as he says, “sorry.”

Sousuke quickly retorts just a half-second after the brunette, “sorry.”

The two teens just stare at each other for a moment, dumbfounded. The ex-butterfly swimmer looks away by attempting to look down, but he curses instead closing his eyes, releasing the green towel and turning around to face the bed. The teal-eyed teen rubs the back of his neck as he mumbles, “my bad” 

The brunette grabs the green towel around his waist and watches the raven-haired teen turn around. He blinks a couple of times before he looks down at himself, realizing that his groin is fully exposed. Makoto quickly covers himself, tying the towel around his hips before bending down to pick up the white towel he dropped earlier.

Makoto walks over to the pile of clothes on the bed and places the towel on top before he picks it all up, turning around to face the teal-eyed teen, “here, Sousuke. I can get you a different towel if you want. Why don’t you go ahead and take a shower. I, I still have your toothbrush. You know, from that one time you stayed over. It’s in the toothbrush holder, behind mine…on the left side. Haru’s is on the right, the blue one, so don’t use that. Yours is the red one. Anyway…uh, here.” The brunette extends his hands forward.

Sousuke takes a few steps to take the stack of clothes from the brunette, “thanks. This one is fine.” The raven-haired teen keeps his eyes down on the white towel that had touched Makoto’s body on top of the pile of clothes and says, “yeah, I’ll go do that.” The teal-eyed teen turns around and saunters out of Makoto’s room, heading to the bathroom.

The emerald-eyed teen watches Sousuke’s retreating back, remembering the comment about seeing each other’s asses. Makoto’s gaze moves downwards and watches the ex-butterfly swimmer’s muscular ass in his green sweatpants disappear.

Makoto sighs as he runs his hand through his damp hair, _‘I am in trouble. I don’t think I just find Sousuke physically attractive. I think I like him, like him. I just have to keep my interest benign. Otherwise, Haru is totally gonna pick up on this, and I’ll never hear the end of it either.’_

The brunette shivers from the chill in the morning air and quickly shuffles over to his dresser to get dressed in something warm and cozy before contacting Haru about their day.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 10: 43 am **

Haru ties the blue apron with a dolphin printed on the front around his waist. He hears his phone vibrate and walks over to the kitchen counter by the sink, picks up his phone, and finds that he has a message from Makoto.

[To: Haru

From: Makoto

Hi Haru-chan! ^_~ When you get this have a talk with Rin about meeting Sousuke and I at Momemto Café later today. I was thinking about showing Rin where I work and we can have something to eat. I hope you two didn’t stay up too late last night. What did Rin think about the dried sakura blossoms? Was he surprised? ]

[To: Makoto

From: Haru

Drop the –chan, Makoto. >.> Is your workplace open today? It’s the Emperor’s birthday, did you forget? Rin is still sleeping. If the café is open, I don’t mind going there and having some tea. No we didn’t stay up that late, but Rin may be a bit sore. Yes, he was surprised. He said it was romantic. ]

[To: Haru

From: Makoto

Ok, ok, Haru! ^_^;; Yes it is open today, and I didn’t forget that today is the Emperor’s birthday. If we weren’t leaving tomorrow, I would have suggested going to the Imperial Palace, since we’ve never been there, but I figure we can do that next year. Eeehhhh!?!? O_O Haaaruuu! >_< Don’t give me any details, I don’t need to know. As long as you two are happy, that’s all that matters. Awww, so sweet! ^///^ I bet Rin loved it! Anyway, Sousuke and I will meet you at Momento Café then. You better make Rin some breakfast, and his favorite too. ^_~ ]

[To: Makoto

From: Haru

There is nothing wrong with grilled mackerel with pineapple. It’s nutritious. However since Rin had a long flight, I will make him shougayaki for breakfast. And why do you keep mentioning Yamazaki? Is he with you? Did you sort out your feelings? ]

[To: Haru

From: Makoto

ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ yeah...if you say so, Haru. Um, yeah. Sousuke is with me. He came over after his event with his family last night. We watched a movie, Captain America. I told him to stay the night since it was really late. As for my feelings...uh, I, um...am still working on that. ^_^;;; ]

Haru furrows his eyebrows when he reads Makoto’s response. The sapphire-eyed teen is about to reply back to the brunette’s text when he hears the bedroom door open.

The navy-haired teen puts down his phone on the kitchen counter and watches the redhead rub his sleepy eyes with his hand as Rin lazily saunters into the room, naked. Haru raises his eyebrows in surprise, not expecting the crimson-eyed teen to be up yet, let alone in his birthday suit. Haru notices a couple dried sakura blossoms stuck to Rin’s chest and thigh.

The free-swimmer walks over to the redhead, pulling off the sakura blossoms on Rin’s chest and thigh and says softly, “good morning, Rin.” Haru places his hand on Rin’s shoulder as he lightly brushes his lips on the redhead’s cheek in a chaste kiss. He whispers into the redhead’s ear, “go to the bathroom. Brush your teeth and take a shower. I’ll make breakfast.”

The crimson-eyed teen sighs as he wraps his arms around Haru’s waist, embracing the navy-haired teen. He says groggily, “morning, Haru. Let’s take a shower together, we can pick up where we left off.”

The sapphire-eyed teen shivers at the thought and says firmly, “I already took a bath. Don’t you want to see Makoto and Yamazaki?”

Rin groans lightly, and nods, “yeah, I want to see those two dorks.”

Haru wiggles out of the redhead’s grasp and says, “then, go to the bathroom.”

The crimson-eyed teen clicks his tongue and walks over to the washroom to brush his teeth.

The navy-haired teen watches the redhead saunter into the washroom, smiling at the sexy sight of Rin walking around in his apartment in nothing but his naked glory. Haru tilts his head noticing the crimson-eyed teen rubbing his butt-cheek before closing the door to the washroom. The free-swimmer makes a mental note to rub Rin ass when the redhead is done with the bathroom. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 2: 34 pm **

Rin breathes in deeply as he looks up at the sky and notices that it is overcast in a large grey cloud. He smiles when he sees little beams of sunlight almost filtering through, but they vanish as quickly as they appear. The streets are dusted with a light layer of snow with some concrete peeking through. The swirl of wind isn’t blaring and harsh like some winters, there is just a gentle, cold breeze that flows once in a while through the air bringing a slight chill to the redhead’s cheeks. The streets are decorated with thousands of crystalline lights already twinkling even though it is still light out. The sidewalks aren’t completely crowded, but there are people with large shopping bags walking around in a bustle.

Haru steals a glance over at the redhead beside him and notices Rin looking into all the windows of the stores and shops they pass by. He takes a moment to appreciate the redhead beside him. The crimson-eyed teen is wearing a dark blue and red baseball style jacket with a heather grey hood, a cream colored scarf, black gloves, black jeans with a silver lined printed shark on the left leg, and a pair of white hi-top sneakers. He remembers the redhead wearing a dark blue mock neck sweater with blue button details that go from the collar down to the armpits on the front of the sweater, kind of like a baseball style shirt.

The free-swimmer recalls how that soft dark blue sweater clung to the crimson-eyed teen’s body, like a glove. The blue sweater shows off Rin’s broad shoulders and slim waist so delightfully, and while the color clashed with the all-around swimmer’s hair, instead of being a terrible clash of colors, it was well-suited for the redhead, like Rin swimming in the dark cool colors of the water.

The navy-haired teen bumps his shoulder against the crimson-eyed teen as he shifts his gaze to the concrete ground in front of him, not wanting the all-around swimmer to realize that he was staring at him.

Rin smiles when he feels a bump on his shoulder. He turns his head to gaze at the free-swimmer walking next to him. He notices how Haru has his eyes trained downwards with a casual expression, except for his eyes. The redhead leans a bit forward to get a better look of those sapphire orbs, but those eyes shift into a more indifferent stare.

The navy-haired teen can feel a curious gaze and focuses his attention on the road in front of him.

The redhead grins, _‘oi, Haru. I saw you staring at me…why so coy now? Are you flirting, Haru?’_ Rin takes his hand out of his pocket and throws his arm around the free-swimmer’s shoulders, leans in towards the navy-haired teen’s ear and says, “you cold, Haru? I could warm you up.”

Haru stiffens slightly as Rin’s arm rests around his shoulders, pulling him in closer to the crimson-eyed teen. The navy-haired teen shifts his gaze to the side, away from Rin’s prying eyes. When he feels the redhead’s warm breath tickle his ear, Haru eyes widens briefly, balling his hands in his pockets as he feels a twinge of a blush spread across his cheeks. Haru releases a soft trembling sigh, _‘Rin…don’t do this to me in public. You’re such a tease. It’s not fair…’_ The sapphire-eyed teen feels his phone lightly hit his hand and says, “call Makoto.”

Rin clicks his tongue, unsatisfied with Haru’s verbal response, but the small blush he saw was enough to keep the redhead entertained. He says leisurely, “alright. Must be close, then.”

The free-swimmer side glances to find the redhead looking down, probably digging out his phone from his jean pocket. Haru nods, “un.”

The redhead pulls out his phone and calls the brunette.

Makoto answers the phone after the second ring, “hello?”

Rin answers, “yo, Makoto. Where are you guys?”

The brunette chuckles, “we’re almost there. Sousuke and I are about a block away. Are you there already?”

The crimson-eyed teen clicks his tongue, “I don’t know. Haru hasn’t been very talkative, but he asked me to call you. I figure we’re close.”

The redhead tilts his head slightly as he hears some mumbling on Makoto’s end. Rin tries to make out the words to no avail. Confused the crimson-eyed teen says, “oi, what are you guys talking about?”

The emerald-eyed teen quickly says, “ah, nothing, nothing. Sousuke was just telling me that…eh! Eh? Sousuke! What are you doing?”

Rin stops, causing the navy-haired teen to stop walking as the redhead’s arm is still draped around Haru’s shoulders. The sapphire-eyed teen looks up to find the redhead knitting his eyebrows in bewilderment. Haru wonders what could possibly be happening on the other end of the phone.

The all-around swimmer can tell that Makoto no longer has the phone, his voice sounds more distant, and there is some kind of struggle on the other end, _‘did Sousuke just take Makoto’s phone? Since when does he do things like that? What’s been happening since I’ve been gone.’_ Rin sighs and says, “oi. Oi! Stop fooling around you two and tell me what’s going on!?”

Rin hears Sousuke’s deep voice mumble something before he hears, “yo, Rin.”

The redhead smiles when he hears Sousuke’s voice, “yo, Sousuke! How’s it going, man? Haru told me that you spent the night with Makoto. Did you guys have fun?” Rin looks down to find Haru peering up at him curiously, and the pair starts walking again.

The raven-haired teen looks over at the now silent brunette walking next to him. He notices that Makoto’s has pulled up his hunter green scarf around his mouth, covering his face and his eyes looking straight ahead. Sousuke says, “I’m ok, bro. He told you that, huh? We watched a movie last night, Captain America. The action scenes were pretty cool.”

The brunette’s ears perk up when he hears the teal-eyed teen. He notices how relaxed his tone is, smooth, deep, and sort of a lazy kind of drawl to it. Ever since that little awkward moment in his bedroom, the brunette has been nervous around the tall broody teen. Makoto could tell he wasn’t the only one nervous, Sousuke was too. When the emerald-eyed teen caught the raven-haired teen staring at him on a handful of occasions during the day, the ex-butterfly swimmer would quickly look away, focusing his attention on something else as he rubs the back of his neck.

At first the emerald-eyed teen thought it was adorable, but as it kept happening, the brunette found himself becoming more nervous about it. Makoto decides to sneak a glance over at the raven-haired teen. As he was lost in his own thoughts, he wasn’t really listening to Sousuke’s words, but he notices how the ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes gleam with a kind of happiness as he talks on the phone with Rin.

The backstroke swimmer thinks, _‘oh, that’s right…he still has feelings for Rin. So all those stares and awkward moments, they were just awkward moments. Nothing more. I probably embarrassed him and he doesn’t want to admit it. I can’t believe I got so nervous about the stares and the times our hands touched, even though we were wearing gloves. It’s so silly…so silly.’_

Makoto turns the corner but notices that Sousuke is about to cross the street. The brunette stops and turns on his heel, grabbing the raven-haired teen’s shoulder, “Sousuke! It’s right here. You don’t have to go across the street.”

The teal-eyed teen is pulled back by a gentle pull on his shoulder. Sousuke turns his head to find Makoto’s green orbs gazing at him in worry. The raven-haired teen blinks, _‘ah, crap. Was I really not paying attention to my surroundings? Shit…I just gotta play it cool.’_

Before the ex-butterfly swimmer could give Makoto a response, he hears an excited voice call out, “Oi! Sousuke! Makoto!” The raven-haired teen even hears an echo from the phone against his ear.

The brunette turns around and spots Rin and Haru right next to the _Momemto Café_ entrance. Rin gives the teens a shark-like grin as he waves with the arm around Haru’s shoulders. Makoto breaks into his trademark smile before he briskly walks over to the couple, excusing himself from the people he was about to bump into before he throws his arms around the redhead, crushing him in a bear hug.

The navy-haired teen quickly shimmed out of Rin’s hold, knowing the brunette would run over and hug the crimson-eyed teen. The sight of a surprised and flummoxed redhead made the sapphire-eyed teen crack a smile and chuckle softly.

Sousuke watches the brunette almost bump into a couple of people before hugging the bemused redhead. The raven-haired teen smiles softly before he hangs up Makoto’s phone, putting it into his pocket and walking over to the group of friends.

The emerald-eyed teen laughs wholeheartedly as Rin grumbles about almost falling down, and that Makoto’s hug is too tight. However the redhead is grinning from ear to ear and returns the embrace with a squeeze of his own.

Makoto releases the crimson-eyed teen, places his hands on Rin’s shoulders, gazing into those astonished ruby eyes, and says, “I missed you, Rin! Haru-chan really missed you! And Sousuke’s been sulking this whole time without you around to liven him up!”

The raven-haired teen stands behind the brunette and raises an eyebrow with Makoto’s declaration and says with aversion, “oi!”

The sapphire-eyed teen turns his head to the side with a huff, “Makoto…drop the –chan.”

Rin’s eyes waver with an overwhelming sense of sincerity from the brunette’s words, _‘ah, Makoto! I can always rely on you to be so honest! I missed you too, dude! I missed all of you!’_ The redhead notices a small blush on the brunette’s cheeks as he looks back to see Sousuke’s disapproving stare and looks to the side to see Haru’s indifferent gaze looking off to the side. Makoto rubs the back of his neck and Rin just laughs at the sight of an embarrassed brunette, a broody best friend, and a cold boyfriend.

Makoto, Haru, and Sousuke all stare at the redhead with interest, the brunette breaking out into a smile, happy to witness the crimson-eyed teen. The emerald-eyed teen takes a step to the side, looking over at the raven-haired teen.

Haru notices the backstroke swimmer moving away from Rin and follows the emerald-eyed teen’s line of sight. The sapphire-eyed teen looks at the raven-haired teen more closely. He notices that the teal-eyed teen is wearing a black winter coat, a grey scarf, black and grey gloves, navy jeans, and black leather dress shoes.

The navy-haired teen slightly narrows his eyes at Sousuke’s shoes, _‘dress shoes? I’ve never seen him wearing anything formal like that. Why is he wearing dress shoes? Oh! Makoto mentioned that he had a family event last night…must have been a formal thing. So…if it was formal…he wouldn’t have worn jeans last night…hmm.’_

Sousuke catches Makoto’s stare and looks away quickly, _‘I wasn’t sulking.’_ Rin takes a couple steps forward lifting up his arm in their usual greeting. Without much thought, the raven-haired teen lifts his arm, their forearms crossed together in greeting before they finish it off with a fist bump. The teal-eyed teen breaks into a sunny smile, “Rin! It’s good to see you, dude! Gou says you don’t call her enough.” Sousuke gives the redhead a smug smirk, teasing the all-around swimmer.

Rin grins and says, “oi, oi! Don’t lecture me, dumbass! Who’s the one who left me hanging for a month, huh?” The crimson-eyed teen sidesteps and gently kicks Sousuke’s calf playfully, “besides, I call her plenty. If I don’t call her every couple of days she sure lets me know about it, anything less than that wouldn’t be enough. Che, once a week should be enough.”

Haru breaks the playful banter and says, “let’s go inside. It’s cold out here.” The sapphire-eyed teen walks past the guys, heading towards the front entrance of _Momento Café._

Makoto chuckles and says, “come on guys, let’s go get a table and eat!” The brunette follows the navy-haired teen, and holds the door for everyone.

Sousuke tilts his head to the side, indicating to the redhead to go ahead of him. Rin smiles before walking in front of the raven-haired teen. The teal-eyed teen stops in front of Makoto and says, “oi, Makoto. Go on ahead. Rin is going to need your assistance with the menu.”

The brunette smiles softly, “ok. I’ll go on ahead.” Makoto releases the door and walks in before the raven-haired teen.

The first thing Rin notices is the aroma in the air. The scent of roasted coffee, baked goods, and toasty sandwiches lingers in the atmosphere. The all-around swimmer can hear a soft sound of music coming from the speakers above, Christmas music. Rin extends his ear to the music and recognizes the tune, it’s _Winter Bells_ by Mai Kuraki, a popular Christmas song for this time of year. The redhead feels a gush of warm air surround him, giving a sense of an inviting feeling. The crimson-eyed teen looks around the café and notices a roaring fire in the fireplace and gives the seating area a nice comfortable feeling.

The all-around swimmer looks at the tables and chairs, noticing the chairs are cushioned in a deep burgundy color surrounded by shiny dark brown wood staining. There are different kinds of tables, square, rectangular, but mainly round tables that are dark brown with a gold trim. The interior has browns, reds, and golds, giving off more of a modern-like feel with an inspired antique finish.

Rin smiles as he takes notice of all the Christmas decorations in the café, and a Christmas tree beautifully decorated with shiny ornaments and flickering lights. Even the windows are frosted and have sparkly snowflake decorations, _‘come back to Japan, and you can feel the Christmas spirit from a mile away. It’s nice, sometimes overdone, but right now it feels good.’_

Haru looks back after looking at the menu to find Rin checking out the café. The sapphire-eyed teen stares at the redhead and notices how the all-around swimmer’s eyes shimmer with novelty, _‘Rin…adorable.’_

Makoto walks up next to the redhead and says, “Rin, what are you in the mood for? Haru always gets the crispy mackerel panini sandwich. I’ve tried practically all the sandwiches here, and my favorite is the coconut curry beef sandwich.”

The redhead huffs lightly and says, “figures. Haru and mackerel are like a bonded pair. Heh, looks like you know what you’re ordering.” Rin notices the teal-eyed teen stopped next to the brunette and says, “what about you, Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen looks up at the menu and says, “I think I’ll stick with the tonkatsu sandwich.”

Rin nods and notices Haru standing in front of him. The redhead walks over to the sapphire-eyed teen and says, “ne, Haru. What are you getting?”

The free-swimmer says under his scarf, “the crispy mackerel panini.”

The crimson-eyed teen snorts, “ok. Do you want anything to drink?”

Haru looks up at the redhead curiously and says, “why? I’ll pay for my order.”

Rin shakes his head, “no. I’m paying for all you guys. Go grab a seat and tell me what you want.”

Before the navy-haired teen could reply, the brunette and the raven-haired teen walk up behind the crimson-eyed teen.

Makoto looks over at the free-swimmer and notices that Haru seems troubled by something. The emerald-eyed teen tilts his head and knits his eyebrows asking the sapphire-eyed teen what’s wrong.

Haru stares at the brunette and tells him through his eyes, _“Rin wants to pay for all of us. I can pay for my own order.”_

The emerald-eyed teen smiles sheepishly and says, “don’t worry Haru. You can get him back later.”

Both Rin and Sousuke look between Makoto and Haru. Rin clicks his tongue and says, “oi! Don’t do that telepathic thing. I’m right here, just spit it out and tell me.”

Sousuke places his hand on Rin’s shoulder and says, “what are you planning, Rin?”

The redhead sighs, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets, and says with his eyes closed, “I’m buying, so why don’t you all go get a table while I order.”

Haru pouts with his eyes, he knows that tone. Rin only uses that tone when he’s getting irritated.

Makoto raises his hands up in surrender with a nervous smile on his face as he tries to smooth over the situation and says, “come on, you guys. Rin probably just wants to show his appreciation. Let him have this, we can all get him back later.”

The teal-eyed teen exhales and says, “fine. Get me a cappuccino too. Come on, Makoto. Let’s go.”

The brunette scratches his cheek and says, “um, I think I’ll stay with Rin. Help him find something suitable for his palate, and I would like to say ‘hi’ to my co-workers.”

Rin looks at Haru and says calmly, “what about you, Haru? What do you want to drink?”

The sapphire-eyed teen gazes at the redhead for a moment before turning his head away, refusing to answer the question.

The crimson-eyed teen frowns and is about to demand that the navy-haired teen tell him what he wants, but the emerald-eyed teen says, “ok, Haru. I’ll make sure Rin gets that for you. Why don’t you and Sousuke find a spot for us to sit, ok?”

Sousuke and Haru look at each other for a moment. The navy-haired teen nods and Sousuke follows the free-swimmer.

Makoto and Rin watch the teal-eyed teen and Haru walk away from the line, towards a round table with four chairs, right next to the fireplace. The brunette sighs in relief and glances over at the redhead who is looking up at the menu.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke notices that the navy-haired teen picked a table right by the fireplace, and he unbuttons his jacket watching the free-swimmer take off his blue messenger bag, placing it on the chair.

Haru is in the process of unzipping his navy blue winter jacket and the raven-haired teen notices that the sapphire-eyed teen is wearing a dark grey scarf, black jeans that gradate to a medium grey towards the bottom, black and blue sneakers, a indigo purple sweater with a medium purple color on the cuffs of the sweater and on his right shoulder. Haru takes off his black and blue gloves, placing them in his pocket and places the jacket over the back of the chair he has chosen to sit in.

The raven-haired teen takes off his black gloves and grey scarf, placing them in his jacket pocket. He does the same as the navy-haired teen and places his coat on the back of the chair, right next to Nanase.

The sapphire-eyed teen picks up the messenger bag and places it in between his feet when he sits down. Haru looks up surprised that Yamazaki has decided to sit next to him. His eyes widen when he notices the layered medium grey and black v-neck sweater with the five decorative black and white buttons on one side of the collar. He watches Yamazaki pull out the chair and seat himself right next to him.

Haru says quietly, “you’re wearing Makoto’s sweater.”

Sousuke turns his head to find the navy-haired teen staring at him. He shrugs and says, “yeah. I’m wearing Makoto’s clothes. I don’t have any clothes at his place.”

The sapphire-eyed teen knits his eyebrows lightly and says, “that’s not true. Why didn’t you wear what you wore last night?” 

The raven-haired teen sighs, closes his eyes and says, “because I would be over-dressed. I was wearing a suit last night. I don’t think it would have been appropriate for me to wear such a thing here.”

Haru tilts his head to the side very slightly, _‘hmm. That’s why he’s wearing dress shoes.’_ The sapphire-eyed teen observes the ex-butterfly swimmer pull out his phone from his jacket pocket and fiddle with it. The navy-haired looks at the Christmas decorations as he says, “so, are you wearing his underwear too?”

Sousuke thumb hovers over his phone as he process the sapphire-eyed teen’s question. He knits his eyebrows and turns his head to stare at Nanase. Instead he finds the navy-haired teen looking up at something. He huffs, “yeah. I am. Does that bother you?”

Haru sighs and looks down at his hands in his lap, _‘not really. It’s Makoto’s choice, not mine. Besides, I don’t have to wear them. Just…don’t hurt him. Makoto really cares about you. So, don’t do anything reckless either.’_

Sousuke waits for the navy-haired teen to say something, but he remains quiet. The teal-eyed teen looks down at his phone, running a hand through his hair and sighs.

The free-swimmer pulls his grey scarf off his neck and says in a strained tone, “are we ok? Shouldn’t I call you…Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen turns his head to stare at the navy-haired teen but his eyes widen as he notices a reddish, purplish mark on Nanase’s neck. Sousuke stares at the marking on the sapphire-eyed teen’s neck as the free-swimmer folds the grey scarf on his lap. The teal-eyed teen says stiffly, “what do you mean?”

Haru turns his head to stare into Sousuke’s teal eyes. For a moment, there is a tense kind of atmosphere between them until the navy-haired teen says nonchalantly, “I know why...you stopped. So, I stopped. But…the others will notice if we continue calling each other by our surnames.”

Sousuke breaks eye contact, shifting his eyes to the side as he ponders Nanase’s words, _‘ah. He has a point. So, he knows. I doubt Rin told him…and I don’t think Makoto would say anything about it. He must have figured this out on his own. Just my luck…we have to talk about this.’_ The teal-eyed teen shifts his eyes back to the raven-haired teen and finds Nanase still staring at him, “so, you want me to call you Haru?”

The navy-haired teen shakes his head before looking down at the scarf on his lap, “you can call me Nanase. But…they will ask questions. Nagisa will want an explanation.”

The ex-butterfly swimmer watches Nanase closely, but his eyes drift back to the markings on his neck. Sousuke frowns and says cautiously, “if we’re going to talk about this, you should put your scarf back on.”

Haru turns his head and stares at the teal-eyed teen with confusion.

Sousuke knits his eyebrows and glances at Nanase’s eyes and down to his neck a couple times, giving the navy-haired teen a hint.

Haru notices the ex-butterfly swimmer shifting his eyes down at his neck and looking back up at him. Haru lifts up his hand and gingerly feels around his neck with his fingers. Suddenly the free-swimmer feels a slight raise of skin on his neck and presses the flesh gently. A light dull pain echoes on his neck and the memory of Rin sucking and biting his neck last night comes up in a vivid image. Haru’s eyes widen in shock, then embarrassment as he casts his eyes down at his scarf. He can feel heat rise up in his cheeks and he swiftly unfolds the dark grey scarf on his lap, placing it over his neck.

The raven-haired teen watches Nanase during the whole process and is shocked to see the sapphire-eyed teen surprised. The blush that spread on the navy-haired teen’s cheeks was a rare sight indeed, _‘huh. That’s a first, never seen you embarrassed before. I guess Rin has that effect on people. I’ve said it before…I can see why Rin is so taken by you. Seems that the feeling is mutual between you two. You better take care of him, Nanase…huh. Haru.’_

Haru sighs softly and says, “sorry. I forgot.”

Sousuke shrugs and says, “if you didn’t know, you didn’t know. Anyway, fine. Starting tomorrow…I’ll call you Haru. But for now, I’ll stick with Nanase. Don’t want those two asking questions.”

The navy-haired teen nods and says, “un.”

The two teens maintain their silence, feeling no need to discuss the situation further at this time.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The emerald-eyed teen takes the opportunity to see who’s working behind the counter today. He hasn’t seen many of the other people on the work roster, but he does recognize names. Makoto smiles when he sees Watanabe working the cashier and Eiji working the espresso machine. He looks over at the redhead and he can see that Rin is still trying to figure out what he wants to get.

Watanabe finishes up with the young woman in front of Rin and Makoto and calls for the next customer. When she sees the familiar emerald-eyed teen she smiles and says, “Tachibana-san! What are you doing here? I thought you were leaving today. To go visit your uncle.”

Makoto chuckles as he rests his palm on the wooden countertop, “hi, Watanabe-san! I’m glad to see you, too. Anyway, you’re right about me leaving soon, just not today. I’m leaving tomorrow. I just took today off because my friend, Rin has come to visit from Australia.”

Eiji’s ears pick up on a familiar voice and looks over at Makoto. He smiles and says, “yo, Makoto! Did you come by to make sure we’re doing our jobs?” The violet-eyed man winks at the brunette playfully.

Rin quirks an eyebrow at the familiarity between the cashier, the man behind the espresso machine and the brunette standing next to him and smiles, _‘ah. These must be the friends he made here in Tokyo. Makoto has always been such a sweet guy, I can see why people flock to him like a moth to a flame.’_ The redhead decides to watch the trio interact.

Makoto laughs, “Eiji! Stop teasing me like that. I didn’t come here to check up on you. I came here to show my friend where I work.” The brunette looks over at Rin and says, “this is my friend from Australia, Rin Matsuoka. We’ve known each other since we were little kids.”

Watanabe smiles at the redhead and says, “hi, Matsuoka-san! I’m Akemi Watanabe. Tachibana-san and I go to the same school, but I’m just one year ahead of him. It’s nice to meet you. Oh! And the guy working the espresso machine is Eiji Kita. He doesn’t go to the same school as we do.” The young girl turns to Makoto and says, “you didn’t tell me that your friend is a hottie.”

Eiji says firmly, “oi! Watanabe! Don’t flirt with the customers. Take their order, and make sure to give them the employee discount.” The onyx-haired man looks over at the redhead and says, “it’s nice to meet you, Matsuoka-san. I hope you enjoy your time here at the café.”

Makoto rubs the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly and feeling bad for the green-eyed girl.

Watanabe pouts, sighs dramatically and says, “ok. Sorry.” The green-eyed girl smiles at Makoto and Rin and says, “what would you like today?”

Rin laughs nervously and says, “it’s nice to meet you both, Watanabe-san, Kita-san. Thanks for taking care of Makoto. I know he can be handful sometimes. And…thanks for the compliment, Watanabe-san.” The crimson-eyed teen winks kindly.

Eiji smiles at the redhead before he glances over at the girl at the cash register, making sure the green-eyed girl does her job. He shifts his gaze on Makoto with a worried expression, _‘that ex of yours may still be here, Makoto. Hopefully he left earlier, but I doubt it.’_

Watanabe giggles and says, “ah! You are so sweet. But, I better take your order before Kita-oni demon gives me another lecture on being professional.”

Rin smiles at the girl and says, “no problem, Watanabe-san. Let’s see…one tonkatsu sandwich, one crispy mackerel panini, one coconut curry beef sandwich, one…” The redhead hears a gasp from the brunette next to him and notices Makoto looking at an image of a crepe on the counter.

Makoto says with excitement, “oh my gosh! This is just for today! The Emperor’s crepe! To celebrate the emperor’s birthday! And you can have it with chocolate whipped cream, mmm, it looks so delicious.”

Rin smiles and says, “ok, and one of those…with chocolate whipped cream. A pastrami sandwich, a large cappuccino, a latte macchiato, and…” The crimson-eyed teen throws his arm around the brunette’s shoulders and says, “you know the rest of the orders, Makoto. So…what is it?”

The brunette yelps lightly by the sudden contact from the all-around swimmer, bending downwards as the redhead pulls him closer to the crimson-eyed teen. Makoto chuckles playfully and says, “alright, alright. Um…an earl grey tea, and a mocha with…”

Watanabe giggles and says, “with extra whipped cream. I remember. Is that for here or to go?”

Rin let’s go of the emerald-eyed teen and says, “for here.” The green-eyed girl rings up the order with the employee’s discount. The redhead pays for the order as the young girl hands them a number to place on their table.

Makoto waves at Watanabe and Eiji before following Rin to the table. The redhead says with a smile, “it’s good to see you making friends. I can’t say the same for Sousuke…even Haru has a hard time making friends.”

The brunette nods and says, “Sousuke is Sousuke. Haru is Haru. I’m sure when they find the right people, they will make friends.”

Rin nudges the emerald-eyed teen in the stomach lightly and says, “so optimistic. I hope you’re right. I don’t feel right depending on you to check up on them all the time.”

Makoto chuckles, “awww, so you do worry about me!”

The redhead scoffs, “wha? I do not! I just don’t want you to get sick or something.”

The brunette laughs and realizes that they are now at the round table Haru and Sousuke are sitting at. Makoto sits down next to Haru, and takes off his backpack, placing it on the floor next to him, and asks, “Haru? Why are you still wearing your scarf? Here. Let me take it off for you.”

The navy-haired teen stares at Makoto, telling him through his eyes, _“no. I can’t take it off. It makes Yamazaki uncomfortable. It makes me uncomfortable.”_

The emerald-eyed teen furrows his eyebrows, slightly confused and says, “ok.”

Rin places the number card on the table as he takes off his black gloves and cream-colored scarf and hangs the hooded baseball style jacket on the back of the chair next to Sousuke. The redhead takes a seat next to Sousuke and Makoto. He notices a stare from across the table and focuses his attention to the sapphire gaze. Rin smirks at Haru with a sparkle in his eye. The crimson-eyed teen leans forward to prop his elbow on the table, but winces lightly, shifting his weight on the chair.

The navy-haired watches the all-around swimmer across from him with concern, knowing exactly what the redhead is feeling and that he was the one that caused it.

Makoto notices Haru staring at Rin and looks over to find that the redhead is shifting his weight on his chair. Just when the emerald-eyed teen was about to shift his gaze back to his best friend, he catches a glimpse of Sousuke sitting across from him checking his phone, and takes in the image of the teal-eyed teen wearing his sweater.

The brunette notices how the v-neck sweater exposes the raven-haired teen’s neck, particularly his sun-kissed skin and his defined clavicle bone peeking out of the v-neck sweater. Makoto looks away realizing that he may have been staring just a bit too long, and stares at the sapphire-eyed teen next to him. The backstroke swimmer notices worry in those blue eyes, and he wonders, _‘eh? Did something happen to Rin to give Haru that expression? Why is Haru so worried? Oh! I remember. He told me in his text earlier…he said that Rin would be sore. I know that feeling.’_

Rin sits back in his chair, finding it a little more comfortable than leaning forward and says, “so, what’s new with you guys?” 

Sousuke looks up from his phone and says hesitantly, “my stepsister wants to meet you, Rin. But that would depend on what we are doing the rest of the day. Makoto met her already, but Nanase hasn’t.”

The brunette takes his gloves and scarf off as he listens to Sousuke and says, “oh! Yumiko! I think you guys will like her. She’s sweet, caring, funny, and assertive. She’s very pretty.”

Rin turns his head to stare at the emerald-eyed teen with a curious look in his eye, “oh? What makes you so sure?”

The raven-haired teen turns his head to gaze at the redhead next to him as he places his cellphone on the wooden table. Sousuke notices Rin’s glowing presence, and he can sense a blissful air around the redhead that brings a smile to his face. The ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes travel down Rin’s frame, noticing the dark blue sweater accentuating the crimson-eyed teen’s muscles nicely.

Sousuke takes a closer look at Rin’s body, taking note of how the redhead’s clothes cling to his body. He wonders how much training the redhead has been doing since he’s last seen him at the gym; the teal-eyed teen can only imagine how much stronger and toned Rin has become over the past several months. He notices how those crimson eyes glimmer with interest as he asks Makoto a question about his stepsister. He thinks, _‘Rin…I’ve missed you. It’s good to have you back.’_

Makoto places his gloves and dark green scarf in his pocket before answering, “well, Yumiko and I have been texting each other from time to time. She texts me pictures of places where she gets gachapon. In fact, that’s where Sousuke and I went just before we walked over here. There was this store that was filled with gachapon machines, it was so cool! I even got a few for Ren and Ran. She has been so nice, letting me know of all the cool places I can go to get some of them too. So, yeah. Oh! She sent me a picture of herself. It’s on my phone.” The brunette checks his pockets, looking for his phone.

The navy-haired teen ponders, _‘hmm, meeting someone new. Sousuke’s stepsister. It’s true, we haven’t met…but there is something I want to do. I even made sure to bring some things with me.’_ Haru looks over at Rin and says with a hopeful tone, “I wanted to swim.”

Rin chuckles lightly and says, “oh, man! I should have seen that one coming. Always so one-track minded, ne, Haru. I did promise that we would race at least once before heading back to Iwatobi. But, where would we swim, huh? It’s not like high school…where we had access to a pool pretty much all the time.”

The raven-haired teen closes his eyes as he crosses his arms over his chest, “I have a pool. It’s not an Olympic sized pool, but you could race.”

Makoto knits his eyebrows as he checks all his jacket pockets, he even unzipped his olive green cargo jacket partway to check the inner pockets.

Haru nods and says, “un. Yamazaki does have a pool. It’s nice. But…” The sapphire-eyed teen finds himself distracted as Makoto unzips the rest of his jacket, checking his charcoal grey cargo pant pockets. The navy-haired teen asks with concern, “Makoto?”

The brunette snaps his head up with a jolt, “eh? Oh. Sorry. I can’t seem to find my phone. I thought I had it with me.”

The ex-butterfly swimmer opens his eyes, paying attention to the conversation, but Makoto’s words hit him, _‘wait a minute. I was talking to Rin earlier…on Makoto’s phone. I must have it in one of my pockets.’_ Sousuke checks his jean pockets and says, “I think I have your phone, Makoto. Remember, Rin called you, and I took the phone from you.”

Makoto smiles at the teal-eyed teen, “oh. That’s right. I guess I was so excited, I forgot.” The brunette laughs sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Sousuke fishes out Makoto’s cellphone from his pocket, leans over the circular table extending his arm forward as he gazes at Makoto, “here. I should have given it to you earlier.”

The backstroke swimmer leans forward, thrusting his hand over towards the raven-haired teen, meeting his teal stare hesitantly, “ah, that’s ok. It’s not…” Makoto’s fingers brush against Sousuke’s palm lightly, causing the brunette’s breath to halt at the touch. The emerald-eyed teen quickly recovers and says, “it’s not your fault, Sousuke. Don’t worry about it.” He grasps his phone from Sousuke’s hand, retracting his arm back as a slight flush burns his cheeks.

The raven-haired teen swallows silently when Makoto’s fingers grazed against his palm, leaving tingly pathways from the touch. His eyes widen briefly, speechless as he just stares at the brunette sitting across from him. The raven-haired teen notices a small blush grace his features as he leans back against his chair, _‘wha…what is happening? This whole day has been like this. Every time we get close to each other, I feel something happening inside of me. Ugh, I’m I still embarrassed about what happened earlier today?’_ Sousuke notices Rin staring at him and says, “what?”

The redhead chuckles, “nothing, dude. I was just noticing how you and Makoto have become good friends. And not just over skype either…it’s nice seeing you and Makoto get along, that’s all.” Rin focuses his attention on Haru who is staring at the brunette with interest, “oi, Haru. You want to go to Sousuke’s place and swim then?”

The navy-haired teen looks at the redhead, processing the question before he shrugs, “yes, we could swim at Yamazaki’s place. I don’t mind. But, I have the keys to the sports center at my university. If you want, we can swim there.”

Both Rin and Sousuke stare at the sapphire-eyed teen in surprise. Makoto notices the redhead and the ex-butterfly swimmer’s confusion. The brunette smiles and says, “yeah, there’s a story to that. Haru’s coach, Honda-sensei, gave Haru his spare keys to the sports center. He was fascinated by Haru’s love of water.” The emerald-eyed teen chuckles.

Before anyone could respond, Watanabe comes over with their drinks, “hi! Sorry about the wait. Your sandwiches will be just a few more moments.” The green-eyed girl starts placing down the drinks, with sugar for Haru’s earl grey tea, some extra cream, silverware, and some extra napkins for the group of guys.

Makoto looks up at Watanabe with a bright smile, “thanks Watanabe-san.”

The green-eyed girl giggles, placing a hand on the brunette’s shoulder, “no problem, Tachibana-san. Enjoy your time with your friends. Heaven knows you need a break. And when you come back to Tokyo, let’s hang out sometime. We can go to Tokyo tower.” Watanabe looks up at Makoto’s friends and continues, “in fact, you can bring your friends, and I can bring a couple of my friends, and we can make an outing of it. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

The backstroke swimmer quickly glances at Haru and Sousuke before answering, “maybe. Depends on everyone’s schedules, but I promise to hang out with you some time, Watanabe-san. I hope you have a good time at your aunt’s Christmas party.”

Watanabe smiles sweetly, “aww! Thank you! I definitely will have a blast! I hope you have a great time with your family too, Tachibana-san. I better get back behind the counter before Kita-oni lashes at me.” The green-eyed girl waves at the group before walking back to the counter.

As Watanabe gets back to the counter, she takes a quick glance around the café to make sure everyone is doing ok. As she scans the room, she notices a grimacing blond glaring at someone behind her. She stops momentarily and notices the blond looking over at the direction of Tachibana and his friends, _‘ah, damn! Ito-san is still here. Ugh…I saw what he did to poor Kita-oni. Making Kita-oni remake his order three times. What a prick. If only Kita-oni listened to me about making Ito-san’s order the way he likes it. Hmm, I wonder how Tachibana-san figured out Ito-san’s drink preferences. Sometime, I’ll ask him.’_ The green-eyed girl walks back behind the counter.

Rin places his hands over the tall clear glass of his latte macchiato and says laced with concern, “so, Sousuke…would you be ok with us going to Haru’s sports center?” The redhead side glances over to the raven-haired teen next to him.

Haru looks at the crimson-eyed teen across from him before following the redhead’s line of sight, _‘hmm, would Sousuke really be opposed to Rin and I swimming? Or racing actually. I thought he would be interested in Rin’s progress. I wonder what he’ll say.’_

Sousuke huffs lightly, looking down at his cappuccino. He notices the foam on top of his white ceramic cup has a cutesy image of a cat’s face on the surface. The raven-haired teen shifts his gaze over to the all-around swimmer next to him and says, “I don’t mind. Besides, I’d like to see how much you’ve grown, Rin. No better way than to test your abilities in an Olympic sized pool. If you two race, you better beat Nanase’s ass.”

Makoto smiles when he hears Sousuke’s response. In the back of his mind, he wonders, _‘will Sousuke really be ok? I’ll have to keep my eye on him, just in case.’_ The brunette notices a tug on his cargo jacket and looks to the side, meeting Haru’s blue eyes.

The navy-haired teen peers into Makoto’s green eyes with concern, conveying the message, _“what was that earlier? You and Yamazaki? Did something happen?”_

Makoto eyes widen, wavering under that dark blue stare before he smiles sheepishly and whispers, “don’t worry, Haru. It was just an awkward morning…I just got embarrassed, nothing happened…really.”

Unconvinced, the free-swimmer gives the brunette a knowing stare, saying with his eyes, _“I don’t believe you. You’re hiding something.”_

Before the emerald-eyed teen could reply, he hears laughter coming from across the table. Both Haru and Makoto turn their attention to the raven-haired teen and the redhead roaring with laughter about something.

Makoto takes in the image and sound of Sousuke’s smiling face, and melodious laughter mixed in with Rin’s laugh. The brunette notices how the teal-eyed teen’s face lights up, eyes squinting in pure bliss, _‘Rin really does bring out the best in you, Sousuke.’_

Haru watches Rin and Sousuke interact closely. The two best friends laughing at each other with a spirit of faithful camaraderie. Even though Sousuke has a tendency to instigate the redhead through taunts, and rivalry, Rin reacts to the raven-haired teen’s words and actions, sometimes encouraging the teal-eyed teen to push the all-around swimmer further. Regardless, Haru observes a sense of understanding and acceptance between the two teens, which reminds him of his own friendship with Makoto. The navy-haired teen wonders if Rin knows about Yamazaki’s secret crush on the redhead. As far as he knows, the crimson-eyed teen has been oblivious to the deep and meaningful stares the ex-butterfly swimmer has been giving Rin, and the scornful and rejecting stares he himself has received from the raven-haired teen.

Haru looks down at his cup of earl grey tea, bobbing the teabag up and down in the hot water as he ponders, _‘interesting. I’ve never been jealous or anything when it comes to Rin and Sousuke. Don’t people usually get jealous if someone likes their boyfriend? Sousuke hasn’t acted on his feelings, at least I don’t think he has. And if he did, I would know…Rin isn’t good at hiding that kind of thing. I wonder…how Makoto is taking all this.’_

The sapphire-eyed teen shifts his gaze from the translucent dark amber colored tea to the brunette sitting next to him. He notices a grateful smile on the emerald-eyed teen’s face, but as the navy-haired teen continues staring up at the backstroke swimmer, he wonders if there is a sadness hidden deep beneath that cheerful smile. Makoto has always been a worrier at heart, wearing his heart on his sleeve at times, others can usually pick up on his feelings, but with serious concerns pertaining to the emerald-eyed teen, the brunette only allows others a small glimpse of the depths of the burdens he carries.

Haru has known Makoto for as long as he could remember, and even though they share an intimate bond, many have mistaken their affinity to each other as more than friends. Nagisa had asked him about his relationship with Makoto on several occasions, and each time the navy-haired teen dismissed his questions as immaterial. Rin even asked the free-swimmer about his close bond with the brunette.

Haru observes the emerald-eyed teen chuckling to himself, trying his best not to make too much noise, probably not wanting to distract Rin and Sousuke. The navy-haired teen shifts his gaze back to the redhead and the teal-eyed teen, this time smiling at the two interacting with each other. It reminds Haru of the times he would watch his friends enjoy each others’ unique company and how they are always there for each other no matter what.

Eiji appears with a tray of food for the group of friends as he says, “Makoto, I have your food here.”

The emerald-eyed teen looks up at man with his hair slicked back in a long ponytail except for a few loose strands that cascade over his cheek with excitement, “ah! Eiji! Thank you.”

The violet-eyed man chuckles lightly as he serves the group of guys their orders. Eiji places the modest sized crepe in the middle of the table and says, “I’m assuming that you all will share this, hope you enjoy our special today.”

Makoto places his hands on the table as his eyes sparkle when he stares at the beautiful crepe and says, “wow. It looks so good. I can’t wait to try it.” He looks up and gives the onyx-haired man his trademark smile.

Eiji places the tray under his arm as he smiles softly at the brunette. The violet-eyed man’s face becomes more concerned as he contemplates, debating if he should disclose something to the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto tilts his head slightly trying to read Eiji’s facial expression. As confusion graces the brunette’s features, he starts saying, “eh? Eiji? Is something…”

Eiji bends down at the waist and whispers into Makoto’s ear carefully, “I need to tell you something, Makoto.”

The sudden action from the violet-eyed man surprises the backstroke swimmer, causing the brunette to become slightly taut. The words that slowly drift out of Eiji’s mouth makes the emerald-eyed teen disquiet silently, _‘eh? Uh-oh. Is this serious? Am I in some sort of trouble?’_

Eiji continues whispering with caution, “your ex came in here yesterday, and he said some things when I was closing up last night that didn’t sit well with me. Anyway, I told him something I shouldn’t have, but I can’t stand seeing you put up with his crap, so I told him we are dating. I said something…more inappropriate than that too.” 

Makoto listens to Eiji’s words attentively, making sure that he didn’t miss a single syllable coming out of the onyx-haired man’s mouth. As the meaning of the words settle into his mind, the brunette’s expression moves from shock, embarrassment, to a full on flush burning his face. Makoto whimpers, “wa-wa-wait a minute. Wha-what did yo…what did you say?”

Rin quirks an eyebrow as he continues to watch Makoto and Kita interact with each other, wondering what they are talking about. He looks over at the sapphire-eyed teen sitting across from him, but Haru is staring at Makoto with undivided concentration. The redhead glances over at Sousuke, leaning in slightly and asks quietly, “what’s going on?”

When the onyx-haired man bent down to whisper into Makoto’s ear, the raven-haired observes the interaction closely. Sousuke can’t make out the words the violet-eyed man says to the brunette, but the facial expressions the emerald-eyed teen makes does not go unnoticed by the ex-butterfly swimmer. The teal-eyed teen sees those emerald orbs become startled and captured by the onyx-haired man’s words, stunning the backstroke swimmer to the point of blushing a furious shade of red. Sousuke picks up Rin’s question and answers in a murmur without moving his gaze, “I don’t know. Seems serious.”

Sousuke’s body language and facial expression remain indifferent as he continues gazing at Makoto and Kita, but inside his chest and in the pit of his stomach, the raven-haired teen bubbles up with apprehension and suspicion. He thinks, _‘what is going on between you guys? Why are you blushing like that, Makoto? It’s almost as if…’_ Before the teal-eyed teen could process that thought further, his eyes notice movement and his gaze moves down from Makoto and Kita’s faces.

Eiji shifts his gaze towards the back of Makoto’s hand on the table and tenderly places his hand over the brunette’s as he continues whispering in the emerald-eyed teen’s ear, “I told him…oh…this is a bit embarrassing to confess.” The violet-eyed man leans in just a little closer as he squeezes the backstroke swimmer’s hand, “I told him how much I love riding your cock in every corner of my apartment. And…I told him that I would allow you to do as you please with me inside and outside the bedroom. He wasn’t thrilled, and I have to admit, I enjoyed watching him squirm before I threatened him with calling the police if he didn’t leave the premises.”

Makoto holds his breath as Eiji confesses, _‘oh my god! Something happened! Oh no! Did they get into a fight!? Did Takeshi do something stup…’_ The brunette’s thoughts are suspended, his eyes waver with uncertainty as he feels Eiji’s hand squeeze his. The brunette feels Eiji’s warm breath wash over his skin as the onyx-haired man reveals what he told Takeshi. The emerald-eyed teen is rendered speechless, but his face implodes in a deep red blush, stupefied. Makoto covers half his face with his other hand, the backstroke swimmer’s hands quivering as it hovers over his visage.

The sapphire-eyed teen pays very close attention to Makoto’s expression, and extends his hearing so he can catch the violet-eyed man’s quiet words. Haru is able to pick up the words Kita said to the brunette. The navy-haired teen could not mask his shock and stares at the man with a ponytail, awestruck. He thinks, _‘wow. He said that? He said that to Ito? Impressive.’_

Rin raises both eyebrows as he watches Makoto’s face become overwhelmingly erubescent. He wonders what kind of relationship Makoto has with Kita and asks the raven-haired teen next to him, “uh, are they…you know? More than just friends?”

The teal-eyed teen’s eyes are trained on Kita’s hand over the brunette’s, and when the onyx-haired teen squeezes Makoto’s hand, the ex-butterfly swimmer frowns deeply, disgruntled. Sousuke lip forms a thin, hard line as he continues staring at Makoto and Kita’s connected hands, feeling a sense of jealousy stir within his belly. The ex-butterfly swimmer lifts his gaze up to find the emerald-eyed teen covering his face with the deepest flush he has ever witnessed. Sousuke shifts his gaze towards Rin, noticing the surprised and confused expression on the redhead’s face.

The ex-butterfly swimmer catches Rin’s stare and just when he’s about to answer his best friend’s question, he notices Rin looking up at something behind him. Sousuke knits his eyebrow and when he turns around he hears a low bitter growl, “what the fuck…what the fuck is this?”

Everyone at the table shifts their gazes up at a blond guy with an indignant stare. Sousuke frowns deeply, _‘shit. This just couldn’t get any worse. Fuck! Rin and Nanase can’t get involved with this guy. I won’t allow them to! Fuck, if those two get into a fight with this prick, it could fuck up everything they’ve been working towards with their swimming careers. Goddammit!’_ Sousuke gets up, blocking the coffee-eyed teen’s angry stare at Makoto and Kita, turns around and says in a frigid tone, “you’re not welcome here. Leave.”

Takeshi’s stare is blocked by a raven-haired teen with icy teal orbs and the blond narrows his eyes when he hears the brute telling him to leave. The blond sneers with contempt as he gets right into Sousuke’s personal space, “I’m not talking to you, and you can’t tell me what to do, asshole.” The blond notices that the raven-haired teen is about the same height as he is, and he recalls this frosty greenish-blue stare from an encounter before, _‘oh, it’s this guy. The guy that got right in between me and that freak Haru when I came to see Mako before, grabbing a drink. This asshole defended the weirdo! So, this guy is Haru’s boyfriend, eh? Che. Fucking bastard! You should keep your fucking boyfriend on a tighter leash, and keep that weirdo away from Mako! I will not stand here and let that shorty with the long hair take my boyfriend. That damn shithead will not be holding hands with my boyfriend.’_

Eiji quickly stands up straight when he hears Ito’s voice. The violet-eyed man frowns and balls his hand into a fist with the resentful stare that he receives, but when he witnesses Sousuke getting up and talking to the blond, the man with the slicked onyx hair in a ponytail hustles over to the two guys.

Makoto didn’t hear what Takeshi had said, but he noticed Sousuke getting up from his seat. As the emerald-eyed teen looked up at the rising raven-haired teen, he got a glimpse of a hateful coffee-eyed stare, _‘Ta…Takeshi.’_ The brunette’s view of the blond cut off by the back of Sousuke’s head. Makoto suddenly feels dread fill his body as he tries to collect his thoughts. He looks to the side to find Haru staring up with a vigilant, possessive glare. The brunette looks over at the redhead to find him looking up at Sousuke with vexation. Makoto closes his eyes as he rubs his forehead, trying to figure out what the best course of action would be in this terrible situation.

Eiji stands to the side of Ito and Sousuke, looking between the two guys scowling at each other and says firmly with a callous stare directed at the blond, “excuse me sirs. Is there anything I can help you with?”

Rin looks over at Haru to get a better idea of what the heck is going on with this raging coffee-eyed teen and finds the navy-haired teen turning his head away from Sousuke and the other guy. He watches Haru grab Makoto’s hand gently but there is anger in those blue eyes. The redhead knits his eyebrows as the brunette opens his eyes to gaze into the free-swimmer’s sapphire eyes. The all-around swimmer notices the emerald-eyed teen become grief stricken, _‘damn, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Haru that angry before. And Makoto, shit. He looks hurt by all this. Who the hell could this guy…’_

The crimson-eyed teen’s thoughts are interrupted as Makoto looks over at him with distress and worry. Rin’s eyes slightly waver under such a sad expression and it suddenly dawns on him, who the mystery guy is, _‘holy shit! His ex! It’s his ex, isn’t it! The creep who punched Haru! That’s it, I’m gonna beat the crap out of this guy!’_

Takeshi shifts his eyes to find the violet-eyed man staring at him with a hardening gaze. The blond attempts to take a step towards Eiji, only to have the teal-eyed teen take a step to the side to thwart the coffee-eyed teen from going beyond him. Takeshi frowns and says, “outta my way, jerk. I’ve got no business with Haru’s cock sucker.”

Sousuke’s eyebrow twitches in distain, fighting back the strong wave of desire to punch the guy in front of him. His muscles stiffen, and his back becomes rigid as he says cooly, “I am your damn business. You will not be going anywhere near Makoto without going through me first. As I said, you are not welcome here. Beat it before I do something about it.”

Makoto’s eyes widen when he sees fury within those crimson orbs. Quickly, the brunette grabs Rin’s forearm and says, “please. Please don’t. I beg you, please don’t.” The brunette knits his eyebrows in agony and whimpers in a whisper, “please…please Rin.”

Haru watches the emerald-eyed teen swiftly reach out for the redhead’s arm and his eyes soften when he sees rage within Rin’s eyes. The sapphire-eyed teen releases his hold on Makoto’s arm and watches the two teens interact. The navy-haired teen’s heart trembles as the brunette pleads with the all-around swimmer to stop. Haru gazes at the redhead and says with eyes, _‘Rin, listen to Makoto. Don’t get involved. Sousuke will be very upset if either of us get involved in a fight.’_

Rin opens his mouth to protest against the brunette’s wishes, but the broken, vulnerable words that pour out of Makoto’s mouth makes the redhead pause, _‘shit…I don’t want to be the reason you give me that look. Dammit! Makoto! Ugh, what do I do, now? I get up and beat the crap out of the guy, Makoto will cry. If I stay here, I’ll fume. Fuck!’_ The crimson-eyed teen huffs in anger as he looks down at the brunette’s hand around his arm, debating what he should do.

Eiji takes a quick glance around the café and notices that the customers near them are looking very concerned about what is transpiring between the two teens in each other’s spaces. The onyx-haired man thinks, _‘shit. I have to stop this right now before things get really bad.’_ He takes a step forward, getting closer to both teens and says in a hard yet quiet tone, “I will have to ask you both to refrain. We do not tolerate fights in this facility and I will be forced to contact the authorities. If you continue to disrupt the peace, I will have to ask you both to leave. This is a final warning. Please step down immediately.”

Both Sousuke and Takeshi look down to turn their attention on the violet-eyed teen standing next to them.

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath and says with a detached tone, “I apologize if I have caused any kind of disturbance. It is not my intention to disrupt the peace. However, I am very upset with this customer.” 

Takeshi huffs irritatingly and says to the short barista, “che, all you ever do is threaten to call the police. I’m not letting you touch what’s mine, asshole.” The blond snaps his head back towards the raven-haired teen and scoffs, “and you, you are asking for it you fuckin…”

Before the coffee-eyed teen could say anything else, a tall silver-haired teen throws his arm around Takeshi’s shoulders, pulling the blond towards the silver-haired teen’s chest and downwards harshly. A cheery voice erupts from the taller teammate, “I go to the bathroom for a second and you’re already causing trouble for people. I told you to stay put and keep to yourself.”

Makoto looks up when he hears a familiar voice and catches a glimpse of a tall teen playfully scolding the blond. The brunette’s grip on Rin’s arm loosens as he whispers, “Ogata-san.” A small wave of relief runs through him, _‘Ogata-san. Takeshi’s basketball teammate, and captain. Usually, Ogata-san is very busy and hardly hangs out with his teammates. If anything, Takeshi does listen to him.’_

The golden-eyed teen sighs heavily as he uses his strength and height to keep the blonde’s head down as he continues with an apologetic tone, “sorry, sorry. This guy is a handful. If he has caused any trouble, I apologize. We’re leaving now, so there is no need to do anything rash.”

Sousuke stares at the teen who is just a couple inches taller than him with severe eyes. The raven-haired teen has no idea who this golden-eyed teen is, but if the blond leaves with him, that’s all that matters.

The silver-haired teen winces as Takeshi grunts and tries to pry the taller teen’s arm off of him. The blond continues to struggle under the golden-eyed teen’s strength and says through gritted teeth, “you damn…jerk. Get off of me.”

Eiji stares at the silver-haired with skepticism and says, “alright. Please, let me escort you out.”

The golden-eyed teen smiles and strains to keep his composure, “ah, that won’t be necessary, but I won’t object.” The silver-haired teen firmly escorts Takeshi towards the front door of the café, with Eiji following the pair out the door.

Sousuke sighs deeply feeling frustrated, but not as tense as he did moments ago. The raven-haired teen turns around, and sits down. He looks over at the redhead momentarily before he crosses his arms, closes his eyes, and concentrates on calming his nerves.

Haru, Makoto, and Rin just stop and stare at the teal-eyed teen. When the raven-haired teen stares at the redhead, the redhead’s eyes waver knowing that the ex-butterfly swimmer is extremely frustrated.

The navy-haired teen looks down at his food, wondering if any of them will be able to eat anything after that situation.

Makoto is the first to break the silence, sighing weakly and says sorrowfully, “I’m sorry. Sousuke, I’m…”

The raven-haired teen’s eyebrow furrows, _‘Makoto. Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare apologize for his behavior. Dammit! I don’t want to be angry with you, but shit. I will not accept your apology for this. It’s not your damn fault.’_ The ex-butterfly swimmer huffs and says with reservation, “Makoto. Don’t. I won’t accept it.”

Rin rubs the back of his neck, feeling an awkward kind of tension around the table. He looks around the table to find Makoto pouting silently, Haru worriedly staring at the emerald-eyed teen, and Sousuke with his eyes closed, arms crossed and breathing deeply. The crimson-eyed teen takes a look around the café and notices Kita going around the tables and talking with nearby customers.

Makoto frowns sadly with Sousuke’s response. He knows that apologizing won’t make the situation better, but guilt starts to gnaw in his chest. The brunette feels a stare on him and looks over at the sapphire-eyed teen next to him. The emerald-eyed teen musters a small smile to ensure the navy-haired teen that he will be ok. Makoto takes a look around the café before he looks out the window of the café to find Ogata and Takeshi arguing.

The brunette watches the two basketball teens in their winter coats get into each other’s faces with angry expressions. He notices how the blond has to look up at the silver-haired teen, and when the golden-eyed teen says something to the coffee-eyed teen, Takeshi face contorts into something else, regret. The blond looks down like a kicked puppy being scolded for tearing up his master’s shoes. Makoto just stares until the blond looks into the café and right at the emerald-eyed teen. They gaze at each other for a moment before Ogata obstructs their connected eyes.

The brunette just watches Ogata’s back until Takeshi walks away. Makoto watches the golden-eyed teen sigh and look back at him. The backstroke swimmer blinks as the silver-haired teen gives the brunette a sad kind of smile before waving at the emerald-eyed teen and following the blond and out of sight.

Makoto looks around the table and notices that Haru is now staring at Sousuke with interest and concern, the raven-haired teen still has his eyes closed, and Rin is looking around the café. The brunette looks at his mocha with extra whipped cream, picks up the cup with both hands indulging himself in some comfort.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 4: 41 pm **

After eating lunch at _Momemto Café_ the group of guys decided to go to Nanase’s sports center to have a race. Sousuke pulls his scarf up over his mouth as they walk towards the massive grey building lined with trees. The raven-haired teen notices the redhead and sapphire-eyed teen walking in front of him, Rin propping up his elbow on Nanase’s shoulder talking about his adventures in Australia.

The teal-eyed teen looks to his left to find Makoto looking down at the pavement with a sad expression on his face. The ex-butterfly swimmer frowns as he recalls the brunette trying his best to smooth over the situation at the café by smiling and chatting about random things unrelated to his ex and the events that occurred. Sousuke bumps his left shoulder with Makoto’s in hopes to distract the brunette from his negative thoughts.

The emerald-eyed teen looks over to his right to find a pair of concerned teal eyes. Makoto smiles sadly before he bumps his shoulder with the raven-haired teen and whispers, “you don’t have to check on me. I’m ok. Besides, you should be more careful with your shoulder.”

The raven-haired teen shrugs lazily, keeping his eyes trained on the emerald-eyed teen. He says nonchalantly, “it’s the other shoulder. So…tell me something. How close are you with that short barista? The one that brought our sandwiches.” Sousuke shifts his gaze over to Rin and Nanase, making a face, _‘dammit. I should have thought that one through better.’_

The brunette blinks with surprise before his cheeks flush at the memory of what Eiji had told him earlier. He says with an uneven tone, “eh? You mean Eiji? We’re just friends. Really. Just…friends.” Makoto laughs sheepishly feeling a little unsure about his statement.

Rin ears perk up at the backstroke swimmer’s response and looks back before turning around and walking backwards, “that reminds me, Makoto. Are you and that guy…you know? More than just friends? I was curious about that.”

The navy-haired teen decides to let the others figure out the true meaning of the barista’s words since they didn’t hear what he overheard. Haru decides to quicken his pace towards the glass doors, fishing the keys out of his jean pockets.

Sousuke notices Nanase swiftly moving ahead and wonders if the sapphire-eyed teen has some idea of how close Makoto and the onyx-haired man are to each other. The raven-haired teen picks up on the brunette’s fumbling words.

The emerald-eyed teen stutters, “e-eh? Oh, no. No, Eiji and I aren’t, we aren’t anything more th-than friends. I mean, well, uhh…he did kind of told my ex that we were dating, but we aren’t dating. We’re just friends and co-workers. I swear.” Makoto raises his hands up in surrender hoping to get the point across to both Sousuke and Rin. 

Rin raises an eyebrow and teases, “is that so? You sure about that Makoto? He seemed really comfortable with you, and he did make you blu…”

The brunette interrupts and says in a fluster, “Ri~~n~~ ah, stop! Don’t tease me, about this, Rin. It’s so embarrassing! Too many embarrassing things happened today.” The emerald-eyed teen face palms and moans in distress.

Sousuke sighs and decides to take the focus off the backstroke swimmer and says with seriousness, “his ex thought I was Nanase’s cock sucker. So…”

Rin eyes widen in shock, leans forward a bit, and says, “hah? You? Holy shit, dude. What did you say?”

The raven-haired teen huffs, looks away and says casually, “I didn’t bother to correct him, there’s no point. If anything, it just pissed me off.” Sousuke glances over at Makoto and notices those green eyes sparkle with concern.

The redhead clicks his tongue, turns around and says, “che.” Rin frowns as he thinks, _‘what an asshole. I probably would have done the same. I can’t let Makoto see how upset I am.’_ The crimson-eyed teen sighs as he grumbles obscenities under his scarf.

The brunette wraps his hands around Sousuke’s forearm and stops in his tracks as he says delicately, “are you ok? I know I shouldn’t apologize, but I feel bad about all this. This is not how I wanted the day to go. I wanted this to be…” Makoto sighs deeply feeling like it was partly his fault that the day ended up so badly, even if it doesn’t make sense rationally, _‘I wanted us to have a fun day…I didn’t think Takeshi would be there, but I should have known. He seems to come by when I’m working, and if I didn’t take today off, I would have been behind the counter. What a mess. I just wanted Rin to see where I work and try our food and drinks. Everyone there works so hard, and I just wanted to share that with him too.’_

Sousuke halts when the emerald-eyed teen pulls his arm gently. He continues staring into those emotional green eyes as he listens to Makoto’s words. The raven-haired teen raises his gloved hand, Makoto’s grip on his arm releases his forearm as the teal-eyed teen ruffles the hair on the top of backstroke swimmer’s head tenderly, “oi, Makoto. Shit happens, ok. It’s not your fault, no one blames you. You’re just gonna have to accept that your ex pissed me off, and there is nothing you can do about that.”

The raven-haired teen realizes that he is touching Makoto’s head and lifts his hand up to find Makoto looking down with his shag of brown locks concealing his eyes from the teal-eyed teen’s view. Sousuke tilts his head slightly to the side to find a faint pinkness on the brunette’s cheeks and he wonders, _‘shit…did I upset him with that head rubbing thing? Damn…he’s not gonna start crying now, is he?’_

The brunette’s eyes widen when he feels a soft, gloved hand ruffling his locks. Makoto bows his head down feeling shy and comforted at the same time, _‘eh? I didn’t think Sousuke would ever be this affectionate…it’s heartwarming and sweet. But I feel like a little kid…that kind of bothers me. I don’t want to be treated like a kid…not with him.’_ Makoto feels the pressure on his head disappear and takes a moment to collect himself before raising his face and meeting those curious teal eyes, “thanks, Sousuke. I needed…”

All of a sudden the two teens hear an exaggerated shocked raised voice say, “eehhh? You heard that, Haru? Holy shit!”

Sousuke and Makoto turn their heads to find Haru holding the sport center door open and Rin staring at the navy-haired teen incredulously. Haru turns his head to find the brunette and the ex-butterfly swimmer staring at them and says, “come on. Let’s get inside.”

Rin turns his head and stares at the emerald-eyed teen with wavering stunned eyes before he looks away, shoving his hands into his pockets dramatically and a full on blush staining his cheeks, “uhh. Yeah…let’s go guys.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, bewildered as he shrugs and walks up the rest of the way toward the sports center. Makoto eyes waver as realization hits him, _‘Haru…he heard what Eiji said. Haru thought…thought I told them what he said. Oh, my, god. Rin knows. Rin knows!’_ The brunette looks down, walking up to the rest of the teens as a shameful flush stains his cheeks.

They enter the large sports center facility. Both Rin and Makoto kept looking at each other and looking away with a prominent blush on their faces. Sousuke looked between the brunette and the redhead, trying to figure out what could make the two dorks blush so badly. The teal-eyed teen frowns, feeling like the only one that is missing something and says, “what the hell are you two all worked up about, huh?”

Rin huffs and says, “I’m not! I’m not worked up about anything! Just, just, nevermind. I can’t say anything about it.” 

Haru watches the redhead looking frustrated and embarrassed at the same time. The navy-haired teen cracks a smile at how innocent the crimson-eyed teen could be sometimes and breaks into a small chuckle before clearing his throat looking away.

Makoto gasps and says, “Ha~~ru~~~! I can’t believe you overheard that! And you told Rin too!” The brunette covers his face, not wanting to meet anyone’s gaze.

Rin pats the brunette’s back trying to comfort the emerald-eyed teen as Sousuke says firmly, “oi! What the hell did he say?”

Haru sighs and looks at the teal-eyed teen as he walks over to the raven-haired teen and says in a quiet tone, “his co-worker told Ito that he likes to ride Makoto’s cock all over his apartment and that he would allow Makoto to do whatever he wanted with him inside and outside the bedroom. That’s what made Makoto and Rin blush like that.”

Sousuke’s eyebrow twitches briefly before he looks down at the amused sapphire-eyed teen, _‘huh. The guy knows how to talk dirty. I’ll give him props for that.’_ The raven-haired teen says with disinterest, “is that all?”

Rin and Makoto gaze at the teal-eyed teen astonished by Sousuke’s ability to maintain his composure.

Haru’s noticed the ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyebrow twitching just a moment ago but decides not to say anything about it as he says, “come on, let’s get to the pool.” The navy-haired teen walks down the corridor expecting the teens to follow him. Sousuke follows him closely as he looks around the place. Rin and Makoto follow behind the two.

Rin looks over at the brunette and says softly, “hey, Makoto. How you holding up?”

The brunette looks at the redhead and smiles gently, “Sousuke asked me the same thing earlier. Really, I’ll be ok, Rin. I just hope that it didn’t ruin your day.”

The redhead throws his arm over the emerald-eyed teen’s shoulders and says, “of course not. Don’t think that way, Makoto. Haru and I are gonna race, you gonna cheer for me, right?”

Makoto is forced to bend down as the crimson-eyed teen pulls the brunette close. They continue walking down the hallways as the backstroke swimmer giggles, “of course I will be cheering for you…but I will be cheering for Haru too. What did you guys bet this time?”

The all-around swimmer laughs, “heh, we haven’t decided yet.”

Makoto chuckles, “I see.”

As the teens get closer to the pool, Haru quickens his pace until he’s full on running towards the pool. Sousuke runs after him and says, “oi! Oi! Nanase! You know better than to run towards the pool! Come back here, you idiot!”

Makoto and Rin run after Sousuke and the navy-haired teen, heading to the pool.

As soon as Haru gets into the swimming pool area, the navy-haired teen starts stripping off his backpack, shoes, jacket, scarf, gloves, sweater, pants and socks as he dives right into the pool with his black and purple jammers.

Sousuke stops a couple of feet in front of the pool and just stares at the sapphire-eyed teen in the crystal clear water, panting lightly. Makoto and Rin come up and stand next to him, the raven-haired teen says, “what the hell? He just…does he do this every time?”

Makoto pants lightly, bending down slightly and placing his hands on his knees, “yeah. This…this is normal for Haru. You’ve never seen him strip…out of his clothes before?”

Rin roars in laughter as he places a hand on Sousuke’s shoulder, “dude…this is typical. I told you, he’s a freakin’ monster.”

Sousuke sighs and says, “I’ve seen him strip out of his clothes before. I just didn’t think it happened that often is all. Che. I’m not picking up all his clothes this time.” The teal-eyed teen turns his head to stare at the redhead, “yeah, no kidding.”

Makoto looks up at the raven-haired teen and the all-around swimmer to find the two teens smiling at each other. The brunette leaves the two best friends to talk as he picks up all of Haru’s belongings.

Haru breaks the surface of the water, floating on his back as he takes a deep breath, breathing in the smell of the chlorinated moist water in the air. Haru opens his eyes and looks out the windows above the pool to find the cloudy sky in a dim blue color. The navy-haired teen smiles as he just floats in the water, enjoying the feeling of the cool liquid against his body.

The brunette walks over to one of the benches and folds all of Haru’s clothes in a neat pile before placing them in the sapphire-eyed teen’s backpack. The emerald-eyed teen notices Rin’s jammers in Haru’s bag and pulls it out. Makoto takes off his backpack, jacket, gloves and scarf, placing them on the bench.

Makoto walks over to the redhead and the teal-eyed teen with Rin’s jammers and Haru’s backpack in hand, “Rin. You better get dressed. And take Haru’s bag too. He will need to change after your race.”

Sousuke and Rin look at Makoto as the redhead takes Haru’s backpack and his jammers. The crimson-eyed teen says, “thanks, Makoto. I’ll get Haru out of the water so we can stretch. Be back after I change and all that.” The redhead winks at the raven-haired teen and the brunette before slinging the backpack over his shoulder and walking towards the edge of the pool asking the navy-haired teen to get out of the water.

Makoto smiles as he watches Rin and Haru interact before his eyes widen as the navy-haired teen is getting out of the pool with the redhead’s help. He sees a couple of hickeys on the free-swimmer’s neck and he silently gasps.

Sousuke takes his scarf and gloves off, putting them in his pocket when he hears a faint gasp next to him. He looks at Makoto and then back at Rin and Nanase as he unbuttons his jacket, “you ok, Makoto?”

The brunette stares at the teal-eyed teen and says hesitantly, “uh, yeah, yeah. I’m ok. I just didn’t notice something, that’s all.” The emerald-eyed teen realizes why Haru was wearing his scarf all throughout lunch.

Rin looks back at Sousuke and Makoto and says, “we’re gonna hit the lockers…I need to get changed. And we’ll do our stretches in there. Sound good?”

Sousuke nods, “yeah, take your time. Makoto and I will wait here for you.”

The two teens watch Rin and Haru head into the locker rooms, and before they know it, the brunette and the teal-eyed teen are alone. Sousuke sheds off his jacket, walks over to the bench with Makoto’s things and places his stuff next to the brunette’s.

Makoto watches Sousuke’s retreating back for a moment before looking at the Olympic-sized pool. The brunette walks over to the edge of the pool, and walks along the edge as he stares at the water with reflections of white light thinking, _‘swimming…Haru’s dream, Rin’s dream…Sousuke’s dream. My dream is a little different, but it still has to do with the pool. Funny, it all started as something fun for us to do, and now it means so much more. Swimming has brought me so many friends, but not just me. All of us, Haru, Rin, Sousuke, Nagisa, Rei. We have all swam together, swam a relay togeth…wait. I don’t think I’ve ever swam in a relay with Sousuke. We competed during practices before long, long ago. We competed in different relay teams, but not the same relay team…but only that last year of high school. Hmm, I don’t think Sousuke has done very many relays in the past. Even in the videos, he only swam in individual events.’_

Sousuke turns around to find Makoto walking along the edge of the pool slowly with his back to him. The teal-eyed teen walks over and just when he’s about to say something, the brunette’s turns the corner and the raven-haired teen is able to see Makoto’s face. He notices a small smile on the brunette’s face, almost as if he’s reminiscing. Makoto passes by one of the metal rails, trailing his hand over the edge, and the raven-haired notices the brunette’s facial expression change to one of concentration. The brunette passes by the second metal rail and squats down by the pools edge with his hand firmly holding the metal rail as he peers into the water.

The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows, wondering what the brunette could be thinking. He walks over to the brunette, places his hand on the other metal rail the emerald-eyed teen passed prior and squats down looking at the water, “what’s on you mind, Makoto?”

The backstroke swimmer sighs longingly and says, “I was just thinking about swimming. With you.” Makoto dips his hand into the water as he closes his eyes feeling the cool water embrace his hand, “we…we didn’t swim together…in a relay team. I just was thinking…about what that would be like.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen when the emerald-eyed teen mentions swimming with him, _‘swimming, with me? We did swim together, Makoto. Don’t you remember? At my apartment, even when we were kids…we kinda swam together.’_ He watches the brunette dip his hand in the water and gently moves his hand back and forth before he hears Makoto’s soft voice again, _‘ah. That’s what you mean. I guess you’re right. We never swam on the same relay team.’_ Sousuke tightens his hold on the metal rail as he runs a hand through his hair, trying to find the proper words to say, but Makoto voice fills the silence.

The brunette chuckles sadly as he opens his eyes. The backstroke swimmer’s eyes sparkle as the blue water below reflects in his emerald orbs, “I wonder what it would be like to cheer for you as you dive into the water…as the team cheers for you as you do your best carrying our goals through this pool. To say your name as you come closer…hoping that our voices would encourage you. I guess that is one thing I would have loved to share with you. It meant a lot to me, and I know it meant a lot to all our friends.”

Sousuke stares at the emerald-eyed teen, awestruck. The brunette’s words, vulnerable and full of emotion, Makoto’s tone pulls the raven-haired teen’s heartstrings. The ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes flicker with softheartedness, moved by the backstroke swimmer’s sentiment. He says softly, “you really are something, Makoto. If you asked me this a year ago, before I went back to Iwatobi, I would have dismissed you. I only swam in one relay with Rin long ago, and found relays unworthy of my time. But, swimming with Rin, and with Samezuka, I realized…I missed out on something incredible. But by then, I had to be careful about my shoulder. If things were different, I may have taken you up on that.”

The raven-haired teen looks back down at the water and says in a murmur, “it’s too bad…I think I would have loved that too. To do the same for you.”

Makoto listens to the raven-haired teen’s deep voice, smiles, and the smiles fades into a sad frown as Sousuke mentions his feelings about relays, and his shoulder injury. The brunette looks up at Sousuke when he quietly says that he would love to share in the experience with him. A pang of sorrow fills the emerald-eyed teen’s heart and he wants to reach out to him, to comfort him. Makoto decides against it, looking back down as he swishes the water around and says delicately, “yeah. It would have been nice. I’m glad…I’m just glad to hear that you would have done the same for me. Even if it never happens…knowing that makes me happy.”

Sousuke huffs lightly, feeling embarrassed by Makoto’s corny words as a small blush stains his cheeks, “figures you’d say something like that. You really are too sweet.”

The brunette pouts as he pulls his hand out of the water and flicks his hand towards the raven-haired teen, “hey! I’m not that sweet. I was just being honest.”

The teal-eyed teen flinches when he feels small speckles of water hit his face. He raises his hand up from resting on his thigh to cover his face, “oi, oi! Stop that! I didn’t come here to get wet.”

Makoto giggles as he stops, resting his hand on his thigh, “oh? So why did you come all the way over here then? Don’t tell me that you just wanted to check on me? And you say you aren’t sweet on the inside.”

Sousuke opens his mouth to object the emerald-eyed teen’s words, but finds himself at a loss since the reason he did come over to Makoto’s side was to check up on him. The teal-eyed teen rubs his neck as he looks away, “fine. You got me there. And I’m not sweet.” The teal-eyed teen says without thinking, “maybe I came over because I wanted to know if you liked that Eiji guy.”

The brunette’s smile fades, looking towards the pool. He sighs and says seriously, “I like Eiji. He’s a great guy, an awesome cook, a good friend. I don’t think our relationship would be anything more than friendship. He told me that he had a really serious relationship once. But, things didn’t work out because of their goals. They still talk to each other, and it sounds like they still have a great friendship. He told one of our co-workers that he isn’t looking for a relationship right now. Besides, I don’t think I’m his type.” Makoto pauses for a moment before he continues, looking at the teal-eyed teen, “why do you ask?” 

The ex-butterfly swimmer listens to Makoto’s response and bites the bottom of his inner lip, _‘ah, crap. Figures he would ask why. I don’t know why I asked. I really shouldn’t have asked, it isn’t any of my business. But, they did look cozy together.’_ The raven-haired teen says hesitantly, “no particular reason. It just looked like you two were really close. After all, he’d ride you around his apartment, right? So that means that he finds you attract…oi! What was that for?”

Makoto’s cheeks burn up as he hears Sousuke’s response, but when the teal-eyed teen mentions what Eiji told him, the brunette sticks his hand into the water, pulls his hand out to flick more water at Sousuke. The emerald-eyed teen gives the ex-butterfly swimmer a sullen look as the two teens stare at each other. Makoto says in a pule, “Sousuke! I can’t believe you would mention that again. That was so embarrassing! Besides, it would never happen.”

Sousuke wipes his face with his hand as Makoto speaks. The raven-haired teen says quickly, “alright, alright. Let me just say this, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you blush so hard before. Even when you saw me in your superman boxer briefs and you spit your water out, you didn’t blush quite as red as you did today.”

Makoto blinks a couple of times as he process what the raven-haired teen says. He sighs and says with a frown, “you know, you’re wearing those superman boxer briefs today too.”

The raven-haired teen pinches the bridge of his nose before he smirks and says impulsively without thought, “yeah, I am. Maybe I should have walked out in them like I did last time.” He thinks, ‘ _oh shit…why the hell did I say that? That…makes things even more awkward, especially after what happened this morning. Ugh way to go, me.’_

The brunette’s jaw drops, astonished. He covers his ear with his hand trying not to blush at Sousuke’s response. Makoto gets up from his squatting position and takes a couple of steps away from the pool, trying to calm his racing heart, _‘oh god. After what happened this morning, I don’t think I would have been able to handle that. I mean…I was practically naked this morning and he…he was so close to my sensitive spot. I can’t think about it.’_

The raven-haired teen watches the emerald-eyed teen get up from the pool’s edge and walk away. Sousuke wonders if he said something wrong, gets up, walks over to the backstroke swimmer, placing a hand on Makoto’s shoulder as he says, “too much? I was just joking.”

The emerald-eyed teen turns around to face the raven-haired teen and finds himself face-to-face with Sousuke. The two teens stare into each other’s eyes, trying to read each other. Makoto swallows softly, his racing heart continues to pound in his chest as the brunette says in a mild daze, “no, no. I-I was just thinking about what happened earlier today. I don’t think I would have been able to handle seeing you in my briefs after my towel dropped.”

Sousuke wasn’t expecting Makoto to turn around so suddenly and when their eyes meet, the raven-haired teen feels something stirring, something tingly in the pit of his belly. The ex-butterfly swimmer holds his breath as he gazes into those large green eyes, trying to decipher what is happening with him, between them. He hears Makoto’s defenseless voice and for some reason, his cheeks burn, almost as if the brunette had confessed something. The teal-eyed teen opens his mouth and says in a stupor, “uhh, umm, we-well, I-I guess you…have a point.” 

Makoto eyes waver as he notices a shade of pink staining the raven-haired teen’s cheeks, _‘he’s, he’s blushing. He’s, so close. Something is happening here. I’m not thinking clearly…Sousuke.’_ The brunette feels his heart pounding in his ears and says with very little thought, “Sou-Sousuke I’m…captivated by you and…” The emerald-eyed teen blinks and groans as he gently throws his head down on the ex-butterfly’s left shoulder, “Sousuke. I said something really, really embarrassing. Please disregard that. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

The raven-haired teen observes the backstroke swimmer’s eyes become hazy and when the brunette speaks, Sousuke feels his heart skip a beat. But just as the exciting moment came, it went away as Makoto groans and places his head on his shoulder. Sousuke listens to the emerald-eyed teen’s words carefully and he sighs slowly, _‘Makoto. What does that mean? I feel something, something I can’t even describe. You really think that…about me? But…’_ The ex-butterfly swimmer says tentatively, “I…can. If that’s what you want. No one has ever said anything like that before, about me anyway. If it’s too embarrassing, I can forget it ever happened.”

The brunette tries to recover from saying something so embarrassing, cursing himself internally for being so awkward and strange. When the teal-eyed teen speaks, Makoto feels his heart freeze and he releases a shaky breath, _‘wa-wait. Forget? Is that really what I want?’_ Makoto opens his eyes staring at the soft grey fabric on Sousuke’s shoulder as he debates what he should say to the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke feels a strange sensation brewing within him as the silence consumes him, _‘what am I expecting? Makoto wouldn’t like a guy like me, he’s an angel…and Rin would probably kill me if I did anything to hurt him. I’m not like Makoto, or any of his friends. He probably wants someone like Nanase, just like Rin. Or maybe a blond Nanase kind of guy. I don’t fit that bill, so I can forget this ever happened.’_

The ex-butterfly swimmer allows the deafening silence to continue for a few moments more until he heaves a quiet sigh, unable to contain the anticipation any longer, needing some kind of closure from the brunette, “it’s ok, Makoto. Let’s just forget it. It never happened. It won’t change our relationship…we’re still friends. So…” The teal-eyed teen feels a strong pressure around his forearm, stifling the raven-haired teen into stillness.

Makoto doesn’t know how long he has been quiet, thinking to himself, but when the teal-eyed teen talks again, the brunette feels fright swirling deep within his chest. The words the ex-butterfly speaks are distant, desensitized, and leaden. He thinks, _‘no. I don’t want to forget. I misspoke. I meant what I said…I just don’t know if I want to admit anything yet. I need more time, to understand. Please, don’t say anything more.’_ The emerald-eyed teen wraps his hand around Sousuke’s forearm, squeezing him tight as he lifts his forehead from the raven-haired teen’s shoulder and says sensitively, “no. I meant what I said. You are special, Sousuke. I won’t take those words back.”

The backstroke swimmer raises his head up to meet Sousuke’s teal’s eyes as he continues softly, “I won’t take those words back. You, you are captivating. I just feel comfortable with you, and it surprises me.” The brunette blinks, tearing his gaze away from the raven-haired teen as his ears turn pink, “well…most of the time. Today has been an off day, I think…me being all nervous around you...and, you know, I think I said enough. Just…just I don’t want to forget what I said to you. So, I would like you to remember. Not forget.” The backstroke swimmer releases his hold on the teal-eyed teen as he rubs his arm up and down trying to soothe himself.

Sousuke listens to the brunette and he is taken aback, not expecting the emerald-eyed teen to speak so assertively. Suddenly, Makoto looks up at him with clear green eyes and the raven-haired teen swallows as he just stares at the brunette in front of him, _‘he, he said it again. I make him feel comfortable.’_ The backstroke swimmer looks away and the teal-eyed teen can’t help but smile with warmth filling his chest, _‘so damn honest. I don’t think you were the only one being nervous today. I was kinda nervous too, especially after what happened in your bedroom. I should have just let you deal with it instead of coming to your rescue…I, I didn’t even help much. Fine, I won’t forget. Since you insist.’_

The raven-haired teen chuckles lightly, “fine. I won’t then. But…you just gave me rights to tease you about it.”

Makoto stares at the teal-eyed teen with his mouth parted before he whines, “Sou~~suke~! Th-that’s not what I want you to do with my feelings!”

The broody teen laughs, holding his stomach, “oh? What do you want me to do with your feelings, pretty boy?”

The brunette’s ears turn red again as he moans in embarrassment, “w-well…not tease me!” The emerald-eyed teen smirks, “I could throw you in the pool, Sousuke. Considering I can easily throw you over my shoulders and carry you.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen as amusement dissipates from his face and he says seriously, “no. I don’t have a change of clothes on me. Besides, if you throw me in, I’ll take you with me and we would be both wet.”

Before Makoto could reply, they hear Haru and Rin coming out of the locker room, causing the two teens to turns their heads in the direction of the sapphire-haired teen and the redhead. 

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Haru pulls out their goggles and swimming caps from a smaller compartment in his backpack before he places it in his red metal locker. The navy-haired teen leaves the locker open for Rin to places his clothes in as he leans against the locker adjacent to him, crossing his arms as he watches the redhead getting up from the bench and placing his socks next to him.

The sapphire-eyed teen observes Rin’s serious face, his hands quickly crossing over his torso and grasping the hem of his sweater, and pulling the fabric over his head. Rin starts to unbutton his pants, and Haru turns his head away knowing if he continues to watch the redhead undress that he may not be able to suppress his desire.

Haru closes his eyes as he hears Rin unzip his pants and he hears the rustling of fabric. He inhales deeply letting his thoughts wander to the pool, the water, the feeling of the cool liquid embracing every part of his body, and finally the thrill of competing head to head with the redhead. The navy-haired teen smiles as he recalls the adrenaline that coursed through his veins during their last competition in high school. Rin was ahead of him and Haru wasn’t going to allow anyone to obstruct his view of the water, but at the same time it compelled him to move through the water faster. Rin always knew how to arouse the sapphire-eyed teen’s competitive spirit. For the longest time, Haru buried that competitiveness within him thinking that all it did was cause misery; that he would just hurt the ones he cared about most.

The navy-haired teen breaks the silence and says as he looks down the line of lockers, away from the redhead, “I win, and you have to wear that maid outfit for a whole evening when we get back to Iwatobi.”

Rin snaps his jammers in place when he hears Haru’s statement, _‘what? Nu-huh! You won’t be winning Haru. I will be winning.’_ The crimson-eyed teen laughs, ‘huh, that’s what you want from me? Well, if I win, you will have to do something for me too. But, I won’t tell you what that is…yet.”

The navy-haired teen turns his head to stare at the all-around swimmer. Haru finds Rin grinning as he runs his hand through his hair slowly. Haru’s surprised stare turns into one of longing as he takes in the image of Rin’s seductive crimson eyes. The sapphire-eyed teen’s mouth slightly parts as he turns his head away, his hand tightening around his bicep, and says coolly, “hmph. That doesn’t sound too bad.”

The redhead smirks as he notices Haru’s eyes waver for a moment before he looks away. Rin picks up his shoes and clothes, walking over to the free-swimmer’s locker and placing the items in the metal container. He closes the locker door, taking a step closer to the sapphire-eyed teen, leaning his elbow and forearm on the locker right next to Haru’s head as the redhead leans into the navy-haired teen’s ear and whispers seductively, “it would depend, wouldn’t it, Haru. If I win, you will have to do anything I ask. And I will decide when I want this favor. It could be when we go back to Iwatobi…or another time, when I come and visit you again, Haru. I will win. I’m going to break down your cool exterior and fire you up, Haru.”

Rin looks down on Haru’s neck and notices the hickeys that he had left on Haru’s nape, he smiles and gently blows warm air over the sapphire-eyed teen’s flesh. The redhead breathes in Haru’s scent, and the aroma of chlorine. Rin licks his lips and swallows as he hears a gasp escape the navy-haired teen’s lips. The crimson-eyed teen exhales through his nose deeply, calming his desire to nip Haru’s earlobe and says in a serious tone, “come on. Let’s do our stretches, so I can win this race.”

The navy-haired teen’s eyes widen when he hears Rin’s husky voice erupt close to his ear. The redhead’s warm breath sends shivers down Haru’s spine, and the proximity of Rin’s body makes his knees go weak. The free-swimmer feels his cheeks warm up as he clenches his bicep firmly, trying to prevent his senses from being overridden with sexual tension. Haru closes his eyes as he bites his lower lip, preventing a moan from escaping his lips when the redhead mentions that he would fire him up.

All of a sudden, the free-swimmer feels a tender breath of air tickle his nape and the sound of Rin taking a whiff of him sends him over the edge as he emits a gasp at the action. Haru almost missed Rin’s words as he gets wound up in the moment before. The navy-haired teen opens his eyes slowly as Rin moves away from him and starts walking away to the larger space in the locker room to stretch.

Haru places a hand over his chest as he rubs his skin, calming his racing heart. The navy-haired teen grabs their goggles and swim caps before following the redhead to an area to do their stretches.

After Haru and Rin finish up doing their stretches, the sapphire-eyed teen says as he looks at the redhead, “are you ready, Rin?”

The all-around swimmer gets up from bending down towards the floor, stretching his hamstrings and says with enthusiasm, “I’m always ready…to race with you.”

The navy-haired teen looks away and says with a smirk, “hmm. Are you certain? I don’t want you complaining that I cheated due to our activities last night.”

Rin knits his eyebrows as he turns his head to gaze at the free-swimmer. He clicks his tongue and says, “hah? Che. I will win, Haru. Regardless of what we did last night.”

The navy-haired teen side glances at the redhead and notices a slight pink flush on his cheeks. Haru walks over to the crimson-eyed teen, bumping his chest with the slightly flustered Rin as he stares up into those surprised red eyes and says explicitly, “good. Be prepared to slip on a maid dress just for me, Rin.”

The crimson-eyed teen notices Haru’s sapphire eyes shift towards him with determination. As the navy-haired teen walks towards him, Rin sees those determined eyes become luminous, shining with fortitude. The redhead holds his ground, surprised and ready to take whatever the free-swimmer throws his way.

Excitement brews in his chest and surges through the rest of his body as Haru’s chest collides with his. Rin swallows as Haru’s deep voice blazes up with a cool confidence that rocks the crimson-eyed teen’s heart, sending his spirit ablaze. He thinks, _‘damn, is he fired up! Just what I wanted to see, Haru. Shit, you are so sexy when you get like this. Mmmm…’_

Rin wraps his arms around the navy-haired teen’s waist possessively, leaning forward, crushing his lips with the sapphire-eyed teen. A mashing of flesh against flesh in a closed mouth kiss, the redhead pulls back slightly, gently grazing his teeth against the navy-haired teen’s bottom lip, causing Haru to part his lips with a hushed, throaty moan. The all-around swimmer tightens his hold on the sapphire-eyed teen in his arms as he swallows Haru’s moan in an open-mouthed kiss.

Haru’s eyes sway with shock, feeling his whole body quiver with delight as Rin holds him firmly. The navy-haired teen subconsciously places one hand on the redhead’s shoulder while the other is draped over the back of crimson-eyed teen’s neck. The free-swimmer closes his eyes as he allows himself the indulgence of kissing his boyfriend in a public space. His physical and mental states titillated as his body reacts to Rin’s instinctive and spontaneous kiss. When the all-around swimmer grazes his teeth against the sensitive flesh on his bottom lip, Haru’s heart bursts with sensuality and a moan is released from within his vocal cords.

The free-swimmer’s mouth is captured in a feverish kiss and the navy-haired teen flushes wildly, unable to control his senses as a wet, hot, demanding tongue explores his moist cavern. Haru gently thrusts his tongue forward, twisting and battling the redhead for control of the kiss, but loses the battle as he rides the waves of the arousing feelings that course through his body and the feelings that the redhead pours into him through his actions.

Rin breaks the hot kiss, eyes hazy and half-lidded as a string of saliva connecting their lips snaps, the redhead rubs his nose with Haru’s as he says between hefty pants, “I promise. I promise to fulfill anything you desire…if you can beat me, Haru. No matter how…how embarrassing. If I, if I can set that cool gaze of yours on fire…but…I’ll be taking this win.” The redhead chuckles lightly.

The navy-haired teen pants heavily, tenderly drawing a circle with his forefinger on the back of Rin’s neck as the redhead rubs his nose. Haru licks his lips, savoring the feeling and the taste of Rin on his sensitive skin. The free-swimmer opens his eyes as he hears the crimson-eyed teen’s sultry voice fill his ears. Haru smiles softly as he stares up at Rin’s suggestive half-lidded eyes and says in a low tone, “I accept, Rin. I accept your challenge, and your promise.”

The two teens sigh as they untangle from their embrace. Haru looks away, walking away from the redhead, grabbing a few fresh towels from the towel cart before he turns around and hands them over to the crimson-eyed teen.

Rin takes the towels and smirks at the navy-haired teen. The redhead sidesteps to walk out of the locker room, but as he takes two steps away from the sapphire-eyed teen, the all-around swimmer finds himself halted in place as a pair of hands grips the sides of his hips and a pair of lips hovers over his ear.

Haru watches Rin smirk with confidence and it makes the navy-haired teen’s heart quicken. The sapphire-eyed teen turns on his heel and grasps Rin’s hips firmly as he shifts his weight on the balls of his feet, pulling the redhead into his body as he says in an arresting tone, “I will have you prance around in a maid dress with fishnet stockings and a mackerel-shaped feather duster. And you will call me…master, Rin.”

The redhead’s eyes trembles with uneasiness, exhilaration, and irritation as the all-around swimmer face implodes into a deep blush from his ears, cheeks and neck. Rin swallows audibly, _‘hah? Fishnet…stockings…feather…duster…Master!? You can’t be serious!? Ugh…a repeat of that damn maid café from hell. Dammit…I knew that would bite me in the ass eventually. Che. I am so not losing this one, Haru! No fricken’ way! I will have you bend over backwards for me, not the other way around.’_

Haru lowers himself to the tiled floor, taking a step to the side to see Rin’s reaction. The navy-haired teen’s mouth parts in astonishment and he smiles deviously, extremely happy with himself. The sapphire-eyed teen takes a good look at the redhead’s expression, committing it to memory as he says with slight amusement, “let’s go Rin…I’m going to set your body on fire.”

Rin doesn’t notice when Haru’s hands or lips left him, but when he hears the free-swimmer’s voice next to him, his head snaps to the side to find the navy-haired teen’s eyes sparkle with entertainment before walking away. The redhead watches Haru’s retreating back and clicks his tongue before places his hands on his hips and shifting his weight on one leg as he laughs to himself darkly, _‘damn…I think I’ve been had. Heh. Haru…you already set my body on fire…you’re starting to play games with me. I like it.’_

Rin follows Haru out towards the Olympic sized pool with a roar of laughter.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

Makoto and Sousuke walk back towards the starting blocks watching Rin and Haru prepare themselves for the race. The brunette says, “um, are you guys planning to do a practice lap before your race?”

Haru looks over at the redhead and the two teens look thoughtful for a moment. Rin sighs and says, “yeah, we should do at least one lap for warm-up.” Haru’s eyes shine with amusement before he gets on the starting block and jumps in the pool for a warm-up. Rin shakes his head with a smile before he does the same, warming up in the lane next to the navy-haired teen.

The raven-haired teen looks over at Makoto to find the emerald-eyed teen smiling down at the two teens in the pool. Sousuke glances over at Rin and Haru and his heart constricts, _‘damn, I want to swim. I want to race…with them.’_ The teal-eyed teen closes his eyes, and takes a silent deep breath, not wanting to attract attention to himself, not wanting to distract the brunette standing a couple feet away from him. Sousuke crosses his arms over his chest, trying to calm his tense heart.

When Haru reaches the end of the pool, Makoto walks over to the navy-haired teen and extends his hand to him with his trademark smile. It’s been a long time since the brunette had pulled the navy-haired teen out of the pool like this.

Haru looks up at the emerald-eyed teen and sighs before he takes Makoto’s hand and allows the strong brunette to pull him out of the pool. 

When Rin reaches the end of the pool, he hoists himself up, and says, “alright. Let’s get the real race on!”

Sousuke digs out his cellphone and says, “I’m timing you Rin. I want to see how hard you’ve been working.”

Rin snaps the back of his swimming cap on his head and chuckles, “wouldn’t you like to know. I promise you Sousuke, I’m a lot faster than I was before. I’m gonna blow your mind!” The redhead looks back and to the side, giving the raven-haired teen a confident smile.

The teal-eyed teen smirks with his phone in hand and replies, “oh. Well see about that. Beat Nanase, and maybe I’ll consider giving you some kind of reward for your hard work.”

Makoto watches Rin and Sousuke banter back and forth, but picks up on the idea of timing the redhead. The brunette pulls out his phone, takes a few steps towards Haru and whispers in his ear, “I think I’ll time you too. If you and Rin bet something, I think it would be a good idea to see who really reaches the finish line first.”

The navy-haired teen side glances over at Makoto and says softly, “hnn. So what did you and Yamazaki do while we were stretching?”

The emerald-eyed teen smiles hesitantly at the sapphire-eyed teen and just when he was about to reply, Rin burst out loudly, “oi! You guys ready?”

Haru turns his head to find the redhead grinning with a shark-like confidence. Makoto chuckles and says, “I wish you both luck. But I know Haru is going to win.”

Sousuke clicks his tongue, crossing his arms, “I don’t think so. Rin will be the victor.”

Both Makoto and Sousuke take couple steps away from Haru and Rin, giving them space to stretch and get up on the starting blocks. The backstroke swimmer and the raven-haired teens prep their phones to timers getting themselves ready to time the two potential Olympic stars.

After stretching his arms over his chest, Haru gets up on the starting block, taking a deep breath as he readjusts his goggles with tinted lenses over his eyes. Haru bends down and prepares himself for the race ahead.

Rin stretches his back muscles and brings his arms down as he rolls his neck a couple times before getting on the starting block. He notices that the navy-haired teen is already in position to take the dive at someone’s command. Rin says as he brings he fixes his red goggles with tinted blue lenses over his eyes, “Sousuke. Count it down for us.”

The teal-eyed teen nods and says, “you got it.”

The redhead takes a deep breath before bending down at the waist and setting his fingers over the edge of the starting block, looking down at the pool before him. Rin smiles as he glances to the side to find Haru also shifting his gaze to the side to meet his.

The two teens smile at each other with a glint of victory in their eyes before shifting their gazes back to the pool in front of them.

The raven-haired teen sighs lightly, feeling the air of competitive tension between the two teens on the starting blocks. In a loud voice, the teal-eyed teen says, “take your marks. Get set. Go.” Sousuke and Makoto simultaneously start their timers for Rin and Haru.

Both Rin and Haru dive into the water. Makoto tightens his grip on his phone as he looks on into the pool watching Haru compete with his boyfriend. The feeling in the air buzzes with the engagement of rivalry, competition, and devotion. The brunette’s green eyes sparkle with excitement as it brings him back to all the times he would stand right by the starting block, cheering for his friends. Makoto’s heart races with anticipation of the result of the race.

Sousuke watches the teens in the pool with intensity. His eyes study the movements of the redhead and immediately he can tell that the crimson-eyed teen is faster, stronger. The raven-haired teen had always thought the all-around swimmer’s form was perfect, but now it’s on an entirely different level. Rin’s movements are full of power, control, and perseverance. The teal-eyed teen knits his eyebrows slightly as yearning pierces his heart, an ache to feel that vigorous level of competition, knowing he cannot join that world of competitive swimming. Sousuke pushes aside his feelings of resentment, focusing on Rin’s efforts in the water, wanting the redhead to pull through and win this race.

When Rin dives into the water, with his hands over his head before moving on into a front crawl and dolphin kick, he can tell that he’s ahead. The redhead smiles as he feels a strong presence on his left, it causes the crimson-eyed teen’s body to go through the motions faster and with precision. Rin cuts through the water with his arms and hands as the water slides around his body. Rin’s heart pounds with effervescence, feeling his whole body react to the rival pressure of Haru in the lane next to him.

As Haru dives into the water, he can tell that the redhead has a bit of a lead over him. The navy-haired teen’s eyes sparkle with enchantment and frustration as Rin takes the lead. The water embraces the navy-haired teen as he soars through the water trying to catch up and surpass the redhead. Haru looks ahead, taking notice of Rin’s body next to him, and senses a thrill of rivalry bubble up between them, within him.

The sapphire-eyed teen smiles as his heart and his desire to have no one else but the water in front of him overwhelms him. Haru’s heart races with anticipation, moving faster as he makes the turn. The free-swimmer plants his feet on the tiled wall and pushes forward with all his might, gliding through the cool water as he finally catches up with the redhead.

After Rin makes the turn to propel himself forward by pushing off the wall with his feet, he can feel the navy-haired teen gaining up on him, shortening the distance between them. A burst of energy fills the crimson-eyed teen’s core, launching himself forward, _‘come on Haru…I dare you to beat me! I’m so gonna win this. I don’t care how much my ass hurts, I’m winning this!’_

As the two teens get closer to their starting point, and the titled wall gets closer and closer, Haru closes the gap between them. The navy-haired teen can almost taste freedom, just the water in front of him, and the sapphire-eyed teen brings his arms over his head faster and faster, kicking behind him with more force and he feels the all-around swimmer do the same as every fiber of his being is poured through his actions.

In the blink of an eye, Rin touches the wall, as does Haru. The two teens plant their feet to the floor of the pool as Haru keeps one hand on the wall as he pulls his swimming cap and goggles off his head, shaking his hair back and forth, panting heavily. The redhead places his arm over the floating lane dividers as he pulls off his swimming cap and goggles, panting, “I…I…won. This…one.”

The navy-haired teen side glances over at Rin and takes in the redhead’s image. He notices how the redhead is leaning against the lane divider next to him, panting heavily with a huge shark-like grin on his face. Rin’s eyes are closed, but he can feel the exultant vitality emanate from the redhead. Haru turns his head completely to just stare at Rin, eyes wavering with vulnerability and a building thirst for the redhead tingling his core.

Both Makoto and Sousuke click their timers when the teens hit the wall. The brunette looks down at the time, 48.61. The emerald-eyed teen smiles, _‘whoa! I’ve never seen Haru move this fast before. Amazing!’_

Sousuke walks over to the brunette and says, “let me see what you got.” He moves his hand with his cellphone in hand to show Makoto the time listed.

The brunette moves his hand out to show Sousuke, Haru’s time and his eyes widen in shock, _‘wha-what!? Rin…Rin has the same time! They really did touch the wall at the same time!’_

The teal-eyed teen furrows his eyebrows when he sees the time listed on Makoto’s phone and whispers, “no way. There’s no way. The exact same time.”

Makoto looks up at the raven-haired teen and says, “they really are in sync.” The brunette giggles.

Sousuke looks away, not wanting to admit that what the brunette had said is true, _‘damn. I really hate being right. Nanase…no, Haru really does bring out the best in you, huh, Rin. I’m glad, for you. I just wish it was me…sometimes.’_ The raven-haired teen exhales deeply.

Rin opens his eyes to find Haru staring at him and the redhead finds himself getting lost in those dark blue orbs. Makoto breaks the moment and says to them, “you’re not going to believe this…but you guys tied.”

The redhead snaps his head over to Makoto and Sousuke. He notices the frown on the raven-haired teen’s face and Makoto’s smiling face. Rin shifts his weight from one leg to the other and he visibly winces before he recovers and says, “che. A tie, huh?” He gives Haru a side-glance and says as he raises his eyebrow, “wanna go again?”

Makoto looks at the exchange from Rin to Haru and his eyes widen when he looks at the navy-haired teen, _‘I know that look. Haru! Really? Sousuke and I should leave if you’re gonna do something like that. I don’t think Sousuke is ready to see that kind of thing. He’s still in love with Rin.’_

Sousuke furrows his eyebrows when he notices the redhead wince, _‘eh? What was that? Are you hurt Rin? If you are, you shouldn’t be racing again. And…’_

The brunette interrupts the raven-haired teen’s thoughts as he says, “you know I think we need to get them something to drink, Sousuke. Let’s go get them something. I know where the vending machines are.”

Makoto quickly grabs Sousuke’s hand and squeezes him gently as he pulls the bewildered teal-eyed teen away from the pool, leaving Rin and Haru alone for a moment.

Rin watches Sousuke and Makoto walk away from the pool, curious as to why the two teens decided to leave.

As Rin is distracted, watching the brunette and the teal-eyed teen, Haru dips underwater going under the lane divider. Haru takes in the sight of Rin’s chiseled body before he runs his fingers over the redhead’s rock hard abs as he breaks the surface of the water.

The crimson-eyed teen watches Makoto and Sousuke walk out of the pool area until he feels a sizzling warm touch grazing over his stomach, making the redhead gasp as Haru appears right in front of him. Before Rin has time to react, Haru snakes his arm around Rin’s waist, placing a firm grip on the small of the redhead’s back.

Haru locks his burning blue gaze on Rin’s surprised crimson stare as he says in a husky tone, “hn, a tie…a tie…” The navy-haired teen wraps his other arm around Rin’s waist as he massages the small of the redhead’s back, slowly trailing his hands down to Rin’s ass.

Rin flushes bright red at the touch, reminding him of the massage he received earlier in the day, a kind of apology for the soreness he felt due to their previous night activities. The redhead places his hands on Haru’s shoulders as he wraps his legs around Haru’s waist, bending down to kiss the navy-haired teen. Wet and sloppy, the redhead doesn’t care, as long as he gets to feel Haru’s hot mouth against his.

The sapphire-eyed teen stops his movements on Rin’s ass, holding him firmly instead as Rin crashes his lips onto his. Haru closes his eyes, giving the redhead full access to his open mouth. The navy-haired teen submits fully to Rin, allowing the all-around swimmer dominance over him, the free-swimmer just wants to feel Rin’s tongue dance around in his mouth, feel the fire that delightfully singes his soul, _‘Rin…you…the water…mmm.’_

The redhead tangles his hand into Haru’s navy locks, squeezing the cool water out of his hair. The exhilaration from the swim reminds the redhead how much he missed having that rival pressure surround him. The navy-haired teen always brought out the best in Rin, especially in the pool. Haru had saved him, saved him from his failure, his doubts, and reminded him of the innocence he once carried. Everything they are now, has since been transformed, but at the root, at the core, nothing has changed, Haru was still Haru, Rin was still Rin.

Rin always admired Haru, and that will never change. As the crimson-eyed teen delves his tongue deeper into Haru’s wet cavern, accepting him, accepting them, the redhead feels happy tears slowly fall from his eyes.

Haru moans as Rin thrusts his tongue deeper into his mouth, his legs feeling weak. The navy-haired teen presses his fingertips into Rin’s bum, squeezing his butt cheeks until he feels warmish water fall on his right cheek, then his left cheek. Haru moves his hand up to Rin’s cheek, caressing him as he breaks the kiss to open his blue eyes to gaze at the redhead, panting softly.

Rin inhales deeply, taking in much needed air as he brings his hand over the back of Haru’s hand on his cheek, nuzzling his cheek into Haru’s gentle touch, “I…I just…something in my eye.” The redhead looks away, refusing to meet Haru’s gaze as he continues to flush deeply.

As Rin looks away from the sapphire-eyed teen, a tender smile dons the navy-haired teen’s face. He can’t read the redhead, but he can only guess that Rin is happy, _‘such a crybaby, Rin. Cute.’_ Haru licks his lips, savoring Rin’s unique taste.

The redhead climbs down off of the navy-haired teen, planting his feet down on the pool’s floor as he hears Makoto and Sousuke’s voices coming back from the vending machines. Both teens pull themselves out of the pool as the raven-haired teen and the brunette walk into the pool area.

Sousuke hands the redhead a bottle of pocari sweat and says, “here. I think this is better than that bug juice Momo always suggested for you.”

Rin makes a face and sighs as he takes the bottle of pocari sweat from the raven-haired teen, “thanks, bro. Don’t remind me.”

Makoto watches Rin and Sousuke’s interaction through his peripheral vision as he hands Haru a bottle of water as he whispers, “did you two have a moment?”

Haru turns his head to stare up into those emerald orbs saying with his eyes, ‘maybe. Why? You want to know the details, Makoto?’

The brunette’s eyes widen briefly before he raises a hand in defense, smiling sheepishly.

Rin twists the cap open, lifts the bottle up to his parted lips, takes a long sip of pocari sweat, relishing in the salty sweet beverage.

Sousuke watches the redhead tilt his head back drinking the cool liquid he had given him. The raven-haired teen shifts his gaze away from Rin’s image, feeling his mind reel with the sexy sight he just saw, _‘huh…I guess it’s not that easy to get over you. I’ve been trying not to be obvious with my staring. At the café, the walk here, and watching you swim…Rin.’_

Makoto watches Haru take a swig from the water bottle he gave him, but his eyes move towards Rin and Sousuke. The brunette notices the raven-haired teen look away from Rin with furrowed eyebrows and a very slight pout on his lips. He thinks, _‘I wonder what he’s thinking about? He was looking at Rin…oh. He was looking at Rin. This has got to be so hard for him, watching Rin and Haru together.’_ The brunette looks over to the pool and notices how the water glows under all the lights under the pool as he thinks about the events that took place during the day.

Before the brunette could reflect further, his cellphone rings. Makoto looks at the caller i.d. and recognizes the name as he answers the phone, “hello? Yumiko?”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 6: 50 pm **

****

The group of teens walk down the streets of Tokyo, heading toward Sousuke’s apartment complex. Makoto shoves his hands deeper into his green coat as he looks over to the side to find the raven-haired teen with a serious expression on his face. The brunette wonders if Sousuke could be upset with him because he thought it would be a nice idea to have dinner with Yumiko. She suggested that she get some take-out so that she could spend time with her stepbrother and his friends before they left Tokyo. Makoto looks away as the apartment complex comes into view and says to Rin and Haru who are walking behind him, “it’s up ahead.”

Sousuke sighs silently as Makoto chats with Rin and Haru. The raven-haired teen wasn’t sure if he wanted Rin to meet his stepsister yet since she can be quite intrusive. He squeezes his phone in his pocket and curses himself for not turning the ringer back on after he had it on silent after the incident at the café. While he didn’t want his sister pestering him, he also didn’t want her to start calling Makoto since he wasn’t picking his phone up.

Sousuke sighs silently realizing that he wasn’t paying attention to his stepsister’s curiosity. He wonders, _‘I know she wants to meet my friends and all that, but why so persistent today? There’s a reason. She’s just not telling me.’_

The redhead had said that he wanted to see where Sousuke lived, and so he guesses it could be ok. The raven-haired teen is more worried about Yumiko. The caramel-eyed woman sometimes can be nosy and he worries that she will ask too many questions.

The raven-haired teen opens the front door for the troupe of teens, but as he looks inside towards the concierge desk, he notices Yumiko. He closes the door as he stands inside watching his stepsister talking with Oda. She has her dark brown dress petit coat draped over the concierge desk as Yumiko giggles with the older man with his dark hair slicked back.

Sousuke notices that Yumiko has her long dark-brown hair down, wearing a white beret on her head, a wine colored long sleeved big shirt cotton dress, a long pearl necklace with a knot in it, a light grey layered lace mini skirt, and black leggings with black suede high heeled boots that go up her whole shin.

The raven-haired teen just watches the interaction between Yumiko and Oda, noticing that Yumiko would lift one leg up as she sways her body talking to the older man. He thinks, _‘don’t tell me…you’re flirting with him? Since when?’_ Sousuke notices Makoto approach the caramel-eyed woman and introduces Haru and Rin to his stepsister.

Sousuke walks towards the group and Yumiko’s eyes sparkle as she leaps over towards him, wrapping her arms around his torso as she says, “Sou-chan! I’m so glad we get to meet each other before you leave! And I’ve just met your friends, Matsuoka-san and Nanase-san!”

The raven-haired teen gives Yumiko an indifferent stare as he says, “yeah. I know you have been wanting to meet my friends.”

Makoto giggles and says quietly, “cute.”

Oda turns his head to stare at the brunette with an amused expression.

Rin tilts his head to the side watching Sousuke and his stepsister before looking down at Haru to find the navy-haired teen observing the stepsiblings closely.

The caramel-eyed woman squeezes Sousuke before she releases him, looking up at the ex-butterfly swimmer, “I’m really glad to see you, Sou-chan.” Yumiko smiles up at the raven-haired teen.

The teal-eyed teen looks down at his stepsister and something doesn’t quite feel right. The way Yumiko smiles at him; there is something sad hidden beneath her smile that causes worry to slightly gnaw at him. He places his hand on Yumiko’s shoulder and says, “come on, let’s head up and order some take-out.”

The caramel-eyed woman says, “no, that’s ok. I’ll meet you and your friends upstairs. I already made the order when I got here, and they told me that the order will arrive around 7:10pm. Go ahead, Sou-chan! Go set the table or something. I’m sure Oda-san will help me carry the food up.” Yumiko turns around to gaze at the well-dressed man, “right?”

Oda nods, “it will be my pleasure, Yamazaki-san.” The stares up at the raven-haired teen and says, “I will take care of your stepsister, Yamazaki-san. Please do not worry.”

Sousuke sighs, _‘you’re just gonna flirt with him some more. Ugh, what a pain.’_ The teal-eyed teen rubs the back of his neck, “alright. Thanks Oda-san. My friends and I will set up the table then. You better come directly upstairs when the food arrives, Yumiko.”

The caramel-eyed woman giggles, “yes, Sou-chan! I will not let you down!” She looks over at Haru and Rin with a smile, “let’s talk more when the food arrives, ne?”

Before Rin could reply back to Yumiko, Sousuke says firmly, “Makoto, why don’t you bring Rin and Nanase upstairs. I just want to ask Yumiko something before heading up.”

The brunette tilts his head, slightly confused but the cool stare he receives from the raven-haired teen communicates that he needs to ask his stepsister something in private. The emerald-eyed teen nods and says, “alright.” He grabs Rin and Haru’s wrists leading them away from Yumiko and Sousuke.

Rin complains, “oi, oi! Makoto!? We really should wait for Sousuke. Oi! Makoto!”

Haru looks down at Makoto’s hand connected to his wrist and notices the firm grip that surrounds him. The navy-haired teen can tell that the brunette is slightly tense by the way he holds his wrist. Haru looks to the side and says to the redhead, “Rin. It’s ok. This is what Yamazaki wants.”

The crimson-eyed teen sighs with a concerned look in his features, “fine. I still think we should wait.”

Makoto releases Haru and Rin’s wrists as they head into the open elevator and the brunette pulls out the keycard to slide into the reader, pressing the button for Sousuke’s floor.

The brunette says protectively, “don’t worry, Rin, Haru. Sousuke will come up shortly.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow as the elevator doors close, “hah? Don’t tell me you and Sousuke have that mind reading ability too.”

Makoto gives the redhead a shocked expression and says in a whine, “Ri~~n~!”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke waits until the elevator doors close before he turns his body towards Yumiko. The caramel-eyed woman is leaning against the concierge desk with her elbows resting on the cool marbleized black countertop and resting her chin on the palms of her hand, looking at the raven-haired teen curiously.

The teal-eyed teen says seriously, “what was that? What’s going on with you?”

Yumiko sighs lightly, casting her eyes downward, “nothing, Sou-chan…I just have some things to really think about. That’s all.”

The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows as he rubs his forehead, “oh? Are you going to tell me about it? Is there a particular reason why you want to meet my friends today?”

The caramel-eyed woman purses her lips and says, “there’s a reason. But I don’t think now is the time to talk about this, Sousuke. Please. Just...promise me one thing.” Yumiko turns to face the raven-haired teen, looking up into his teal eyes, “promise me…that you won’t lose touch with your friends. Makoto, Matsuoka-san, and Nanase-san. Promise me this one thing, and I will tell you…what I am not telling you today.”

Sousuke turns his gaze away and focuses his attention on Oda. He notices how the shorter man has directed his attention down to an article, highlighting certain words. The raven-haired teen appreciates Oda’s sense of professionalism, before he sets his gaze back on Yumiko and says, “for how long?”

Yumiko’s caramel eyes widen momentarily, realizing that she is asking him to keep that promise forever, but realistically that would be almost impossible to keep without breaking the promise. Yumiko casts her gaze downwards towards the floor as she tries to think of a more realistic promise that Sousuke can keep without breaking, “for as long as you can. I worry about you, you know. I know what I am asking is impossible, just promise me that you will try your best. That’s all I can really ask of you.”

The teal-eyed teen shoves his hands into his black winter coat pockets, and says, “I will…try my best. When I come back from my trip, it seems we have a lot to talk about.”

The caramel-eyed woman smiles sadly, “yeah. We do. Focus on spending time with your friends, Sou-chan. These things can wait until next year.” She looks up into those teal eyes and says, “now, go upstairs and give your friends a proper tour of your place.”

Sousuke takes a deep breath and says, “alright. I’ll see you upstairs.” He turns around and looks at Oda, “Thanks for taking care of her, Oda-san.”

The well-dressed man raises his chocolate colored eyes and smiles, “it is my pleasure, Yamazaki-san. I will make sure that she makes it up to your apartment safe and sound when the food arrives.” Oda lightly bows at the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke smiles before he walks to the elevator, heading up to his apartment.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 8: 43 pm **

After dinner, Makoto insists on washing the dishes while Rin tells a story about a recent hiking trip he took with a couple of his teammates from Australia. The brunette had asked about the trip awhile back and decided to let Sousuke, Haru, and Yumiko hear the tale of Rin’s adventure.

The emerald-eyed teen shifts his gaze from the plate he’s washing to Rin enthusiastically getting out of his chair to emphasize how big the trees were and how one of his crazy teammates attempted to climb one of the trees near a lake.

Makoto moves his eyes from Rin to Haru and sees interest sparkle in those blue orbs. The brunette chuckles to himself, _‘you want to visit Australia again, don’t you Haru? You want to see the sights Rin is talking about. You should visit him in Australia, Haru. I think Rin would really like that.’_

The backstroke swimmer notices Sousuke chuckling to himself, finding Rin’s story amusing. Makoto can see the raven-haired teen being much more relaxed now than he has seen him all day. He wonders if it’s because Sousuke is getting some quality time with his best friend.

Yumiko walks past the brunette washing the dishes, leaning against the counter next to Makoto as she says softly, “I kinda get the impression that you are the glue that holds the group together. Am I right?”

Makoto snaps his head to the side to find the short woman staring up into his green orbs as she holds out her glass for the brunette to take. The backstroke swimmer smiles and says, “I don’t know about that. I just want us all to get along.” The brunette places the plate in the dish drying rack and takes Yumiko’s cup, “why do you say that, anyway?”

Yumiko straightens her posture, resting her hands on the cool kitchen counter as she gazes at the group of teens in front of them, “just a hunch. I just noticed how you pay attention to everything that happens between all of them. I can’t believe you guys are all childhood friends, well mostly. And you still are able to hang out with each other without getting into some serious fights…and all because of your interest in swimming. That is something.”

Makoto glances up at the teens again before setting his attention on the cup he’s washing, “well, it wasn’t always like this. Some of us did get into arguments and fights. I was worried for a lot of them, and I’m glad things got sorted out in the end. I guess you can say we have a kind of bond with each other.”

Yumiko looks down and fiddles with her long pearl necklace, “I see. You guys are lucky. Don’t let go of each other, I would be devastated to see your bonds severed.” The caramel-eyed woman turns around, leaning her back against the kitchen counter as she whispers to herself with her eyes closed, “Sou-chan, I’m glad. You really will be ok without me.”

Makoto is about to turn the faucet off, smiling at Yumiko’s words. When he hears Yumiko mentioning that Sousuke would be ok without her, his hand stops in midair as his body stiffens, _‘huh? What does that mean? Are you going somewhere, Yumiko?’_

Before the brunette could ask Yumiko what she meant, the caramel-eyed woman’s phone beeps and she quickly trots over to her purse checking the text message she receives. Makoto turns off the faucet, drying his hands on the dishtowel nearby before walking out of the kitchen and into the dining room.

Makoto watches Yumiko check the message on her phone and a frown settles on her delicate features. The brunette hears Sousuke and Rin laughing, and turns his head as Rin finishes up the tale of his adventure hiking with his teammates.

The brunette smiles when Haru looks over to him, but the caramel-eyed woman turns around and says, “Sou-chan, I’m going to have to go now. Unless you need help packing, then I can spare maybe another thirty minutes before I really have to go.”

The raven-haired teen looks at Yumiko with a curious expression, “where do you have to go? It’s late.”

Yumiko tightens her hold on the phone in her hands as she says cautiously, “I volunteered to help out my co-workers planning a New Year’s party for my internship, and she just found a couple of mistakes that need to be rectified. She has asked me to come over to help her out.”

Sousuke frowns, _‘working on a holiday? You better be careful, Yumiko. Don’t overwork yourself.’_ The teal-eyed teen says, “but today’s the Emperor’s birthday. Can’t you deal with it tomorrow?” 

The caramel-eyed woman takes a deep breath and says, “I know. But…there no such thing as holidays when it comes to business. Don’t worry, Sou-chan. I’m a pro when it comes to planning events, solving problems is my specialty. I’ll probably just spend an hour at her place and head on home. I’ll text you when I’m heading back to my place if that will make you feel better.”

The raven-haired teen shrugs and says, “do what you want. Text me when you’re done. I don’t like the idea of you out and about this late.”

Yumiko giggles, “awww! You really do care about me, Sou-chan!”

Sousuke shifts his gaze away, looking out the window, griping, “whatever.” 

Rin and Makoto chuckle at the raven-haired teen’s response while Haru looks curiously between Yumiko and Sousuke.

Yumiko sends a quick text back to the sender before placing her phone back in her purse, “alright. I’m heading out then.” She walks over to Sousuke and gently wraps an arm around the raven-haired teen’s shoulder from behind as she says in a murmur, “have fun on your trip, Sou-chan. Take one picture for me, as proof that you have more friends. Next time I’m meeting this Ai-san, Momo-san, Nagisa-san, and Rei-san.”

Sousuke sighs as he listens to Yumiko’s words and places a hand on her forearm, squeezes the caramel-eyed woman gently, “fine. I’ll do that.” The raven-haired teen huffs as he thinks about Yumiko meeting his other friends from Iwatobi.

Yumiko giggles as she releases her hold on the teal-eyed teen. She looks over at Rin and Haru, who are getting up to say their good-byes to the young woman. The caramel-eyed woman smiles sweetly as she waves her hand and bows, “I’m so glad to meet you both, Matsuoka-san, Nanase-san. I enjoyed the stories a lot. I had no idea Sou-chan can be so silly sometimes. When you come back Matsuoka-san, let’s meet again. Nanase-san, I would love to try your cooking! I’m sure we can manage another meeting in the future.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen as he gets up and says, “oi! Don’t make plans like that!”

Haru stares at the teal-eyed teen momentarily before he fixes his gaze back at Yumiko, “yes. I’m positive we can manage another meeting in the future. I would like to hear more stories about Yamazaki too.” The navy-haired teen looks over to find Sousuke’s mouth open in shock as Haru’s eyes glint with entertainment.

Makoto and Rin share a look and chuckle at Sousuke and Haru’s interaction.

Yumiko smiles at Haru and says, “then it’s settled. Let’s make a plan next year to see each other again. Have a good night all of you, and don’t stay up too late.” The caramel-eyed woman waves good-bye to everyone before walking over to the entryway.

Sousuke takes a few steps to follow Yumiko out, but Makoto raises his hand up and says, “I can walk Yumiko out.”

The raven-haired teen shakes his head, “it’s ok, Makoto. I’ll do it. I want to escort her downstairs and make sure she gets into a cab.”

The brunette nods and allows the raven-haired teen to pass by him, _‘I really wanted to ask Yumiko what she meant…I guess I’ll have to ask her later.’_ Makoto looks over at Rin and Haru and says, “why don’t we play a game. Like… _Super Smash Brothers_. Sousuke has a Wii-U in the living room.”

Rin smirks and says, “alright. I’ll win this one!”

Haru turns his head to the side in a huff, “no, Rin. I will win. Same stakes.”

The redhead narrows his eyes playfully and says, “hah? You’re on, Haru! Let’s do this!”

The navy-haired teen side glances over at the redhead and says, “humph. That’s what you said about the two races we had at the pool. You didn’t win either one of them.”

Rin glares playfully as he walks over to Haru, getting into his face. The redhead gently plays with Haru’s grey scarf, grazing his index finger against Haru’s neck, the side with Rin’s hickeys on it, “che. I would have won if my ass wasn’t hurting!”

Haru eyes widen as he faces the redhead head-to-head, a slight flush burning his ears before he calmly says, “is that right? You weren’t complaining last night, Rin. You moaned for more.”

The crimson-eyed teen gives the navy-haired teen his signature shark-like grin, exposing his sharp pearly whites as he says, “tsk, who’s the one that has all my love bites, huh?”

Makoto separates Rin and Haru by pushing them away from each other and says sheepishly, “eh-heh-heh. Come on you two! Don’t do this. You both tied those races, down to the millisecond. That was amazing, seriously! Stop arguing and let’s play. And you aren’t going to set any stakes like you did at the pool. If anything, how about we bet who will buy us snacks when we get to Nagoya, ne? Besides, neither of you will win against me.”

Rin and Haru stare at the emerald-eyed teen. Rin’s face goes from shock to a playful grin. Haru’s eyes glint with enjoyment and says, “you’re on, Makoto. Let’s see what you can do.”

The brunette chuckles as he leads the two teens into the living room setting up the T.V. and the Wii-U for a series of _Super Smash Brothers_ competitions.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 9: 56 pm **

The group of teens walks out of Sousuke’s apartment complex, the raven-haired teen insisting that he walks Rin, Makoto, and Nanase the few blocks to the train station. Rin and Sousuke fall into step together as Makoto and Haru walk a few feet in front of the taller teens.

Sousuke sighs deeply as the redhead looks over to the side to stare at the raven-haired teen.

Rin places his gloved palms on the back of his head as he says quietly, “long day, huh?”

The teal-eyed teen shoves his hands into his black winter coat pockets as he says, “yeah. I can’t believe Makoto beat us all with _Meta Knight_. That was crazy. I thought for sure I was gonna win a few times.”

The redhead smiles slowing down his pace as he says, “yeah. Makoto doesn’t kid around when it comes to videogames, I guess. I had no idea he could be so good. Did he practice with you?”

Sousuke chuckles as he keeps his gaze on the crimson-eyed teen, “a couple times. But he wasn’t as ruthless, so I really thought I had a chance at beating him.”

Rin nods before he glances at Makoto and Haru whispering things to each other, but he keeps his gaze on the brunette. Thoughts of the event that took place at the café come to mind, _‘shit, Makoto. You should have let me had my way with that jackass ex of yours. He hit Haru. No one can hit Haru.’_

Sousuke keeps his eyes on the redhead and notices a dark expression passing through his features. The teal-eyed teen frowns, and follows his line of sight, finding the crimson-eyed teen staring at the emerald-eyed teen in front of him. The raven-haired teen huffs, “don’t you dare, Rin. I know what you’re thinking. Don’t get any ideas about getting involved with Makoto’s ex. He’s a bastard.”

Rin knits his eyebrows as he glares at the raven-haired teen next to him as he seethes, “did you see what that ass did to Haru? He fricken’ hit him.”

Sousuke narrows his eyes at the redhead next to him, fully aware of what Makoto’s ex had done as he hisses quietly, “I know, Rin. I saw the bruise. I told Nanase to keep away from him, and I’m going to ask you to do the same. Don’t get any ideas. If you get into an altercation, it will ruin your career. I wouldn’t put it past that creep to be a real dick and go to the press about it when you two start getting into some serious competitions. So, leave it alone. I’ll deal with that prick.” 

Rin looks away, clicks his tongue as he brings his hands down from the back of his head and roughly shoves his hands into his pockets, mumbling, “tsk…I want to be the one to kick that bastard’s ass. No one hurts my boyfriend.”

Sousuke shoulders stiffen as Rin mentions his boyfriend. The raven-haired teen exhales silently, a puff of white smoke slips through his mouth, _‘I’m not quite used to that yet. Shit.’_ The teal-eyed teen gazes at the redhead with longing that will never be returned. He knows Rin’s answer, he told the redhead about his feelings, only to realize that it was one-sided. Sousuke wonders how long it will take for him to be completely over the crimson-eyed teen, if it will ever happen.

The redhead sighs and says, “you’re right. You’re so right, bro. I just…I wish I was here to prevent it from happening, you know?”

The raven-haired teen nods, a tense silence falls between them before Sousuke says distantly, “I know, Rin. If I knew something like that would happen, I would have prevented it from happening.”

Rin glances at the teal-eyed teen, catching his eye and smiles tenderly, “man, that was so sweet. I know, dude. You have my back. Hey…thanks for standing up to that jackass, besides keeping me and Haru out of a fight, why did you do it? Usually you stay out of other people’s business.”

Sousuke’s eyes waver when he sees Rin’s innocent smile. It reminds him of the smiles the redhead would wear when they were kids, genuine and content. He smiles for a moment, but as the words sink in, he breaks eye contact with the redhead and stares at the brunette in front of him, _‘why did I do it? I was pissed. That jerk has the audacity to come over and bother Makoto...Makoto. I didn’t want to see him hurt again.’_ The raven-haired teen shrugs and says, “I…I’m not sure. Makoto is a friend. That’s all the reason I need. If that guy ever bothers Makoto or Nanase, I’ll take care of him.”

Rin chuckles quietly and says, “you know, I think Makoto is rubbing off on you, bro. Don’t take that the wrong way. I’m glad to see you two hitting it off. You can be cold sometimes.”

Sousuke huffs, “shut-up, man.” He listens to the redhead’s laugh quietly, a soft melodious deep sound that makes the raven-haired teen smile unintentionally. The teal-eyed teen says, “oi, there’s something I have to do when we get back to Iwatobi. You think you can join me for a dinner?”

Rin tilts his head as he listens to Sousuke’s question. The redhead takes a moment to ponder what his plans are when he gets to Iwatobi and says, “if it doesn’t conflict with anything, yeah, I’m down. Must be important if you want me to join you.”

Sousuke nods solemnly, “yeah. I’ll tell you more about it later. I’ll text you the date and time so you can double check with your schedule. And…you think we can spend some time together, just the two of us, like old times?”

Rin smiles and says, “of course. Regardless if I can go to this dinner or not, let’s plan to hang out, just the two of us.”

Sousuke smiles authentically and says, “deal.”

Rin takes his hand out of his pocket, gently thrusting his fist between them and waiting for Sousuke to meet him half way.

The teal-eyed teen grins, pulls out his hand out of his pocket, fist bumping his best friend with a promise of bonding time in the near future.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

As soon as Makoto walks out of Sousuke’s apartment complex, he feels the chill of the night air and shivers slightly as the crisp cold breeze seeps through his clothes. The brunette quickens his pace as his body adjusts to the cool night air.

Haru glances at Sousuke and Rin, noticing that the two teens are moving slower as silence lingers between the two guys. The navy-haired teen hastens his stride to keep up with the emerald-eyed teen. The sapphire-eyed teen takes another look behind him and notices that they are a couple feet in front of the others.

Makoto turns his head and notices Haru gazing back at the teens behind them. He says softly, “you can walk with them if you want, Haru. I’m just cold. I’m sure I’ll warm up soon.”

The navy-haired teen studies Makoto’s face, noticing a slight twinkle of sadness in his eyes. Haru says quietly, “are you thinking about him? Ito?”

The brunette’s face falls and he sighs deeply as he slumps his shoulders forward, “nothing gets past you, does it Haru. Yeah…I should have said something to him.”

Haru frowns deeply and says, “Makoto. Don’t go near him. It’s over between you two.”

The brunette nods slowly, “it is. I’ve told him that already. But maybe I’m not being clear.”

The sapphire-eyed teen peers at the brunette’s profile, observing Makoto’s green orbs glisten with affliction, “Makoto. Don’t. I can see what you’re thinking.”

Makoto side glances at Haru and smiles guiltily, “yeah. I just can’t have this happen again. I don’t want anyone getting hurt. I think I need to see him and end this in a way he will understand.”

Haru shakes his head and huffs, “no. Not by yourself. He’ll hurt you. Just move on and ignore him.”

The brunette looks away and says, “I’m not planning on seeing him anytime soon. How about I just give it some thought. I really can’t have him harassing my friends just to get to me. Anyway, I won’t think about it anymore. I was just really worried…that he would hurt you, Rin, Eiji…and especially, Sousuke.”

The navy-haired teen tilts his head and says in a whisper, “have you thought about Yamazaki?”

Makoto sighs and ponders, _‘have I thought about Sousuke…yeah. I don’t know. He’s in love with Rin. Sousuke really lights up when Rin’s around. Things are just so complicated. I know I’m attracted to him, but I don’t think it’s mutual between us. We’ve had some awkward moments, and that’s about it. I did almost kiss him, though. I doubt it will ever happen again.’_ The brunette gives the free-swimmer a small smile and says, “I don’t think anything will happen between us. Besides, I don’t think it’s fair to even think about having a relationship with another person when I haven’t completely resolved my previous one.”

Haru takes a few moments to observe the emerald-eyed teen, and he sees conflict brewing within Makoto’s orbs. He listens to Makoto’s explanation, but something about his tone seems incongruent with his words, _‘he’s not sure. He doubts, but he isn’t certain. He has a point. If Ito still preoccupies his thoughts, thinking about another would not be candid. Makoto is honest with his heart, he would resent himself if he hurt another.’_ The navy-haired teen says firmly, “ok, Makoto.”

The emerald-eyed teen smiles, “thanks, Haru. I know this was hard for you. I’m just going to make sure I have everything packed before I head to bed tonight.” Makoto tilts his head before he glances over at the sapphire-eyed teen, “don’t stay up too late, Haru. You and Rin were flirting before Sousuke came back, I can tell you were thinking up plans for revenge tonight. Rin got second place in _smash_ a couple times, I can tell you weren’t thrilled with that.”

Haru’s eyes widen as he slightly knits his eyebrows and says with a small voice, “I was not.”

The brunette giggles and says, “yeah. Ok. If you say so, Haru…-chan.”

The sapphire-eyed teen knits his eyebrows fully and says, “drop the –chan.”

Makoto chuckles, “ok, Haru.” The brunette looks up at the sky, watching a few stray clouds pass by as he thinks, _‘I really should have switched characters when we were playing. Meta Knight is kind of a cheat character, but I really didn’t want Rin and Haru to win while I was playing with them. I didn’t want them to bring up the bet that neither of them won when they were swimming. Hmmm…now I’m feeling just a tad guilty for beating them all so relentlessly. Even Sousuke was surprised on my winning streak. I better keep this cheat character to myself. There’s a reason why Meta Knight isn’t used in gaming competitions. He’s overpowered.’_

Haru watches the brunette as he covers his mouth and nose with his grey scarf, and says, “how did you become so good at playing that game?”

The emerald-eyed teen smiles sheepishly at the navy-haired teen, “oh, I played the game a few times. A few times with Sousuke, and I played a few times by myself. Why do you ask?”

Haru shakes his head and gives the brunette a confused look, “curious. You just seemed to know what to do.”

Makoto rubs the back of his head, the guilt starting to feel heavier around his chest, “ah. I guess the extra practice helped a lot.”

Haru frowns, “you’re hiding something.”

The brunette chuckles hesitantly as he looks around his surroundings, noticing that the train station entrance is in front of them, “well what do you know. Looks like we made it to the train station.”

Makoto quickly turns around to see how far Rin and Sousuke are, and they are just a few feet away. The brunette sees a bright smile on the raven-haired teen’s visage. The brunette’s eyes waver as he notices how free that smile seems, and he looks away feeling like he’s intruding on something private between Rin and Sousuke.

Haru observes Rin and Sousuke, but when Makoto turns away from the teens, he wonders why.

Rin says as he catches up with Makoto and Haru, “well…looks like we’re here, Sousuke. You better head back home.”

The raven-haired teen nods as he peers into those crimson eyes, “yeah. I should head back. Go ahead, I’ll wait just a little longer.”

Haru looks between Sousuke and Rin before setting his gaze at the brunette with his back towards the others, “make sure you’re at the shinkansen station at noon, Sousuke.”

Rin’s eyes widen as he stares at Haru with disbelief, dumbfounded. Haru hasn’t called Sousuke by his first name since they left Iwatobi. 

Makoto snaps his head to the side to stare at Haru with astonishment. He thinks, _‘eh? Haru? Really? Whe-when? How?’_

Sousuke blinks a couple of times before he breaks into a small smile, closing his eyes, amused by the situation, _‘we agreed that we would start calling each other by our given names tomorrow. This means something, doesn’t it. Heh, I guess it was just me who wasn’t keen on calling you Haru before. I should have known. You didn’t carry the same feelings about me…I’ve been an idiot.’_ The raven-haired teen opens his eyes to meet Haru’s sapphire ones and says, “ah, Haru.”

Both Makoto and Rin look at the raven-haired teen with a smirk on his face. The teal-eyed teen notices Haru lips upturn into a smile before Sousuke shifts his gaze towards Makoto and Rin, his smile fading as he says, “what’s wrong?”

Makoto quickly puts his hands up in defense, “no, no, nothing. Just surprised, that’s all. I’m glad though.” The brunette smiles softly.

Rin chuckles as he playfully kicks Sousuke’s calf, “you better not get lost tomorrow.”

The teal-eyed teen huffs, “che. Shut-up, bro. I won’t get lost. Now, go home before I drag you all down the train station by force.”

Rin laughs and says, “alright, alright, grumpy. Good night Sousuke.” He throws the raven-haired teen a smile over his shoulder as he walks down the train station staircase, raising his hand to the side to wave his goodbye to Sousuke.

Haru nods and says, “We’ll see you tomorrow, Sousuke.” Haru turns and follows the redhead down the staircase.

Makoto watches Rin and Haru walk away before he turns his head to the raven-haired teen and says, “if you want, I can come by your place and we can go to the shinkansen together.”

Sousuke shakes his head, “nah. Don’t worry about me. Yumiko told me to take a cab. So I might do that.”

The brunette smiles, “ok. I’ll see you tomorrow then, Sousuke.” Makoto waves to the raven-haired teen before trotting down the staircase to take the train with Rin and Haru.

Sousuke waves, and watches the emerald-eyed teen head down the staircase. The raven-haired teen notices how Makoto sort of dances down the staircases as he places one foot in front of the other, descending down the stairs. He places his hand back into his winter coat pocket and stands at the top of the staircase until Makoto can no longer be seen. The teal-eyed teen sighs softly, turns on his heel and heads back to his apartment.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 22nd, Monday, 10: 22 pm **

After Haru places his jacket and scarf on the coat hook, he turns around to find Rin with his back towards him, sitting down on the entrance step. He watches the redhead for a moment, noticing the all-around swimmer is leaning forward, probably untying his shoes. The navy-haired teen tilts his head to the side as he imagines the redhead in a short, frilly French maid dress and fishnet stockings with an intricate lace detail inches above the knee, surrounding his solid, muscular thighs.

The sapphire-eyed teen turns his gaze away from the redhead, knowing that he won’t be seeing Rin in a maid dress anytime soon. Ever since he found out about the Maid Café that Rin had to participate in back in high school, the free-swimmer has been wondering what the crimson-eyed teen looked like in something so soft and delicate. If only he had known sooner, he could have seen Rin in a maid dress.

Haru walks into the kitchen, pulling down a white ceramic mug from the cupboard, opening a silver tin can, plucking a mugicha teabag out of it, and placing it into his mug. The navy-haired teen places his mug under the water heater filled with hot water and presses the button to dispense the water into the cup. The sapphire-eyed teen tries to erase the image of Rin in a maid dress, not wanting to delve into sexy images of the redhead.

Rin gets up after untying his shoes, bending down to grab the lip of his hi-top sneakers and moving them to face the tips of his shoes towards the front door. The redhead hears the soft buzz of the water heater and looks into the kitchen to find Haru standing in front of the counter with his head bowed down, observing his mug fill up with steamy hot water.

The redhead takes a couple of steps into the kitchen, placing his hand on the edge of the kitchen counter and sink as he watches Haru pull his mug away from the water heater, staring into his cup. Rin runs a hand through his hair as he wonders what the navy-haired teen is thinking about. Rin smirks as he remembers one of the last things the sapphire-eyed teen said to the group, “Sousuke, huh?”

Haru side glances over to the redhead to find an amused smirk plastered on his face. The sapphire-eyed teen shrugs lightly as he focuses his attention on the mug of water slowly being stained a deep amber color due to the teabag, “what about it?”

Rin crosses his arms over his chest as he leans the side of his hip against the kitchen counter, “what changed?”

Haru considers the question as he pulls out a small side dish and a pair of metal chopsticks to take out the teabag from his mug. The navy-haired teen says softly, “I felt like it. Nothing has changed.”

Rin knits his eyebrows, sighing, and wondering what Haru’s words mean. He thought for sure that Sousuke and Haru had come to some kind of understanding, or at least to some kind of agreement. He casts his eyes downwards, away from the sapphire-eyed teen, looking down at the clean, empty sink as he says hollowly, “nothing’s…changed.”

The navy-haired teen wraps his hands around the ceramic cup, lifting it up to his lips as he gently blows on the surface of the dark amber liquid. His ears perk up when her hears Rin’s empty words, slightly turning his head to stare at the redhead. He notices a kind of somber expression grace the crimson-eyed teen’s features. Haru says as he continues to stare at the redhead, “are you cold?”

Rin thinks about the question, wondering if there is a double meaning behind the navy-haired teen’s words. He takes a deep breath as he nods slowly, his eyes still casted down on the metallic sink.

Haru walks over to the crimson-eyed teen, standing right in front of him. He takes one of his hands off the mug of mugicha barley tea and grasps one of Rin’s hands from across his chest, bringing the redhead’s hand over the heated ceramic mug. Haru keeps his hand over Rin’s and says, “better?”

Rin looks up to find a steady gaze set upon him. The crimson-eyed teen nods, “hn. Better.” The redhead searches Haru’s gaze, wanting to know what the navy-haired teen meant by, ‘nothing changing,’ but finds nothing but a calm stare within those blue eyes. Rin exhales and says curiously, “what do you mean? Nothing’s changed?”

Haru brings their hands down just a little bit as he stares at the hot liquid within the white mug, “Nothing’s changed. Sousuke and I haven’t spent that much time together. That’s all I meant. What does it mean to you, Rin?”

Rin shakes his head, looking down at the barley tea in front of him, “I don’t know. I guess when I heard you say Sousuke’s name, I thought it meant more than that. I don’t expect you guys to be close. I guess I just thought it meant that you two came to some kind of agreement. Both of you are important to me.”

Haru allows the redhead’s words to sink into his mind, he lifts his head up to gaze at the redhead as he says, “drink some tea, Rin.”

Rin raises his gaze from the tea to Haru and says, “did you make this for me?”

The navy-haired teen shakes his head slowly, “no. For us to share. Drink some.”

The redhead scoffs lightly, amused by Haru’s answer and says, “alright. I’ll have some.” Rin slips his other hand under Haru’s, wrapping his hands firmly against the heated mug. Rin brings the mug up to his lips, blows on the translucent dark amber liquid, sending small ripples throughout the surface of the tea. The crimson-eyed teen inhales, the aroma of a slightly sweet and bitter deep roast fills him, warming his sense of smell. Rin gently places his lips over the edge of the mug, tipping the ceramic cup. The redhead takes a couple of sips, indulging himself in the simplistic, clean toasty flavor.

Haru slowly moves his hands away from Rin’s hand and the mug, allowing the redhead to fully grasp the mug. He watches the crimson-eyed teen nourish himself in the warmth and refreshing flavor of roasted barley. 

Haru waits for Rin to bring the cup down from his lips as he says, “I know, Rin. Sousuke is important to you. I wanted him to realize that.”

Rin smiles at the navy-haired teen and sees Haru turn his head away quickly, _‘I knew it meant more than that.’_ Rin brings down the mug and thrusts it towards the sapphire-eyed teen, “oi. Here.”

Haru turns his head and nods. The navy-haired teen opens the palm of his hand and brings his hand up to cup the bottom of the mug as he takes the handle into his other hand. The free-swimmer turns the cup around, remembering the exact place Rin’s lips were on the edge of the mug before he brings it up to his lips and drinks the warming beverage.

Rin watches Haru, confused at first as to why the navy-haired teen would turn the cup like that. As the sapphire-eyed teen brings the mug to his lips, the redhead’s eyes widen and he fumbles with his words, “h-hah!? H-Haru…wha…oi! What are you doing?” The crimson-eyed teen face palms as a slight blush burns his cheeks, _‘Haru! That’s like an indirect kiss! What are you doing!?!”_

Haru relishes in the soothing warmth before he brings the cup down from his lips. He smiles to himself when he sees Rin flush over the consequences of his actions. The navy-haired teen intended to drink from the same spot from the beginning, fully aware that they have done more than indirect kisses, but watching the redhead fawn over such an action, entertains the sapphire-eyed teen. In a calm tone, Haru says, “I’m covering all the bases, Rin. Don’t be so surprised. We’ve done more than this.”

Rin brings his hand down over his lips to stare at the navy-haired teen. Haru’s eyes twinkle as he brings the cup up to his lips to take another profound sip. The redhead clicks his tongue as he looks away, slightly embarrassed, “tsk…I know that. Flirt.”

There is a moment of silence as Haru drinks more of the tea before he brings the cup down from his lips, turning the cup around as he moves the mug towards Rin, “drink the rest, Rin.”

The redhead’s eyes widen as he looks down at the cup presented to him. He says through his fingers, “you…you want me to finish it off?”

Haru eyes smile as he says, “hn.”

Rin sighs, closing his eyes for a moment before harshly grasping the mug with both hands and downing the rest of the tea. The redhead brings the cup down from his lips, moving his hand from the cup to gently brush his moist bottom lip with his middle finger. Rin feels himself become warm as the thought of sharing a beverage together like this finally sinks into his mind, into his heart.

Rin pouts momentarily before his expression moves to one of annoyance and embarrassment, saying, “there. You happy now?”

Haru observes the redhead carefully, noticing the blush on his face becoming darker, redder. When Rin grazes his finger over his lip, Haru’s eyes become transfixed on the connection between Rin’s finger and bottom lip. Suddenly, Rin moves his finger away, dispelling the navy-haired teen’s stare. He looks up find Rin trying to compose himself and talking in an annoyed tone. The sapphire-eyed teen takes the cup from the redhead and places it into the sink as he says, “for now.”

The free-swimmer throws out the teabag and grabs the small plate and chopsticks, placing them into the sink.

Rin moves out of the way as Haru takes his place in front of the sink, rolling up the sleeves of his sweater, and washing the items he placed in it. The redhead bites the bottom of his inner lip, sighing, _‘dammit. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh.’_ The all-around swimmer walks up behind the navy-haired teen, sliding his arms around the free swimmer’s waist as he presses his body against Haru’s and says tenderly, “sorry.”

Haru washes the small plate and places it in a drying rack before his back straightens as he feels arms embrace him from behind and Rin’s body pressed against his ass. The navy-haired teen exhales as he hears the redhead’s apology. Haru washes the metal chopsticks as he says, “prove it.”

The crimson-eyed teen squeezes Haru, “how am I suppose to do that?”

The navy-haired teen smiles, placing the chopsticks into the drying rack, and says, “wear the French maid dress and I’ll accept your apology.”

Rin stiffens slightly and clicks his tongue, “oi. That’s the deal we made if you won any of the races at the pool. You can’t ask for that!”

Haru’s shoulders slightly slump as he picks up the mug, “then…you decide.” The sapphire-eyed teen pushes his butt back into Rin’s body, feeling himself become too warm to be comfortable.

The redhead feels heat spark at his core when Haru’s ass bumps into his groin, and he subconsciously rolls his hips forward as he pulls Haru’s body toward him with his hands. Rin moves his hand to slip it under Haru’s sweater, pressing his thumb over the edge of the sapphire-eyed teen’s black jeans, sliding his thumb along the hem of Haru’s jeans until he feels the overlapping fabrics where the jeans are held together.

Rin trails his other hand up Haru’s body until he grasps Haru’s chin between his forefinger and thumb, gingerly moving the navy-haired teen’s head to the side as the redhead captures Haru’s lips.

Haru’s grip on the sponge and the mug loosens as Rin rolls his hips forward, sending hot shivers up his spine. The sapphire-eyed teen’s heart quickens, butterflies tingling where Rin’s hand pushes him into the redhead. The navy-haired teen silently moans as the crimson-eyed teen’s hand slips under his sweater and trails along the rim of his jeans. The navy-haired teen pants lightly, closing his eyes slightly as the sponge and mug fall to the bottom of the metal sink with a clank.

The free-swimmer feels Rin’s fingers grazing against his neck, grasping his chin. With no resistance, Haru allows the redhead to move his head to the side and watches Rin lurch from behind him snatching his lips in a gentle open-mouthed kiss.

Haru softly closes his eyes, but the sound of the running water worries him. He blindly feels for the handle of the faucet, in an attempt to turn it off. On his third try, he finally throws the handle down before he raises his hand up to place his wet, sudsy grasp on the back of Rin’s neck, twisting his body to deepen the stimulating kiss.

Rin’s heart pounds loudly, and he can feel his blood sizzle with need. The redhead had meant to plant a sweet, romantic kiss upon the navy-haired teen’s delectable lips, but as the all-around swimmer slid his tongue over Haru’s, his actions become more demanding and intense, wanting nothing more than to make Haru melt under his touch.

The navy-haired teen finds Rin’s hand right above the clasp of his jeans and wraps his wet hand around the redhead’s. He slides Rin’s hand down the front of his jeans, down the length of his hardening shaft, moaning lustfully at the intent of his actions.

Rin swallows Haru’s moans as he whines lightly into the navy-haired teen’s mouth while he rubs his hand up and down the front of Haru’s jeans. The redhead breaks the kiss and slides his warm fingers over the top of Haru’s jeans, grasping the edge of the sapphire-eyed teen’s pants and turning Haru over so that they are face-to-face.

The redhead takes advantage of Haru’s sense of disorientation, grabbing the navy-haired teen’s wrists, placing the free-swimmer’s hands on the edge of the counter and firmly holding him down. Rin pants wildly, feeling his hardening cock twitch with lust, wanting to hear Haru beg for more.

Rin licks his lips, swallowing audibly as he stares at the sapphire-eyed teen with hungry eyes. The redhead notices that the free-swimmer is panting erratically and flushing deeply. Rin holds his breath as he takes in the image of Haru’s beautiful, blushing face. A rare sight. Haru entire face is stained cherry red. The redhead can’t help but smile, embedding the vision into his memory.

Haru suddenly feels cold, those hot, wet lips are no longer pressed against his. Somehow he is turned around, and he gasps at the dizzying action, unsure of where he is in space. The navy-haired teen pants heavily, trying to calm his racing heart. His face feels like it’s on fire, and he feels a pressure around his wrists, holding him in place. Haru opens his eyes slowly and is met with gleaming crimson eyes filled with affection, and desire.

The navy-haired teen tries to move his hand, but his hands are firmly planted on the counter behind him. Haru looks down to his right, then to his left and sees that Rin has him pinned down to the counter. He looks up at the redhead and says in a whisper, “what are you doi…”

Rin watches Haru struggle under his hold, looking around to see where the navy-haired teen is. When their eyes meet again, Rin takes a step forward, their groins bumping up against each other. A moan escapes both teens’ lips at the thought and pressure between their bodies. Rin says in a husky voice, “say it Haru. Tell me what you want.”

The navy-haired teen throws his head back when he feels Rin’s clothed hard length against his. He notices his thickening penis straining in his own pants, and wants the redhead to free him from the confines of his jeans. Haru brings his head down and bites his lip as he listens to Rin’s words. He can’t think straight, all he wants is Rin to pull his pants off. Haru’s hazy eyes look into those intense red ones and says, “Rin, you…” Suddenly his lips are seized in a hard, passionate kiss.

The redhead pours his desire into the deep kiss, devouring Haru’s mouth earnestly. Rin feels Haru struggle to have his hands released from the crimson-eyed teen’s hold, and squeezes the navy-haired teen’s wrists, keeping them in place. In the heat of the moment, Rin rolls his hips into Haru’s body as he breaks the kiss exposing his ears to the vulnerable, sexy sound of Haru’s throaty moan.

Rin smiles as he peppers tender kisses over the edge of Haru’s lips, his cheek, the side of his jaw, and his neck. The redhead licks the bottom of the navy-haired teen’s earlobe before nibbling on it gently.

Haru fights the redhead for dominance as Rin delves his tongue into his wet cavern, an appetite of lust exploding in his core, expanding through his body at a rapid rate. The navy-haired teen grips the edge of the counter with his fingertips as his hands remain constricted by Rin’s strong hold, wanting to be released, _‘Rin, I want to touch you. Feel you.’_

The exciting smothering kiss ends and a roar of desire flutters through the free-swimmer as Rin crashes his hips into him, a raw moan escaping his lips. Showered with impatient, warm, butterfly kisses, Haru’s heart pounds swiftly, his temperature rises several degrees, and the desire to have every piece of clothing off his body intensifies. Haru shivers as Rin’s hot tongue glides up his earlobe and whimpers when the redhead nibbles him.

Haru leans back a little, placing all his weight on one leg as he lifts his knee until he can brush against Rin’s clothed erection experimentally. The navy-haired teen hears a sharp moan wash over his ear and the sapphire-eyed teen smiles, _‘got you.’_ Haru continues to stroke the redhead’s hardening shaft with his knee, hoping the friction between the pressure of his leg and Rin’s clothes drive the crimson-eyed teen to let up on his wrists so he can finally disrobe himself.

Rin pants wildly, pressing his mouth against the navy-haired teen’s cheek, moaning at the continuous brush of Haru’s knee against his cock. The redhead loosens his hold on the sapphire-eyed teen, feeling extremely turned on by the action.

The sapphire-eyed teen quickly moves his hands off the counter when Rin’s grip slackens, pushing Rin away from him gently, but firmly. Haru’s half-lidded gaze meets with Rin’s confused, abandoned stare, panting. The navy-haired teen says hungrily, “take your clothes off. The one that does it faster will top this time.”

Rin’s eyes become clear, determined and without another word, the redhead races the navy-haired teen in a competition of shedding their clothes off. The crimson-eyed teen quickly grabs the hem of his sweater, roughly pulling the dark blue sweater and undershirt off his body in one smooth movement. The redhead nimbly unbuckles and unzips his jeans as he pulls his pants down, throwing his socks off.

Haru watches the all-around swimmer’s eyes shift from rejection to resolve in a matter of seconds. The navy-haired teen shakes his head as he was hypnotized by Rin’s visible emotions, before he knits his eyebrows, disrobing himself.

After Rin pulls his briefs off, tossing them to the side, a small sigh escapes his lips as the release of his bulging penis is freed from every kind of restriction. The redhead looks at Haru to find the free-swimmer in the process of pulling down his white and blue boxer briefs. Rin grins and says excitably, “I win!”

Haru pulls stops as he almost got the boxer briefs off his ankle. Standing on one leg, as he crossed the free leg over the other, he looks up to find Rin in his naked glory. Haru huffs as Rin is indeed finished with discarding his clothes and just when he’s about to protest, the navy-haired teen’s eyes shift back down at the redhead’s big and hard shaft, silencing the free swimmer. Haru stares at Rin’s throbbing length, swallowing quietly. 

Rin quirks his eyebrow when he finds the navy-haired teen checking him out shamelessly. He takes a couple of steps over to the free-swimmer, bending down to help Haru discard the last piece of clothing from the sapphire-eyed teen’s ankle.

The navy-haired teen shivers when Rin’s hand brushes against his, pulling his boxers off his ankle. Haru cups Rin’s face with his hands and plants a needy kiss upon his lips.

Rin smiles into the kiss, opening his mouth for the navy-haired teen, standing straight as Haru shadows him into an upright position.

Haru purrs as the redhead parts his lips, and the sapphire-eyed dives into Rin’s mouth, never taking his hands off Rin’s cheeks. He follows the redhead, standing, and takes a half step towards him. Their sensitive cocks brush against each other and both teens gasp with exhilaration.

Rin opens his eyes, looking down and grasps Haru’s penis. The redhead releases a shaky sigh, Haru’s cock feels hot, sweltering hot. He brushes his thumb over the tip, back and forth as he says in a deep husky voice, “I wanted to touch you like this…at the sports center. After our showers. I resisted. But I see no reason to resist you anymore…Haru.”

The navy-haired teen throws his head back, moving his hands from Rin’s cheeks down to Rin’s shoulders. Haru moans when Rin’s thumb strokes his tip, unconsciously he rolls his hips up, wanting more than just the redhead’s hand on his dick. The sapphire-eyed teen shudders as Rin’s voice lingers in the air, especially the way he says his name, with craving, _‘I had to resist too. I wanted nothing more than to just press my body against yours. We won’t be able to touch each other like this after today. You won, I’ll honor that. Take me, Rin. Hard.’_

Haru whispers, “Rin, now. I want you now. Don’t make me…ahh!” The navy-haired teen feels a strong pressure around his hips, turning him around. Haru braces himself against the kitchen sink counter, grasping the edge as Rin presses his cock against his ass cheeks causing the sapphire-eyed teen to arch his back. The navy-haired teen grips the edge tightly with his fingertips as Rin slowly gyrates his hips into the crevice of Haru’s butt. The free-swimmer moans loudly as the feeling of Rin’s dick being so close yet so far from his entrance. Haru wiggles his bum as he says over his shoulder, “Rin, you’re my water. I want to swi…mah!”

The redhead lightly moans as he rubs his shaft against Haru’s rounds ass, teasing the navy-haired teen, but when Haru wiggles his butt so erotically, the crimson-eyed teen halts, entranced.

The words the free-swimmer says with a glint in his eye as he looks over his shoulder causes Rin’s eyes quiver with emotion, his eyes starting to brim with tears, moved as he abruptly envelops his arms around Haru’s torso in a secure embrace. Rin hisses and moans as his shaft roughly skates over the navy-haired teen’s butt.

Rin closes his eyes as he squeezes Haru, resting his chin on the sapphire-eyed teen’s shoulder with tears on the edge of falling down his cheeks, _‘Haru! I, I can’t believe you would say something like that. Me, your water. Your water. Is this your way of saying you love me? You’re my water too, Haru.’_

The crimson-eyed teen says in a fluctuating tone, “Ha-Haru. You. That’s so you. Only you could come up with something like that.” In a murmur the redhead says, “it’s romantic.”

Haru closes his eyes with a trembling inhale of air, his sense of touch escalating from the scorching hot sizzles. Everywhere the redhead touches him becomes hot sensory spots that leave tingly pathways spreading throughout his body. The free-swimmer releases one hand that grips the kitchen counter, finding the back of Rin’s hand to interlock their fingers together. The sapphire-eyed teen exhales sharply as he hears Rin’s trembling voice, he can tell the redhead is getting emotional.

Haru barely catches Rin’s last words, but when he does process those words, the navy-haired teen smiles. He brings up Rin’s hand interlaced with his and kisses the inside of the redhead’s wrist sweetly before pushing his ass into the crimson-eyed teen and says with wonton neediness, “Rin.”

Rin opens his eyes to find Haru planting a delicate kiss on his wrist and he squeezes Haru’s fingers between his. Before the redhead could say anything, the navy-haired teen pushes his butt right against Rin’s hard cock, resulting in the crimson-eyed teen moaning lustfully. The way Haru says his name, ignites the burning flame within him blazing bigger and brighter. The redhead rolls his hips a few times, meeting Haru half way with him pushing back toward him. The redhead’s thick, pulsing length is being brushed from the underside as he slowly gyrates his hips, being caressed by Haru’s butt cheeks. Rin feels the area become slick and he moves back a bit to looks down. He finds pre-cum leaking out of his pulsating shaft, leaving a sheen of slick white translucent smears on Haru’s ass. 

Rin says between moans, “we, we keep at it…like this. I’m gonna…I’ll cum…just like this.”

Haru moans softly, deliciously as he feels himself getting harder and harder with each thrust they meet each other. He can feel his own penis dripping with pre-cum with the connection he is receiving from the redhead behind him. Haru continues pushing his bum back, feeling a sultry slickness surround his skin causing the navy-haired teen to push back more forcefully, wanting more friction.

The sapphire-eyed teen pushes back one last time and halts his movements. Haru opens his eyes and says, “Rin. Inside. Me.”

The redhead stops rolling his hips as he crashes his chest into the free swimmer, wrapping his arms around Haru’s hips, his hands trailing down the navy-haired teen’s pelvic area until he has a firm hold on Haru’s dick. He licks his lips as his fingers feel that familiar slickness of pre-cum as he interlocks his own fingers around Haru’s penis. Rin hears a sexy, pleading gasp from Haru and the crimson-eyed teen says into Haru’s ear in a provocative, raspy tone, “ne, Haru…I need something if we continue, don’t I? Do you have anything I can use, ne, Ha~ru?”

Haru shudders as Rin’s hands slowly move down his body, down his overly sensitive body, those strong hands encircling his hardening cock. The navy-haired teen releases a sexily shameful gasp, a gasp he didn’t intend to make, but with the warmth exploding throughout his body, he couldn’t contain it, _‘Rin…baka. Such a tease.’_ The navy-haired teen bites his bottom lip to prevent any other sounds from escaping before he answers the redhead’s question, “i-in the bedroom.”

Rin shakes his head, and says, “too far. I have something we can use. Give me a moment.” The redhead releases Haru and walks a few steps away, finding his thrown black jeans with a shark print on the bottom of the leg in front of the refrigerator.

Haru knits his eyebrows as the sudden bodily contact disappears completely. The navy-haired teen hears footsteps on his right side, straightens, leaning his palms against the edge of the counter as he watches Rin in front of the icebox. The free-swimmer takes a deep breath as Rin bends down at the waist, about to pick up the object in front of him, but stops to wipe his hands on the side of thighs a few times before picking a pair of pants.

Haru’s eyes wanders back down to Rin’s powerful, sun-kissed thighs now smeared with cum and the navy-haired teen finds himself pushing away from the kitchen counter, walking over to Rin, grabbing his shoulder to turn him around and shoving him against the wall.

Rin finds his wallet in his pant pocket, pulling out the striped red and black leather wallet from it’s confines, dropping his pants back on the floor before he feels a strong hand grab him and push him against the wall. Rin closes his eyes as his back bangs against the wall behind him, opens them to find Haru staring at him like a predator that just found his prey. Rin smirks as he says, “impatient. I have someth…hey! Give that back! Haru!”

The sapphire-eyed teen devours the redhead with his gaze, showing Rin just how much he wants him, but when the crimson-eyed teen smirks at him like that, it sends his heart fluttering with contention and excitement. Haru pouts when Rin calls him impatient, but his eyes catch the item in Rin’s hand and he snatches out of the redhead’s grasp.

Haru moves back to keep Rin’s wallet out of the redhead’s reach, moves to the side a couple steps, his hip hitting the side of the counter as he looses his footing. The navy-haired teen flops on the counter, and holds Rin’s wallet to his chest as he feels Rin’s body clamoring over him. The navy-haired teen opens Rin’s wallet to take a look inside. He finds Rin’s I.D., cards, money, a couple pictures, a condom and some kind of packet. Haru knits his eyebrows, pulls out the condom between his forefinger and middle finger, and looks over at the redhead, “I see. Pervert. You expected something like this.”

Rin tries to retrieve his wallet back from the free-swimmer to no avail. When Haru pulls out the condom from his wallet, looking over his shoulder like he’s entertained by the situation, the redhead chuckles as he grabs Haru’s bicep pulling him up.

Haru’s eyes widen as the crimson-eyed teen pulls him up, his grip on the condom and the wallet tightens as he is pulled up. Rin bends down slightly to pick up the navy-haired teen, Rin’s hands grasping his butt cheeks and squeezing as he places Haru on the counter, the feel of the cool counter makes the sapphire-eyed teen wince and hiss at the contact. The redhead releases his hold on his bum, bringing one hand over Haru’s hand on the counter while the other grasps the back of his head, pulling the navy-haired teen down for a burning kiss. Haru’s heart races with frenzy at the sudden action, heat once again coursing through his body as he drops the condom to encircle his arm around Rin’s shoulder, his legs embracing the redhead’s waist, and deepens the kiss.

Rin moans into the kiss as Haru is more than willing to open his mouth further to allow the redhead to delve between those lust-filled lips. The redhead releases his hold on Haru’s wrist as he turns his head to the side, pulling Haru down further for a more passionate kiss while his hand trails down the free-swimmer’s body to grasp Haru’s penis, stroking him, “I, I was saving that condom for…a quickie...you know…less clean up.” 

Haru breaks the kiss as Rin’s hand slides down his shaft, panting heavily as he gasps with pleasure. The navy-haired teen says greedily, “ahh…no, no condom. In. You…Rin. Want.”

Rin licks his lips, relishing in the sound of Haru’s labored breathing, the gasps of pleasure brings his hand up, brushing his thumb over Haru’s tip as he says with hunger, “ngh…yes. I want. Open my wallet, Haru. Take out the silver packet.”

The redhead gives Haru a little space to look through his wallet again. In the meantime, Rin continues to stroke Haru’s tip to tease the navy-haired teen in hopes that Haru wouldn’t take his time to thoroughly peruse his wallet.

Haru bites his lip to prevent himself from moaning too much with the stimulation that Rin continues to give him as he opens up the black and red striped wallet. He finds the silver packet in the wallet, and pulls it out. He tries to read the front of it, but it’s all written in English. Haru knits his eyebrows slightly, _‘what is this? It’s squishy…is there some kind of liquid in this thing?’_

Rin snorts, finding the navy-haired teen adorable as he tries to read the packet. He says with amusement, “it’s lube, Haru. Open it if you want me in so badly…otherwise I’ll make you cum right here.”

Haru grunts, looks away stoically, but shudders at Rin grazes his thumb over his dick. The navy-haired teen puts down Rin’s wallet as he opens the packet carefully, _‘I didn’t know lube came in small packets like this…this makes things convenient. Where did Rin find something like this?’_

Rin places his other hand on Haru’s hip, gently massaging the navy-haired teen’s flesh with his fingertips as he watches the free-swimmer open the packet of lube. The redhead’s cock twitches with anticipation, feeling himself becoming harder with just the mere thought of the event that will take place. The all-around swimmer says in a thick voice, “hold on to that, Haru, and hold on to the counter. I’m taking you right here.”

Haru does as he’s told, and braces the counter with one hand as Rin pulls the navy-haired teen’s hips, moving Haru partly off the counter and moving one arm around the small sapphire-eyed teen’s back. Once Rin has a solid hold on the free-swimmer, he brings one hand up and says, “give me some, Haru.”

The navy-haired teen releases some of the clear liquid from the silver packet onto Rin’s fingers. Haru watches the liquid dispense from the opening and bites the inside of his lip, he swallows audibly and says in a murmur, “Rin...”

In that one name, Haru conveys so many things, things he just can’t put into words and only hopes that Rin understands the feeling he is channeling through his name.

The redhead picks up Haru’s soft, vulnerable voice with his name uttered. Rin inhales deeply as he rubs the lube he was given onto his own dick, lathering it up good. He’s only heard Haru use that tone a few times before. He’s not a Haru-professional mind reader like Makoto, but he knows that tone means something more than just his name. It holds emotion, desire, maybe something more. Rin exhales as he lifts his hand up again for Haru to pour the rest of the lube onto his fingers, their eyes lock together, red and blue. Rin smiles and says tenderly, “spread your legs, Haru.”

The navy-haired teen sees that sentimental smile and finds his heart fluttering. Rin has so many kinds of smiles, but this smile, is devious underneath a soft exterior. He’s only seen this smile during their intimate times together. Haru spreads his legs as he brings his hand down to hold onto the kitchen counter, stabilizing himself as he takes a deep breath.

Rin tightens his hold on the navy-haired teen and moans erotically as Haru spreads his legs for him. He wasn’t expecting Haru to be so compliant, not without some competitive banter. Rin swallows as he takes in the image of Haru propping himself up on the kitchen counter, legs wide apart, his dick a glorious hot shaft glistening with the sticky pre-cum he smeared all over him.

Rin slides his hand down, swiftly rubbing his fingers over the sensitive flesh of Haru’s cavern before slipping a finger in. Rin moves his eyes up to Haru’s face. He notices that Haru’s eyes are closed and he watches the navy-haired teen gasp at the intrusion. Rin probes his finger in deeper, studying Haru’s expression. Rin pushes his second finger in, bobbing his fingers in and out, scissoring the sapphire-eyed teen. The redhead notices Haru lightly wince at his intrusion, but it slowly fades as he slowly moves his fingers in and out.

Watching the navy-haired teen make faces of pleasure, pain, and salacity, Rin bites his lip and says, “I can’t wait…I can’t wait. I’m going in, Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen opens his eyes, half-lidded, smirks and says in a breathy voice, “impatient. Do it. I’m ready.”

Rin lips part as he flushes, he wasn’t expecting Haru to open his eyes and meet his gaze with a smirk on his face. Haru’s deep blue eyes, they gleam with vitality and allure, spurring the redhead. Rin huffs through his nose playfully as Haru baits him, _‘che. I deserved that. You little monster! I’m gonna make you cum hard, just you wait.’_  


The redhead lines himself up with Haru’s entrance, and penetrates his opening. Feeling a strong sense of urgency race through his body, Rin grazes his fingernails over the skin on Haru’s back, while his other hand is firmly gripping Haru’s hips. He pulls Haru down, rolling his hips up until he is fully seated. Rin pants as Haru’s muscles clamp down on his cock, overwhelmed by the tightness that surrounds him.

Haru tightens his grip on the counter below him, his fingertips going white as he tightens his hold. The navy-haired teen gasps as Rin continues to enter him in a slow pace, but not halting. The sapphire-eyed teen winces at the pain, but withholds any protest wanting Rin in him, connected with him. Once the sapphire-eyed teen feels the familiar fullness and Rin’s flesh against his ass, he wraps his legs firmly around the redhead to prevent him from moving until he is ready.

Rin nibbles on Haru’s jawline, licks his neck, and nips his earlobe while placing sloppy wet kisses along his path. The redhead can hear the discomfort from Haru, and the feel of the navy-haired teen’s heels digging his back, preventing him from moving. The redhead gently massages Haru’s hipbone, then moves his hand down Haru’s pelvic area, grasping Haru’s shaft, pumping the navy-haired teen. Rin tries to erase the pain as best he can, and waits for Haru to give him any kind of indication that he can continue.

Haru feels Rin’s mouth on his neck and ear, making him shudder, Rin’s fingertips rolling around his flesh in a comforting manner before trailing down to his penis. When the redhead’s hand surrounds his slick cock, Haru moans lightly, pleasure overtaking his senses as Rin pumps him slowly. Haru releases his strong hold around Rin’s torso and says between moans, “ngh…more. Rin.”

The redhead licks the shell of Haru’s ear and whispers, “my water.” He hears a delicate gasp and Rin can’t help but move his hips back, and thrusts his body up. The tightness around his shaft makes the redhead moves his hand back to Haru’s hips to get a good grip as he rhythmically thrusts up, feeling the friction burning through him.

Haru almost loses his grip on the countertop, his elbows slightly shaking when Rin confesses to him. It fills the navy-haired teen with a kind of loyalty, reverence, and ardor. Haru smiles angelically for a moment, a gasp leaving his body before he feels Rin moving with intensity.

Haru braces himself, tightening his hold on the counter behind him, throwing his head back as pleasure explodes throughout his body. The navy-haired teen feels hot, so hot and full until Rin hits his prostate. Haru moans lewdly, losing his grip on one hand as he can feel a thin sheet of sweat over his body. The free-swimmer moves his head downwards as he regains his grip on the counter.

Rin notices Haru’s moans change from delight to heavenly and it revs the redhead further, moving his hips up to crash into Haru’s body. He notices Haru lose his grip on the counter, and readjusts himself to stabilize their position. Rin pants heavily, as he says, “ho-hold, me. Haru. Pu-put your…arms around, me. Now.”

The navy-haired teen pushes himself off the kitchen counter, enveloping his arms around Rin’s shoulders in an embrace as he says softly, “Rin.” The redhead moves his hands, grasping Haru’s ass with his hands. Suddenly Haru feels his back pressed against a wall and opens his eyes. Before Haru could say anything, the redhead grips his muscular butt cheeks firmly as Rin rolls his hips up, thrusting into the navy-haired teen.

Haru closes his eyes and moans loudly as his shaft brushes against Rin’s torso creating a delightful friction that has him losing himself in his senses. The free-swimmer embraces the redhead tighter, his legs just hanging in the air on either side of the redhead.

Rin thrusts his hips up, panting thickly as he continues to listen for Haru’s moans, thrusting up until he hears that heavenly moan, knowing that he has hit the free-swimmer at his sweet spot. He can feel Haru’s thick, slippery cock brush up against his body and it sends the redhead into a passionate fervor. Rin continues thrusting up, moaning until he can feel himself becoming completely undone. He says in a raspy throaty tone, “Haru, I’m…cumming.”

The redhead pounds into Haru a few more times, feeling a surge flow through him as his hot load erupts. Rin moans Haru’s name as he slowly rocks his hips riding out the rest of his orgasm, feeling extremely satiated. Rin moves his hands, one around Haru’s waist while the other traces along the free-swimmer’s hips, and pelvic area to grasp the navy-haired teen’s shaft, pumping him with vigor.

Haru digs his nails into Rin’s shoulder when he hears the crimson-eyed teen’s voice. Between pants the navy-haired teen calls out Rin’s name with reckless abandon until he feels a blistering hot, robust cum fill him. An uncharacteristic high-pitched moan escapes his lips as Rin rides out his orgasm, feeling every inch of the redhead as he pulls in and out of him.

The free-swimmer curls his toes when Rin’s hand surrounds his dick, rubbing his sensitive cock up and down, flicking his thumb over the tip. Haru turns his head to the side as he moans out, “Rin, ngh…I’m…cumah!” Haru feels his body jolt with searing arousal, his seed squirting on his chest. The sapphire-eyed teen feels overly sensitive and squeezes his legs around Rin’s body as he says, “Rin.”

The redhead smiles as Haru cums all over his hand, and the feel of a hot spurt staining his chest fills him with affection. Rin brings up his hand to grasp Haru’s chin, guiding him back to look at him. The redhead watches Haru opens his eyes and sees beautiful deep blue orbs reflecting the same emotion he is feeling, adoration. Rin pulls the navy-haired teen down for a wet, sloppy, yet gentle kiss.

Haru smoothly twirls his tongue against Rin’s, finding the sentiment of ending their endeavor with a kiss. The navy-haired teen runs his hand through the crimson-eyed teen’s hair from the base of his neck, cradling the back of Rin’s head as he massages his scalp. Rin moans into the kiss causing Haru to break the kiss with a chuckle.

The redhead knits his eyebrows in confusion, but as Haru laughs softly, Rin opens his eyes to find the navy-haired teen staring at him through half-lidded eyes. Rin brings his hand down to wrap his arm around Haru’s waist in a more stable embrace as he chuckles with the sapphire-eyed teen and says, “uh, we should clean up.”

Haru opens his eyes, the hazy of afterglow slightly fading at the mention of cleaning up. Instead the navy-haired teen hugs Rin with his arms and legs, squeezing gently as he says next to the redhead’s ear, “not yet. Let’s stay like this a little longer.”

Rin blinks as his face turns red and says with embarrassment, “Haru. You. Shit.” Rin clicks his tongue as a weak attempt of protest before he holds Haru’s waist tighter. The redhead says softly, “if you say your ass hurts tomorrow, I’m gonna…I don’t know…do something.”

Haru smiles and says, “I’ll still beat you, no matter what we do.”

Rin laughs and says, “che. You’re on! I never back down from a challenge.”

Haru kisses Rin’s neck before he says, “I look forward to it.” The free-swimmer unwraps his arms around Rin, placing the palm of his hands on the redhead’s shoulders, “ok. That’s enough.”

Rin huffs as he untangles his arms around the sapphire-eyed teen’s waist, pulling out of the navy-haired teen, while helping Haru come down and stabilizing him against the wall.

Haru leans against the solid wall behind him, his hands resting on Rin’s biceps as he trails his eyes down to find cum splattered on the redhead’s chest and flushes lightly. The navy-haired teen can feel Rin’s thick seed start to dribble out of his entrance.

Rin watches Haru resting on the wall with a small blush on his face and says, “stay here. I’ll clean up and come back.” Rin turns around and saunters off into the washroom.

The sapphire-eyed teen watches Rin’s retreating back, thinking, _‘you are my water, Rin. And now…I’m yours too. I will see you in a maid dress…just you wait.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I got this chapter up! ^__^ (YAY!) 
> 
> I just wanted to make a note about when Watanabe refers to Kita as "Kita-oni." When she says Oni, she means Oni as in demon, and not Oni as in Onii-san (big brother). 
> 
> If anyone is curious about the song I have mentioned, Winter Bells by Mai Kuraki, here is a youtube link if you want to hear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5LkO3rbMi8 
> 
> Thank you jess--chan for giving me the idea of Makoto cosplaying as Captain America and Sousuke cosplaying as Bucky! ^////^ I took some liberties of how to use this idea, and I hope you like it too. 
> 
> Thank you everyone for your patience and for keeping up with this fic! <3
> 
> I figured I will share some notes that my roommate had left for me while I was writing this chapter that just cracked me up. I thought they were so funny and I had such a good laugh! (Of course I asked my roommate if I can post these and she said I could if I wanted to) XD 
> 
> 1) Makoto frick-fracks with his knick-knack he hears the deep sensual voice enter his mind saying, “cum ye matey. I am gonna spelunk your arse.”
> 
> 2) Eiji: On the contrary, Makoto, you are totally my type. How about we go off in to the AU-verse and I fiddle with your fajizzle? 
> 
> 3) He looked like a flapping platypus, storming through the water with a powerful waddle. Sousuke smiled as he watched the fluid movements of the buoyant, platypus-like swimmer and imagined the webby flippers kicking water into the sky like a mighty paddle.
> 
> 4) After he strips, Rin pulls Haru close to him and squeezes his tight ass like a ripe mango. He grazes his nails against his lower back and writes, ‘Only Rin was here.’ Haru moans lightly and slams him against the locker and says, “no, the water was there too…”
> 
> And that's it! ^____^ Take care everyone!


	14. Chapter 14

** December 23rd, Tuesday, 4:20 pm **

Makoto shivers as he takes in a breath of the chilly air of Nagoya, his lungs filling with the cold air as he exhales quickly, a puff of cloudy breath escaping his lips. He takes a look at his surroundings, noticing the sky is overcast. The brunette glances behind him to find Sousuke readjusting his backpack hanging off his left shoulder and his gaze shifts over toward Rin and Haru.

The emerald-eyed teen smiles before he looks back down on his phone to look at the map, _‘ok, we just have to cross the street, turn right, walk up two blocks and it should be the house on the cor…eh? A text? I don’t recognize that number. I’ll check it later.’_

Haru looks around at the surroundings and notices that a lot of the houses they pass by are decorated with colorful Christmas ornaments and embellishments. He looks quizzically at the Santa decorations donned in suits of every color of the rainbow. He ponders, ‘ _hmm. I like the blue Santa. His suit looks like water.’_

The navy-haired teen takes in a deep breath and looks over to the right, sniffing the air again. He whispers softly, “saba…someone is cooking mackerel.” The sapphire-eyed teen’s mouth starts to water and he begins to walk toward the delicious, delightfully crispy, salty scent away from the rest of the group.

Sousuke steps off the curb, about to cross the street until he notices the navy-haired teen walking in the opposite direction. He stops and frowns, _‘what the hell is he doing? Aren’t we supposed to be following Makoto? We shouldn’t be wandering around.’_ The raven-haired teen says in deep, scowling tone, “oi, Haru. Where are you going?”

Rin halts as he turns his head to look at the teal-eyed teen and follows his line of sight to find Haru stopped dead in his tracks. The redhead rolls his eyes as he saunters over to the now slouched over navy-haired teen, pushing Haru with one hand, “c’mon, Haru. Let’s not get ourselves lost now.”

Haru sighs as he keeps his gaze down, pouting with his eyes, _‘but there’s mackerel down that street…’_

Makoto crosses the street, but catches the smell of a salty grilled fish. The brunette’s head shoots up and he turns on his heel to find Sousuke waiting at the corner for Haru and Rin to catch up. The emerald-eyed teen sighs in relief, _‘oh thank goodness. Haru…we had lunch while we were on the train, you can’t possibly be hungry again? I should have gone to the fish market and grabbed some mackerel for you. I’m so glad Rin and Sousuke are here, I would have missed that and I probably would have to hunt you down…Ha~ru~~’_

The brunette waits for the trio to cross the street before walking ahead again, leading the boys with their luggage to his uncle’s house.

When Makoto notices the white house with the dark blue trim come into view, he smiles, recognizing the structure from a picture that his uncle had sent him a week ago. He looks over his shoulder and says, “ok guys. We’re almost there.”

Makoto picks up his pace walking up to the gated house.

Sousuke watches the brunette stroll up to a house as he hears Rin say, “Haru? C’mon. We aren’t going back!”

The raven-haired teen glances over at Rin and Haru to find the redhead pulling the free-swimmer towards the house as Haru looks back down the path they just walked down. Sousuke sighs as he readjusts his backpack strap on his shoulder, _‘che, that guy still thinking about mackerel? Geez. Damn…my shoulder is tense.’_

Makoto rings the doorbell in front of the gate covered with colorful lights and waits for his uncle to answer. Sousuke, Rin, and Haru catch up with the brunette before Makoto hears a deep voice through the intercom, “who is it?”

Makoto presses the button to answer, “It’s Makoto, uncle. My friends and I finally made it.”

A cheerful voice comes through the intercom, “ah, Makoto! Come in! I’ll open the door.”

Makoto opens the gate and says, “c’mon guys.” The teens walk up the snow-dusted brick path to the front door. He looks to the side as he walks and sees a mini snowman with a little scarf and smiles. His uncle always loved holidays and enjoyed reasons to decorate.

The front door is lavishly adorned with twinkling lights, a pine wreath with a rich burgundy and gold ribbon, and crystal snowflakes. The boys stare at the door in awe then Makoto hears someone unlatching the lock and the door opening to reveal a man just a couple inches taller than the brunette with green eyes, rectangular, black, top-rimmed glasses, and olivine-brown hair slicked to the side.

Before Makoto could say anything, the taller man takes a step out to throw his arms around Makoto’s shoulders in a tight bear hug as he says, “it’s been awhile, Makoto! I’m so happy to see you.”

The brunette laughs as he feels the strong pressure around his body and lifts his arm with his phone in hand to return the hug, “uncle! I’m happy to see you too, but it’s really cold out here! You shouldn’t be out here without a jacket.”

The older man roars with laughter as he releases Makoto and pats his shoulder a couple of times, “ah, such a worrywart! Please come in, all of you. We can exchange greetings inside.” The older man bends down to take Makoto’s hunter-green rolling suitcase as he walks inside.

Sousuke walks into the house after Makoto, Rin, and Haru, closing the door behind him. The raven-haired teen locks the door as he waits for the other teens to take off their shoes and coats.

The teal-eyed teen takes a moment to look around as he loosens the red and green plaid scarf around his neck. He notices that the walls are white and there are some paintings of the ocean hanging on one side of the wall and that the bamboo wooden floors have gradations of browns that give the floor a beautiful textured look. He notices a sprinkling of Christmas decorations throughout the house and inhales to smell the deep fragrance of fresh pine.

There is a black metal coat hanger to his left and a small closet next to it, as well as a few coat hooks that only has one taupe winter coat hung up with a mint green scarf draped over the coat. On his right side he sees a silver wire basket with a few umbrellas and a decorative wooden cane.

Makoto’s uncle comes back and grabs Rin and Haru’s luggage before he disappears around the corner again. Sousuke gently takes off his backpack and places it next to his black suitcase. He takes off his gloves and places it into his charcoal cargo winter jacket. He unwinds the scarf around his neck before unzipping his coat.

Sousuke looks down as he begins to take off his jacket. He suddenly feels a presence next to him and hears a kind voice say, “may I take your luggage?”

The teal-eyed teen looks up to find Makoto’s uncle standing close to him and he says, “don’t worry, I’ll bring it up, sir. Thanks. And, please excuse the intrusion. I appreciate your…”

The older man chuckles and interrupts, “please, don’t be so formal. Call me Tetsuya. Make yourself at home…” The man with the black glasses looks thoughtful for a moment before a small smile graces his features, “you must be Yamazaki Sousuke. Please, make yourself at home. And don’t hesitate to let me know if you need something.”

Sousuke smiles feeling a different sense of hospitality from the older man, more laidback and cozy, instead of traditional, uptight, and the slight uneasiness that comes with meeting people for the first time, especially when visiting someone’s home. The raven-haired teen notices that the older-man has green eyes, very similar to Makoto’s, but they look a few shades darker and quite tranquil. Sousuke assumes that the brunette’s uncle’s eyes just give off a kind of wisdom deep within, the kind of wisdom that comes with age.

Before Sousuke could retort, the older man takes the opportunity to quickly grab the teal-eyed teen’s backpack and suitcase. The raven-haired teen says, “oh, thank you, sir.”

The older man raises an eyebrow as he straightens his back and says with concern laced in his voice, “Tetsuya, please. I feel like such an old man with the formalities, Yamazaki-san.”

The raven-haired teen smirks and says, “Sousuke, please call me Sousuke…Tetsuya-san.”

The older man laughs gently and says, “ah! That brings me back to my youth.”

Makoto walks back into the entryway after escorting Rin and Haru into the dining room, “uncle! What are you doing?” The brunette takes Sousuke’s luggage from the older man and says, “honestly! No more lifting for you. Mom will be upset if she finds out that you are doing anymore lifting. Don’t tell me you forgot about your knee and your hernia surgeries!?”

Tetsuya smiles sheepishly, a faint blush staining his cheeks, “ah…I’ve been caught! Makoto, we don’t need to tell your mother about that. I was just trying to help out. Please, don’t tell your mother about this…I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Sousuke raises his eyebrows as he watches Makoto and Tetsuya interact with each other, _‘huh…Makoto sure is protective. He certainly laid that out thickly.’_

Makoto sighs softly before giving his uncle his trademark smile, “alright. As long as you don’t do anymore lifting…but if you do so with mom looking, I can’t help you.”

The brunette glances over at the raven-haired teen, “I hope my uncle hasn’t said anything about me while I was gone.”

Tetsuya chuckles, “don’t leave your friends waiting, Makoto. I’ll help Sousuke out of his coat and meet you in the dining room.”

Makoto looks between Sousuke and his uncle before saying, “don’t say anything embarrassing, uncle. And, we have something for you too. I’d like to give it to you properly, uncle. Don’t take too long.” The brunette turns and walks out of the entryway.

The older man helps Sousuke out of his coat, places it on a hanger and into the small closet as Sousuke sits down untying his shoes.

Tetsuya says as he closes the closet door, “how is Makoto doing in Tokyo?”

Sousuke looks up to find the older man staring at him, “he’s doing pretty good, I think. He’s made some friends, works at a café, and he studies. Haru would know more than I do. They spend more time together.”

The older man rubs his chin and says in a soft tone, “is that so? Haruka and Makoto have always been close. But, I’m more concerned about Makoto eating properly. He’s not very good in the kitchen, and heaven knows what he eats when he goes out.”

Sousuke moves his shoes to the side, next to Rin’s hi-top sneakers and pointing the toes toward the front door as he says, “I know Haru is a decent cook. When Makoto comes to visit me, I cook for the both of us.”

Tetsuya smiles, “ah. Accept my gratitude. I am glad that Makoto has such good friends. Friends who are more like family. It’s rare to find such strong bonds with others. I admit I worry that someone would take advantage of Makoto’s kindness…especially in a big city like Tokyo. It’s nothing like Iwatobi.”

Sousuke takes a moment to himself, processing Testuya’s words, _‘strong bonds…friends that are like family. I know he views Haru like family. Does he view Rin and the others the same way? Even me? I’ll have to ask him about that later. Makoto is a nice guy, too nice sometimes. Yeah. Unfortunately, someone already has. Tokyo is definitely different from Iwatobi.’_ The raven-haired teen gets up, and takes a step to the side to allow the older man passage, “Makoto is a good friend.”

The teal-eyed teen rubs the back of his neck as he looks away from the older man, “I don’t know what I would have done if we didn’t meet each other.” Sousuke knits his eyebrows, _‘why did I say that?’_

Tetsuya watches the raven-haired teen closely, noticing the slight embarrassment and confusion on Sousuke’s face. The older man walks up onto the step and says, “let’s join the rest of your friends, Sousuke…before Makoto comes back wondering if I told you embarrassing stories of his childhood.” Tetsuya walks past the raven-haired teen as a sign for Sousuke to follow him.

The teal-eyed teen’s lips upturn slightly, _‘I wouldn’t mind hearing stories about Makoto’s childhood. I doubt he was a troublemaker. Can’t be that bad.’_ Sousuke follows the taller man and relishes in the softness of the plush ivory carpet beneath his feet. Before turning to the right, Sousuke takes a glimpse of the staircase railing entwined with glittering lights and a sparkly silver and gold garland.

Sousuke notices a hallway next to the staircase that probably leads to some rooms before turning left, following the taller man into the rest of the home. The raven-haired teen observes more paintings of the seaside, but as he looks around, he sees a toasty fireplace with a large T.V. mounted on the wall to the right of it, and a tall, colorfully decorated Christmas tree in the opposite corner of the living room where the tree could be seen through a large window with decals of cute angles with feathery wings.

The Christmas tree has a beautifully lighted star on the top with many shiny ornaments and rainbow lights. There is a green and red garland draped over the top of the fireplace mantel with a couple of stockings hanging on each side.

Sousuke looks around the room and notices a dark blue couch with a cherry wood coffee table in front of it. He sees their luggage lined up next to a pile of futons, pillows, and blankets against the wall. 

Before the raven-haired teen could look around the rest of the room, Makoto walks in from the adjacent room and says, “uncle! Come sit down in the dining room. We have a gift for you.”

The brunette gestures with his hands for his uncle to go on ahead and take a seat at the dining table with Rin and Haru. Tetsuya chuckles with a nod, walking towards the dining room.

Makoto glances over to Sousuke and says, “c’mon Sousuke. Sit down and relax.”

The raven-haired teen raises an eyebrow, _‘hmm…’_

The emerald-eyed teen quickly trots over to Sousuke taking his left hand into his, “after our long journey here, I thought I’d make us all something warm to drink.” Makoto takes a step back in an attempt to drag the raven-haired teen towards the dining room.

Sousuke squeezes the brunette’s hand in his, with enough force to keep his stance in place. Makoto tilts his head to the side in confusion, getting the message that the raven-haired teen doesn’t want to move. The teal-eyed teen says curiously, “wait. Are you telling me that you brought stuff from the café? Like coffee grounds and all that?”

The brunette smiles and says, “yeah. I did.” Makoto releases his hold on Sousuke’s hand sauntering over behind the raven-haired teen and placing his hands on Sousuke’s back, “sit down with Rin, Haru, and my uncle.” The brunette gently pushes the raven-haired teen towards the dining room.

Sousuke sighs in defeat and allows the emerald-eyed teen to gently lead him to the dining room as he says, “Makoto, you don’t have to make me anything. Besides, you should be spending time with your uncle.”

The brunette chuckles as he continues pushing Sousuke into the dining room, “I know. That’s what makes it special, right?”

The raven-haired teen knits his brows as they turn a corner and he sees a large dining table with a white lace tablecloth with a clear vinyl overlay, there is a small centerpiece of blue poinsettias surrounded by glistening silver gossamer ribbons.

Makoto pulls out a chair for Sousuke as Rin chuckles giving the teal-eyed teen an amused stare. The raven-haired teen sighs softly as he sits down, Makoto gently scooting the chair in as Sousuke takes a seat.

As Makoto pulls out a seat for Sousuke, Rin and Haru sit down after giving Tetsuya a gift box set.

The redhead sitting across from the ex-butterfly swimmer, props his elbow on the table as he rests his chin on the palm of his hand. Rin asks in a curious tone, “what took you so long, Sousuke?”

Tetsuya who is sitting at the end of the table between Rin and Sousuke, opens the box carefully and says, “I was asking Sousuke here how Makoto has been doing in Tokyo.” The older man lifts up the box and smiles as he says cheerfully, “And thank you all for the tea set. I will have to brew some later tonight. I haven’t tried this brand before.”

Makoto places his hands on Sousuke’s shoulders and gently applies pressure on the raven-haired teen’s muscles. He says to his uncle, “you’re welcome, uncle. Thank you for having us here. I’ll brew you some tea tonight, uncle, so you can try one of the flavors.”

The brunette continues kneading the teal-eyed teen’s shoulders, and notices how tense Sousuke is, _‘whoa…he’s tense. Is he nervous about being here? I knew I should have called him this morning, but I got a bit distracted since I went to the drug store to get Haru some concealer. The one I have is just a shade darker and I didn’t want Ren and Ran asking questions about the marks on his neck either. I’m glad the concealer matched when I applied some on Haru when we met at the shinkansen station, but I really should have checked on Sousuke. Maybe I should ask him to come with me in the kitchen…’_

Haru notices the backstroke swimmer massaging Sousuke’s shoulders with a mild questioning stare before he decides to distract Rin and Tetsuya with a question, “Yes, thank you Suzuki…for having us here. I’m curious…do you have any mackerel in the refrigerator or the freezer?”

Rin turns his head to stare at the sapphire-eyed teen incredulously, “oi! You…you can’t be serious!?”

The older man pulls off his glasses, placing them on the dining table next to the box set as he roars with laughter, “ah! Haruka! You never fail to amaze me with your fascination with mackerel!”

Haru slightly tilts his head to the side and says seriously, “mackerel goes with everything.”

Rin closes his eyes, covering his face with his hand, looking down as he shakes his head softly, sighing dejectedly, “yare, yare. You are impossible, Haru.”

Sousuke tries to look behind him, but stops himself a few times feeling as if it would be awkward if he somehow caught Makoto’s green eyes while the brunette gives him a massage. The raven-haired teen leans back in the chair and tries to relax in hopes that his muscles do the same, _‘he must have found out that my muscles are a little stiff or something. Shit. Makoto sure is observant. I was trying to keep my discomfort to a minimum. I can’t believe he noticed, but it sure feels really nice. More pressure would make it much better.’_

Makoto smiles when he hears Haru mention mackerel, _‘I told my uncle to get you some mackerel for breakfast tomorrow. I wonder if uncle will mention it.’_ The brunette works his fingers into Sousuke’s muscles and realizes that the raven-haired teen’s left shoulder is tenser than his right side. Makoto shifts his hands to Sousuke’s left shoulder and applies more pressure on the teal-eyed teen’s shoulder, feeling the hard muscle under Sousuke’s clothes.

Tetsuya chuckles as he says, “don’t worry, Haruka. We will have mackerel for breakfast. And if you get up early enough to help me in the kitchen, I’ll let you decide the recipe since I hear you are quite a good cook.”

Sousuke tries to keep a straight face as Makoto works on his left shoulder, but falters a couple times, his face showing contentment with more pressure applied to his shoulder, _‘oh…that is much better.’_ The raven-haired teen tunes out everyone else’s words as he closes his eyes indulging himself in Makoto’s touch.

Haru’s eyes sparkle as he stares at Makoto’s uncle with fascination, “mmm. I will wake up early, then.”

The brunette sighs as he listens to Haru’s words, _‘oh…oh no. Please…please don’t make mackerel with pineapple, Ha~~ru.~~’_ Makoto looks at the clock on the wall and says, “ne, uncle…what are we having for dinner? Are we going out to a restaurant?”

The older man turns his attention to his nephew with a smile, “are you hungry already, Makoto?”

The brunette chuckles, “no, no uncle. We ate on the shinkansen. I was just curious.”

Tetsuya notices how Sousuke has his arms crossed over his chest as Makoto massages the raven-haired teen’s shoulder before saying, “I’m cooking your favorite tonight. Curry. I already did all the prep work so I will cook everything soon. To my understanding, you aren’t allowed to help with the cooking.”

Haru nods and says, “yes. Makoto isn’t allowed to cook. I can help. Sousuke can help too.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow at the navy-haired teen and says, “oh? Are you volunteering Sousuke’s services? I’d love to see you two working together. It’s so rare.”

Sousuke opens his eyes when he hears his name a second time, and says, “eh?” He looks between Rin, Haru and Tetsuya before continuing, “what are we talking about?”

Makoto chuckles to himself quietly, not wanting to attract attention to himself, _‘Sousuke…your becoming more relaxed. That makes me happy.’_

Tetsuya smiles and says, “Haruka was mentioning that you can help me cook dinner. I’m making curry tonight. I hope that will satisfy your palate.”

The raven-haired teen nods once, “I don’t mind. I’ve made curry many times before. Do you need help now?”

Rin smiles and says, “Tetsuya-san said that he got all the prep work done already. I take it Makoto is working wonders on your shoulder, Sousuke.” 

Makoto fingers twitch at Rin’s words and he stammers, “e-e-eh? O-oh n-no! I was just, I mean…I just thought that, um…well…I um…” The brunette flushes with embarrassment as he takes his hands off Sousuke, rubbing the back of his neck and says quickly, “uh, I think I’ll go make you guys some drinks. Sorry for being so distracted. I-I’ll just go and do that.”

Before anyone else could question or comment on his behavior, Makoto trots over to his green backpack on one of the chairs he placed it on earlier and slides the kitchen door open, closing it behind him.

Sousuke, Haru, Rin, and Tetsuya watch the brunette curiously until the emerald-eyed teen can no longer be seen. The raven-haired teen misses the nice pressure on his shoulder, uncrosses his arms to rub his left shoulder, “will he be okay in there, by himself?”

Tetsuya turns his head to stare at Sousuke’s profile, “he’s a barista at a café, correct? I think he will be fine.”

Haru looks at the kitchen door wondering if he should go check on the brunette. He remembers Makoto being excited to use his uncle’s espresso machine, wanting to do something nice for Suzuki. The navy-haired teen says softly, “He’ll be ok.”

Sousuke turns his gaze over to the navy-haired teen and says, “you would know.”

Rin removes his palm from his chin, leaning forward on the dining table as he raises his eyebrow and says with concern, “how is your shoulder, Sousuke? Are you gonna be ok?”

Haru looks back from Rin to Sousuke, wondering the same thing. The navy-haired teen hasn’t asked the ex-butterfly swimmer about his shoulder, getting the impression from his silence that the broody teen doesn’t want to talk about it.

Haru remembers that Makoto has been going to the raven-haired teen’s physical therapy appointments, this he knows, but he doesn’t want to pry into Sousuke’s personal space. The free-swimmer is glad that Makoto is able to help the teal-eyed teen, but he wonders what would happen if Sousuke ever got angry towards the brunette. Haru is quite protective of Makoto since the emerald-eyed teen has an altruistic heart and a benevolent spirit at his core.

The sapphire-eyed teen looks down at his lap, his hands folded together. He laces his fingers as he squeezes them together, _‘maybe I’ve been a little selfish in the past. Keeping all my feelings and thoughts to myself, not allowing a hint to Makoto. I just didn’t want to see him sad on my account. We’ve never fought before, well, except for that one time…I snapped, and I let him have it. I even ran away. And then he kept Ito a secret from me. I tried to be good and wait for him to tell me. But the more I saw Ito with Makoto, the more irked I got. We’re gonna have to talk, huh, Makoto? I don’t want the same thing to happen again…I don’t want to snap at him again.”_

Sousuke frowns at the redhead across from him, the air filling with silence momentarily, bringing his hand down from rubbing his left shoulder, _‘I know what Rin is asking me. He’s asking about my right shoulder. I really don’t want to get into the status of my injury.’_ The raven-haired teen sighs deeply, “I had a feeling you would ask about that, eventually. I’m working on it, Rin. My left shoulder is just a little tense. Makoto must have noticed earlier today.”

Tetsuya watches the young men sitting at the table in front of him as he leans back, crossing his legs carefully. The older man can tell that each teen is worried based on their facial expressions, vocal intonations, and body language. He tilts his head curiously as he notices Haru become silent, and a slight tension fills the air between Rin and Sousuke. Tetsuya focuses his attention on his glasses on the table as Sousuke talks, coming to the assumption that the two teens are referring to some kind injury. Tetsuya rubs his chin gently, deciding to change the subject to ease the tension as he says, “forgive me for prying, but how have your classes been? How is it living on your own?”

Both Rin and Sousuke break eye contact to stare at the older man. The redhead smiles and says, “oh, no problem, Tetsuya-san. I’ve been taking some core classes this trimester. As for living on my own…well, when I was at Samezuka, I lived in the dorms, so it isn’t all that different from what I did in high school. In fact, Sousuke here also went to Samezuka with me. We were roommates our last year.”

Tetsuya nods before looking over at Sousuke, “what about you, Sousuke? How have you been dealing with living in Tokyo?”

The raven-haired teen moves his body forward, leaning his elbows against the wooden table, “my father lives in Tokyo, and I lived in his home for a couple of years before I went back to Iwatobi. I don’t live with him now, I have my own place. I like the freedom, but my stepsister comes to check on me a lot. I’m used to being on my own for the most part.”

The older man nods noticing the indifferent presence the raven-haired teen exudes as he talks. He looks over at Haru and says with a hint of concern, “Haruka, how about you?” Tetsuya waits for the navy-haired teen to look up at him before continuing, “how are you doing living on your own? Living in Tokyo?”

The navy-haired teen takes a minute to process the question and says nonchalantly, “it’s ok, Suzuki. Tokyo is noisy. But, I’m getting used to it.”

Tetsuya sighs softly, “Tetsuya. Call me Tetsuya, Haruka. I know you have called me Suzuki since you were young.”

Haru shakes his head lightly and says, “Suzuki. I’ve called you Suzuki for a long time...” The navy-haired teen shifts his eyes to the side as he continues, “it just wouldn’t be right to call you anything else.”

The older man’s eyes widen before he breaks into a serene smile, “ah. Well then…you don’t have to call me anything else. Tell me more about your adventures in Tokyo, Haruka.”

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Makoto slides the door to the kitchen closed, sighing softly to himself as he feels his ears burn in a flush, _‘why? Why did I just leave like that? I didn’t even finish Sousuke’s massage.’_

The brunette walks over to the small table with two chairs, resting his backpack on one as he unzips his bag, taking things out to makes some drinks. Makoto places the items onto the kitchen counter right next to the espresso machine before he starts looking through his uncle’s pantry looking for other ingredients to make peppermint mochas, particularly, cocoa powder. Makoto grabs some cups with saucers from the cupboards above before opening the refrigerator for some milk. The brunette smiles noticing that his uncle bought a lot of milk, remembering that Ren and Ran are big fans of hot chocolate.

Makoto places the milk carton on the now crowded kitchen counter before taking a look around the kitchen. He notices a big pot on the range, and several bowls next to the range filled with different vegetables. He walks over to the stove and notices that his uncle had already peeled and chopped the potatoes while they sit in a bath of cool water in the meantime.

The brunette feels his phone vibrate in his back pocket, causing the brunette to jump slightly at the sudden interruption. Makoto digs his hand into his pocket, fishing out his phone and checking his messages. He receives a picture from Watanabe, showing him an image of a chocolate mousse cake that she is about to devour. Makoto smiles, but then he remembers that he got a message from an unknown number earlier. The brunette checks the message.

[To: Tachibana

From: Unknown

Yo, Tachibana. Sorry for contacting you out of the blue like this, but I just wanted to give you a heads up on a couple things and when you have some time, I’d like to talk to you about something. Oh, this is Yukio Ogata, by the way. Anyway, I erased your contact information from Takeshi’s phone. So if he hasn’t memorized your number and address, he won’t be bothering you. I really can’t have Takeshi distracted like he has been. I also told him not to have any direct contact with you, so I will need you to tell me if he breaks this condition that I have placed on him. Now, I’m sure you are curious about what I want to talk to you about, so let me explain. I need to know if he had physically assaulted anyone, even if it’s just a verbal altercation. I think you can understand where I’m going with this, since I recall you mentioning you were a captain of a team at some point in time. One of my pre-requisites for being on the first-string team is, no assaults of any sort. I really don’t need to get caught up in some past confrontation that could ruin the team’s reputation, and my reputation as well. We can talk when you come back from vacation. So, take care Tachibana. Merry Christmas! ^_^ ]

Makoto re-reads the text again, _‘dammit. I knew Ogata is strict as a captain, but I wasn’t expecting him to ask all this from me. That means…he knows about our…crap. Takeshi must have told him…about us. Ugh, what a mess. I better respond.’_

[ To: Ogata-san

From: Tachibana

Ah, Ogata-san. Thanks for letting me know about all this. I don’t think this is a good time for me since I’m visiting with family for the holidays. But when I come back to Tokyo, let’s meet and we can discuss some of the things you mentioned. Merry Christmas, Ogata-san. ^_^ ]

Makoto places his phone on the table with his backpack, turning the ringer on just in case someone contacts him. He sighs softly, _‘setting up a time to meet with Ogata-san when I get back to Tokyo…just thinking about it makes me nervous. Besides, Eiji, I haven’t told anyone else in Tokyo about my…preferences.’_ The brunette shakes his head as he runs a hand through his hair, leaving the conversation with Ogata for another time to worry about. Right now, Makoto wants to do something special for his uncle and his friends.

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****

** December 23rd, Tuesday, 5: 14 pm **

Makoto slides the door open, balancing a rectangular lime green tea tray with six cups on top. The emerald-eyed teen says, “ah, sorry it took me so long. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out the settings on your espresso machine. Everything worked out in the end.”

Everyone looks over at the brunette walking towards Haru, placing a cup in front of the navy-haired teen.

Rin tilts his head up to look at the brunette, “wait, you made us all drinks?”

Makoto smiles at the redhead as he places a white cup on a saucer down in front of the crimson-eyed teen, “yes, I made you all drinks, well…peppermint mochas. Hopefully it’s not too sweet for you guys.”

The brunette goes around the rest of table, placing a cup in front Rin, his uncle, and Sousuke, before taking a seat next to the raven-haired teen and placing one in front of himself.

Tetsuya looks down at the white cup in front of him and notices that there is a layer of milk foam on top with a dusting of cocoa powder. The older man smiles and says, “this looks delicious, Makoto! I feel so spoiled…having you make me something like this.”

Makoto chuckles, “uncle! Of course you’re special! Please, try it and let me know what you think.” The brunette rests his elbow on the table as he leans to one side, cradling his jaw with the palm of his hand, observing the group look down at their cups.

Sousuke curls his fingers around the handle of the cup, raising it up to his lips as he takes a whiff of the beverage. He can detect the scent of chocolate from the dusting of cocoa powder, and it has a deep, rich, bittersweet scent. Sousuke envelops his lips around the edge of the cup, tilting it upwards to sip the drink.

The teal-eyed teen detects a rich full body espresso with a nutty essence and a smooth finish. The peppermint in the mocha is strong, comforting, and does give off the winter season vibe. Sousuke can tell that the chocolate syrup or sauce is not too sweet, and blends well with the other flavors. The foam on the top sticks to the raven-haired teen’s upper lip, and gives off the texture of soft floating bubbles.

Sousuke puts down the cup, enjoying the refreshing peppermint flavor. He licks his lips as he feels the foam linger on the top of his lip.

Makoto watches everyone take a sip of the mocha, hoping that the sweetness level of the beverage isn’t too overpowering. His eyes shift over to the raven-haired teen sitting next to him as Sousuke puts down his cup. He thinks, _‘oh. I should have brought some napkins. I forgot about milk mustaches.’_ Just as he’s about to push himself off the chair, he notices Sousuke lick his lips and watches the teal-eyed teen’s tongue swirl over the top of his lips, picking up the leftover foam.

The brunette sits back down on the chair as he stares at the raven-haired teen in a trance, wondering what it would be like to lick off the foam from Sousuke’s lips.

Rin puts down his cup and says, “whoa. This is really good, Makoto. I don’t usually get mochas, but this is really smooth. And the peppermint is…”

The redhead hears a chuckle and turns his head to find Haru covering his mouth with amusement twinkling in his eyes.

The redhead quirks an eyebrow, “eh? What’s so funny?”

Tetsuya laughs lightly, “Rin…you have a little milk mustache.” The older man rubs his finger over the top of his own lip and says, “and so do I.”

Makoto’s eyes shift over to Rin as he talks, his lips upturning at the sight of the redhead with a small white foam mustache over the top of his lip, “I’ll go get some napkins.” The brunette gets up chuckling to himself as he heads into the kitchen to grab some napkins from the small round table.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 23rd, Tuesday, 5: 53 pm **

While Haru and Sousuke went into the kitchen to help Makoto’s uncle prepare dinner, Makoto takes Rin to his uncle’s bedroom on the first floor to show him pictures that his uncle had of Haru and Makoto when they were younger.

Both Rin and Makoto are kneeling in front of the westernized queen-sized bed as Makoto flips through the photo albums. He points to a picture of Haru and Makoto as toddlers, “oh my god! I remember my mom telling me that Haru and I had play dates all the time. Look at baby Haru! He’s so cute holding his bottle of milk.” The brunette chuckles softly.

Rin looks at Makoto and smiles, “heh. Haru is just as cute as you were. Look at you Makoto, with your butt in the air in the picture below, trying to get up as Haru stares at your diapered ass.” The redhead bursts into laughter. 

Makoto wines, “Ri~~n~!! That’s not…that’s not…Haru isn’t checking out my ass, you, you…perv.”

Rin nudges the brunette with his elbow and says, “aw, c’mon! You guys were babies! Of course Haru wasn’t really checking out your ass. Seriously though, you guys were adorable. I can only imagine how your parents just swooned over the both of you.”

Makoto laughs, turns his body slightly to throw his arms around Rin in an embrace, “I missed you, Rin! I missed this side of you…for such a long time. I can see how…” The brunette pauses, _‘I can see what Haru and Sousuke see in you Rin. You made us smile.’_ The emerald-eyed teen continues, “you were always such a romantic fluff ball, Rin!”

Rin scoffs as he tries to push the brunette off him, a small blush gracing his features, “oi! Oi! Makoto! I am not a romantic fluff ball! Take that back! Oi! Let go you big lug! What the hell, why are you so strong…Makoto!”

The brunette laughs as he holds him tighter, “ahaha! Rin! Since I’ve shown you baby pictures of Haru, you are going to have to show me baby pictures of you.”

The redhead struggles to gently push off Makoto in a playful manner, not wanting to hurt the brunette crushing him, “oi! Oi! I won’t show you anything unless you get off me! Too…too tight…Makoto…”

The brunette lets go of the redhead suddenly and says, “sorry, sorry. I always forget my own strength sometimes. Are you ok?”

Rin grins as he throws his arm around Makoto’s neck, placing him in a playful headlock as he ruffles the emerald-eyed teen’s brown locks, laughing, “ha! Got ya Makoto! Take this as revenge!”

The brunette quickly places his hand around Rin’s arm that traps his head in place and wraps his other arm around Rin’s waist as he says, “Rin! Uh! Stop! You’re messing up my hair! Rin! Stop it! Oh my god! We aren’t little kids anymore…you little fire sprite…stop! I give…please!”

Rin lets go as he sits on the floor, watching the brunette place his hand on the cream colored carpet as he runs his other hand through his hair. The redhead chuckles, “did you just call me a fire sprite?”

Makoto looks at an amused Rin sitting on the floor, their eyes wavering slightly before the brunette smiles and says, “yeah…I did.”

Rin laughs, holding his stomach as he flops on his side, “hahaha! Makoto! That…that was just…hahaha!”

The brunette watches the redhead roar with laughter and finds himself laughing with the crimson-eyed teen.

Suddenly the doorbell rings a couple times, but Makoto and Rin keep laughing, trying to compose themselves. It takes them a couple of minutes to recollect themselves before Makoto gets up, placing one hand on his knee and extending his hand out to Rin, “come on, Rin. Let’s go see Gou, Nagisa, and Rei.”

Rin lifts himself off the floor slightly, taking Makoto’s hand firmly, getting up with the brunette’s assistance, “Thanks Makoto.”

The backstroke swimmer places his hand on Rin’s shoulder and says, “I really needed a good laugh, Rin.”

The redhead’s quirks an eyebrow and says, “eh? What does that mean?”

Makoto moves behind Rin, placing his hands on the redhead’s shoulders and pushes him toward the door of his uncle’s bedroom, “oh, nothing, it just feels really good to laugh with you, Rin.”

Rin smiles and says as he is being dragged out of the bedroom, “and your family. I bet your little brother and sister are dying to see you.”

Makoto smiles as he pushes the redhead out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Rin notices Tetsuya helping Makoto’s parents with their luggage. The brunette stops and moves around the crimson-eyed teen taking the luggage that his uncle grabbed from his mother and says, “uncle!”

Tetsuya chuckles and says, “ah, Makoto!”

The brunette’s mother hugs Makoto as the emerald-eyed teen bends down a little and wraps his arm around his mother’s back, “mom. I’m glad to see you.”

The woman with the long olive green hair, put up into a bun in the back, a few strands of hair framing her face says, “oh, Makoto! I’m so happy to see you, sweetie!” She hugs her son with both arms around his neck as she continues, “you’ve been making sure that your uncle hasn’t been lifting heavy things, right?”

The brunette smiles, “I tried my best, mom. I hope Ren and Ran have been good during your trip here.”

Makoto’s father places a hand on the brunette’s shoulder and says, “for the most part. We got here in one piece, that should mean something.”

The brunette chuckles as he releases his mother and hugs his father, “dad! It’s so good to see you. I hope you have been using up your vacation days from work.”

The older man with the rimless glasses laughs, “don’t worry about that so much. I have plans to take Ren and Ran camping next year.”

Rin takes this opportunity to take Makoto parents’ luggage, asking Tetsuya where the luggage needs to be placed and leads Mrs. Tachibana up the staircase to the bedroom Tetsuya told him about.

Makoto hears Ren and Ran calling for him as he releases his embrace on his father, smiling at his two siblings jumping up and down.

The brunette squats, extending his arms forward to embrace Ren and Ran, “Ren! Ran!”

The twins take a side around Makoto and embrace him, they both say in unison, “onii-chan! Onii-chan!”

The brunette moves back a little with the impact of Ren and Ran hugging him. Makoto readjusts his weight on the balls of his feet as he laughs with merriment.

Taking advantage of a preoccupied Makoto, Nagisa bounces over to Ren, Ran, and the brunette noticing a space right in the middle as he wraps his arms around the backstroke swimmer’s waist, causing the trio to fall back on the floor.

Makoto’s eyes go wide, his grasp on his siblings tighten as his back hits the floor behind him. The brunette looks to the right and left to make sure that Ren and Ran are okay. He sighs in relief when he finds the twins laughing.

The blond, now pressed up against his torso and between Makoto’s legs, looks up and says, “Mako-chan! Mako-chan! I’m so glad to see you~~!!”

Makoto cranes his neck up and whines, “Na~gi~sa~~!! I can’t believe you! You need to be more careful, Nagisa!”

Ran giggles and says to Makoto’s side, “ne, ne, onii-chan! Did you miss us? Nagi-nii said you were so sad without us, is that true?”

Ren smiles as he glances over at his twin sister and says, “onii-chan! You didn’t forget us, right?”

The blond gets off of Makoto, sitting in seiza as he smiles gleefully at the brunette.

Rei comes over and pulls Nagisa up as he says, “Nagisa! You should listen to Makoto-senpai! Come with me, let’s put our luggage with the others while Makoto-senpai greets Ren and Ran. Suzuki-san will show us the way.” The indigo-haired teen looks down at the backstroke swimmer and smiles, “I’m glad to see you again, Makoto-senpai. Thank you for inviting us.”

The brunette sits up, still hugging Ren and Ran as he smiles up at the purple-eyed teen, “Rei! I’m glad to see you and Nagisa are doing well.”

Gou peers over the side of Rei’s shoulder, her hands on the purple-eyed teen’s shoulder as she says, “Makoto-senpai! Merry Christmas! Where’s onii-chan?”

Makoto chuckles and beams at the redhead, “Gou! Merry Christmas to you too!” The brunette looks around and says, “he was just here a moment ago.”

Mr. Tachibana chuckles, “I think he was helping your mother upstairs. Gou-san, why don’t we get settled upstairs. Makoto?”

The brunette gives Ren and Ran one final squeeze, “yes, dad. C’mon, Ren, Ran…I have to help everyone get their luggage upstairs. Why don’t you come join us?”

Ren and Ran nod, Ren nodding just a second after his sister. Ran says, “ok, but you have to answer our questions.”

Makoto laughs, “alright, alright. I will. C’mon.” The brunette shifts his position off the floor, as the twins clamber onto Makoto wanting to be close to him. The emerald-eyed teen smiles and winces a bit as his siblings scramble up his body.

The brunette ends up carrying Ren in his arm as Ran dangles behind him, her arms around his neck. Makoto gets up with the additional weight, grabbing Ran’s leg to make sure she won’t fall off as he heads to the stairs, “ahh…you two have gotten so heavy! I’m gonna have to hit the gym more often to keep up with you two.”

Makoto smiles as he passes Nagisa, Rei, and his uncle, carefully going up the stairs, “I guess I’ll come back and grab Ren and Ran’s things, uncle. Don’t carry anything!”

Tetsuya chuckles lightly, “ah, Makoto! Alright…I’ll try to be more mindful about that.” The older man turns his head and says, “Rei, Nagisa…please follow me. And by all means, call me Tetsuya.”

The blond beams and says, “ok! Tetsu-chan!” Nagisa walks over to his luggage with excitement.

Rei face palms and says, “Nagisa!” He turns his head and says laced with apology, “Suzuki-san…please…”

The older man smiles and says, “ahh! I haven’t been called ‘Tetsu-chan’ in such a long time! My, my…it brings me back to my youth.” His green gaze shifts over to the indigo-haired teen, “it truly is an honor. Please do not worry about formalities, Rei. And please, I insist, call me Tetsuya.”

Nagisa comes back carrying his luggage and Rei’s luggage, “yeah, Rei-chan! Lighten up! It’s Christmas!”

Tetsuya tries to grab one piece of luggage from Nagisa’s hand, but Rei notices the movement and takes one from Nagisa, “ok…Tetsuya-san. Please, show us the way.”

The older man rumbles with laughter as he leads the two boys into the living room so they can place their luggage down.

Tetsuya watches the teens put their belongings next to the other suitcases and says, “I can relieve either Haruka and Sousuke in the kitchen. Those two have been really helpful with dinner, but I can manage the rest without any help.”

Nagisa turns around, bouncing over to the older man, “oh! Can we help? Rei-chan can do things perfectly and beautifully if you would like some help, Tetsu-chan!”

Rei turns around, his eyes wavering for a moment before he smiles and readjusts his glasses with confidence, “Tetsuya-san…it would be my pleasure to be of service to you with preparation of dinner.”

The green-eyed man laughs and says, “if you insist, please follow me.”

The two teens happily follow the older man into the kitchen to help Haru and Sousuke with their duties in the kitchen.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 23rd, Tuesday, 7: 15 pm **

Makoto sits next to Sousuke and Ran at the dinning room table with a plate filled with green curry and rice. Ren and Ran are fighting over how much meat they have on their plates and the brunette sighs deeply, “Ren, Ran. Stop. Here.”

Makoto places a couple of pieces of meat from his plate unto both Ren and Ran’s plate and says, “there. No more fighting. You have the same amount of beef now.”

Ren and Ran look over at their big brother and they say, “thank you nii-chan!” Ran finishes with, “you’re the best,” before the two twins start fighting about who was the better little sister or brother to Makoto.

Sousuke slightly leaned forward to watch the whole thing from his perspective and thinks, ‘ _hmmm, he dotes on his siblings. But, why didn’t he just give them more meat from the pot? Now he’s out of meat.’_ The teal-eyed teen looks down on his plate, and notices that he has already eaten half of the curry. The raven-haired teen gets up and leans over to grab a couple ladles full of curry, placing it on his plate before sitting back down. He picks up a few pieces of meat from his plate and sneakily places the beef on Makoto plate while he was talking to Haru.

Unbeknownst to Sousuke, the olivine-brown haired man sitting at the head of the table, next to the raven-haired teen, witnessed the gesture that the ex-butterfly swimmer had done for Makoto. The older man takes a sip of water from his glass, smiling at the action he had just observed, wondering how long the two teens have known each other.

Makoto chuckles at Nagisa’s joke, looks down to pick up some food with his spoon. As the brunette scoops up some rice, meat, and a piece of carrot, the backstroke swimmer stops for a moment, _‘huh? I thought I gave Ren and Ran all my meat, how…how did…wait. I have a few pieces here. Did I miss it? Or…’_ The brunette looks to his right to find the teal-eyed teen in the process of opening his mouth to eat the scoop of curry and rice. Makoto just watches Sousuke gently placing the spoon into his mouth, and slide it out in a swift motion, chewing his food.

The brunette just observes Sousuke’s jaw move up and down, the raven-haired teen’s head bowed down slightly, looking down on his plate or something on the table. Makoto licks his lips, tasting curry sauce, but more importantly savoring the image of the raven-haired teen chewing and swallowing his food. Makoto notices Sousuke’s adams apple bob up and down as the raven-haired teen finishes that one bite before the brunette moves his head, staring down at the scoop of food that he was about to eat moments ago.

Makoto hears that deep voice ask, “oi. Are you ok?” The brunette smiles and says, “I don’t remember having this much meat on my plate. I’m wondering how it got there.” The emerald-eyed teen glances over at the teal-eyed teen staring at him curiously.

Sousuke shifts his gaze away, rubbing the back of his neck as he says, “uh, I wasn’t paying attention. Maybe you missed it.” He thinks, _‘I don’t want to admit it was me…it could have been someone else.’_

The brunette knits his eyebrows playfully and says, “hmm, maybe. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention either, but I could have sworn that I didn’t have any meat left. I wonder…if I have a guardian angel looking out for me.” Makoto giggles as he scoops up his food and quickly eats it.

The teal-eyed teen raises his eyebrows, _‘eh? Angel?’_ Sousuke scoffs as he returns to eating the food on his plate, _‘who is he calling an angel?’_

Makoto watches Sousuke eat his food with slight irritation, feeling a slight flush burning his ears, _‘is he a bit angry at my comment? Oh Sousuke…you are a dead give away when you act like that. You’re worse than Ren and Ran. I can tell it was you. Thank you for looking out for me, Sousuke.’_

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** December 23rd, Tuesday, 8: 18 pm **

Sousuke does a few shoulder rolls after closing the door to the bathroom, walking down the hallway and into the dimly lit living room by the fireplace. He stops in his tracks for a moment, peering over the frame of the entryway, observing the scene of a big family huddled in front of the T.V., watching a movie. _Disney’s Frozen_ sing-a-long to be exact. Ran emphasized that it was new even though the movie came out a year before. Regardless, he thought it was sweet how Tetsuya bought the DVD for the young girl, but at the same time, he didn’t think that they would be watching it tonight. Makoto apologized, saying that he knew about the DVD and that his sister wouldn’t be able to help herself to a sing-a-long with the whole family. It didn’t really matter anyway, and Makoto really shouldn’t have apologized, if anything he didn’t feel like he had the right to complain.

He always just went with the flow during the holidays, not really making any particular choices as his family made plans for him, or without him. The only thing that he had done during most Christmas holidays was visiting the Matsuoka family before he left to Tokyo, even when Rin left to Australia, the teal-eyed teen visited Gou and viewed her like a little sister.

Sousuke looks around the sea of faces, noticing Nagisa whispering to Rei, and Gou watching the movie intently. The raven-haired teen observes how Mr. and Mrs. Tachibana are sitting in the loveseat couch, huddled with Mr. Tachibana, his arm over his wife, their hands laced together on Mr. Tachibana’s lap. Tetsuya, Gou, Ran, Makoto, and Ren are sitting on the larger couch, while Nagisa, Rei, Haru, and Rin are sitting on the floor in front of the larger couch. 

Sousuke thinks, _‘hmmm…I wonder when was the last time I watched a movie like this with my family. I don’t know. Guess it’s been that long. But, every time I think about my mom and dad, I remember mom frowning, and dad sighing…and a lot of arguing about dad’s work. Dad’s phone constantly ringing during dinners, mom balling her fists as I silently ate, yeah. Mom doesn’t like cellphones at the dinner table anymore. But these aren’t good memories…’_ The raven-haired teen inhales deeply, and exhales silently, not wanting to remember fond memories of his family, it just makes the current circumstances of his family life feel acrid when he goes down that road.

The ex-butterfly swimmer decides to sit on the couch next to Makoto with Ren and Ran on each of the brunette’s legs. The raven-haired teen looks at the screen and he notices a blond princess throwing around an icy barrier towards a group of people.

Suddenly the raven-haired teen hears Ran say, “onii-chan, you have to sing with me. You too, Ren. You both have to sing with me. The song is coming up.”

Sousuke moves his head slightly, side glancing to find Ren sighing softly as the little boy says, “aww, I’ll sing the other songs, but do I have to sing that one?”

Makoto hugs his siblings gently and says, “don’t worry Ren. I’ll sing it with you. Everyone will sing it…it’s a sing-a-long after all.”

Ren looks up at his big brother with a questioning gaze, “are you sure about that? I don’t think your friends will sing.”

Ran crosses her arms defiantly, turning her head slightly away from Ren, “humph! You don’t know onii-chan’s friends very well, Ren! Nagi-nii and Rei-butterfly-nii will definitely sing! Even Haru-nii will sing!”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow at the display between Makoto and his siblings, _‘eh? Nagi-nii, Rei-butterfly-nii, and Haru-nii, huh. That close…I guess it makes sense. These are Makoto’s good friends, no…best friends. Like family…kinda like how I view Gou.’_

Gou looks over at Makoto, Ran, and Ren, chuckling lightly as she scoots over closer to Makoto. She places her hand on Ran’s shoulder and says, “ne, Ran…I’ll sing with you. Let’s show the boys how well we sing.”

Nagisa looks behind him, watching Gou and Ran before pouting, “eh? That’s no fair, Gou! I wanna sing with Ran too.”

Gou turns her head towards Nagisa and says, “then come up here and sit next to me. Then we can sing with Ran together.”

Nagisa beams as he quickly gets up on his feet, sitting next to Gou on the couch as Ran gets off Makoto’s leg sitting in between Nagisa and Gou.

Ren looks around until he spots Sousuke staring at Gou and Nagisa before turning around and poking Makoto’s shoulder grabbing the brunette’s attention. Ren turns around and points at Sousuke, which catches the teal-eyed teen’s gaze and says, “I don’t think he’ll sing with us.”

The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen at the acquisition before his eyes shift over to Makoto’s gaze. Sousuke finds kindness, sympathy, and guilt in those eyes as the brunette says, “well, let’s ask Sousuke, hmm? Maybe if we ask real nice, he will try to sing with us.”

Ren makes a face before he nods, getting off of Makoto’s leg and stands in front of Sousuke. The little boy looks up at the teal-eyed teen with pleading eyes, patting Sousuke’s knee softly as he says, “ne, Sousuke, will you sing with us? You’re onii-chan’s friend, so, so, you have to sing with us.”

Makoto scoots over, sitting right next to Sousuke, and says to Ren, “Ren…that’s not very ni…”

Sousuke interrupts the brunette and says, “if I sing, what will you do for me?”

The emerald-eyed teen stares at Sousuke incredulously and says, “whoa, Sousuke. You shouldn’t be asking Ren to…”

Ren smiles sweetly, interrupting his big brother and says, “onii-chan will do whatever you want! I promise! Onii-chan is the best! So now you have to sing!”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow and says, “is that so? Hmm, how will you keep your promise, Ren?”

Makoto sighs deeply and says to no one in particular, “how does this always happen to me? Ne, Ren…you shouldn’t be making promises you can’t keep.”

The young boy looks up at his big brother and says, “but, you always keep your promises, onii-chan! You have to do this for me otherwise he won’t sing.”

The teal-eyed teen smirks and says, “you know, Ren has a point. If you want to make Ren happy, and have me sing along with all of you…you will need to fulfill Ren’s end of the bargain here.”

The brunette looks up to find those teal eyes shimmering with playful mischief, _‘damn, you’re totally playing along, Sousuke! I can’t believe this…I really can’t say no to Ren or Ran.’_ Makoto looks away and says, “fine. I’ll do as you say Ren, but you have to make sure that Sousuke is singing along…the whole song Ren.”

The little boy beams with happiness and nods, “you bet, onii-chan! I will!” Ren looks up at the teal-eyed teen and says, “see! Onii-chan is the best! So do we have a deal, Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen glances at Makoto, smirks at him before he looks back down at Ren and says, “you got yourself a deal, Ren. Come on up and sit on my lap. I’ll make sure you can hear me.”

Makoto watches Ren climb up on the couch to sit on Sousuke’s lap, just like Ren was when he was sitting on the brunette’s lap. Sousuke leans over a little, placing his hands on Ren’s shoulders. The emerald-eyed teen can’t help but smile, seeing his little brother warm up to Sousuke. The brunette notices the tune come on, glancing over at the T.V. to find the blond princess walking along the snow as the lyrics appear on the bottom of the screen.

The brunette turns his head again to stare at Ren and Sousuke. Makoto has seen the movie so many times that he has memorized most of the lyrics to the songs, particularly this one. Ran’s favorite character is _Elsa_ and as a reward, Makoto would sing the song with her when she finished her homework or did chores around the house, he even has all the songs of _Frozen_ on his phone, not wanting to forget the lyrics when he came back to visit his little sister.

Makoto starts singing the lyrics as it comes on, hearing the chorus of voices fill the room. He can make out everyone’s voice, keeping up with the song on the screen and his smile widens, it fills his heart with warmth knowing that his family and friends are being so sweet and fulfilling Ran’s wish to have everyone sing along to one of her favorite movies.

The emerald-eyed teen keeps his gaze fixed on Ren and Sousuke as he sings the song, noticing how Ren and Sousuke are singing along to the lyrics. He can tell that Sousuke is a little unfamiliar with the song as he stumbles with the words, but Ren giggles and sings just a little louder so the raven-haired teen doesn’t feel embarrassed.

Makoto laughs softly, singing along to the song as he continues staring at Ren and Sousuke.

The raven-haired teen can hear Makoto’s sweet voice and glances over at the brunette to find the backstroke swimmer looking at him. The ex-butterfly swimmer remembers the time when he visited Makoto during the end of his shift at _Momento Café,_ with an earbud in the brunette’s ear as he danced and sang a song on his phone. He remembers how good the brunette’s voice sounded then, and wonders how well he is singing now.

As Ren is singing the song, he notices when the raven-haired teen stops singing, staring at his brother before he says, “sing, Sousuke. Sing!”

The teal-eyed teen tears his eyes away from the brunette and focuses his attention on the T.V., singing the lyrics on the screen. 

Makoto leans in just a little bit, until he can hear Sousuke’s voice carrying a tune, and he can feel his heart beat just a little faster as he continues to listen to the teal-eyed teen’s voice. The brunette can hear the rawness of Sousuke’s deep voice, uncontrolled, sounding so appealing that the brunette doesn’t want the song to ever end.

Sousuke feels the brunette’s presence near him, trying to listen to his voice, and he starts to feel a little self-conscious. The raven-haired teen tries his best to ignore the brunette, but he looks over to gaze at the emerald-eyed teen.

Sousuke catches Makoto’s gaze and he can’t help but stare at the brunette, how his eyes glimmer with the dim light illuminating from the T.V., and again, Sousuke stops singing and finds the brunette’s voice also halting as they just stare at each other in awe.

Ren notices that Sousuke has stop singing again and looks back to find the raven-haired teen staring at his big brother. He frowns and says, “onii-chan! Sousuke!”

Both Sousuke and Makoto look at Ren. The brunette says, “oh, sorry,” before he turns his head towards the T.V., and starts singing the last part of the song. The teal-eyed teen brings his attention back to the T.V. again, singing along with the lyrics, _‘what was that about? I’m not blushing, right? Naw, I’m not. I don’t do that.’_

As the song comes to an end, Makoto rubs his face with both hands, rubbing his earlobes with his thumbs as he feels warmth emitting from his skin, hoping that he isn’t blushing, _‘oh…god. His eyes, they looked so…so…and his voice it was just…’_ The brunette shifts his weight on the couch as he tries to calm his racing heart.

Nagisa notices Makoto’s movements and watches the emerald-eyed teen with interest as he leans back against the soft cushions on the couch. He sees the brunette rubbing his face and wonders what could have made the backstroke swimmer so nervous. 

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** December 23rd, Tuesday, 11: 19 pm **

Makoto sighs as he recalls his uncle mentioning that there are only two bathrooms in the house resulting in the guests pairing off to share bath and shower time. He feels grateful that his uncle has large soaking tubs in the washrooms that are large enough for at least two people.

Makoto pours a bucket of warm water over his head, rinsing off the soap from his body. The brunette puts down the bucket before he runs his hands through his hair as he says to Nagisa, “you ready to get into the bathtub, Nagisa?”

The blond pours a bucket of water over his body, shaking his head back and forth, “yeah! I’m ready!”

The brunette chuckles and says, “you better make sure you are completely clean, Nagisa. Remember, Rin and Haru will be taking a bath after us.” Makoto gets up from the stool he’s sitting on before grabbing his towel, covering his front as he walks over to the bathtub.

The blond follows the emerald-eyed teen into the bathtub, leaving his towel behind. The two teens enter the bath across from each other, some water overflowing past the top of the bathtub and gushing down into the drains below. Nagisa sighs with contentment as he says, “ahhhh. This feels so good. So, did Rei-chan and Sou-chan enjoy their bath earlier?”

Makoto eyes are closed when Nagisa asks him a question. He opens his eyes as he bends his knees, sinking farther into the water, up to his chin as he says, “Rei said he enjoyed his conversation with Sousuke, and Sousuke said the bath was relaxing.” The brunette furrows his eyebrows and mumbles, “hmm, I wonder about his shoulder.”

The pink-eyed teen raises his eyebrows, “ohhhhh? Are you worried about him, Mako-chan?”

The brunette’s eyes widen as he says, “eh? Well, sorta…yeah. I mean, he’s doing well. I mean, he’s good and doesn’t need me worrying about him or anything. I was talking to myself, Nagisa.” Makoto rubs his arm up and down under the water, chuckling nervously.

Nagisa tilts his head curiously with a raised eyebrow, “ehhhh? Is that so? Hmm…you really do think about Sou-chan a lot.”

Makoto stares at the pink-eyed teen, his ears turning red as he laughs sheepishly, “wha-what do you mean by that? I think about all of you guys a lot.” The brunette breaks eye contact with the blond as he brings his knees closer to his torso, feeling slightly exposed for some reason.

Nagisa chuckles lightly and says in a singsong voice, “ehhh? Are you saying that I occupy your mind all the time, Mako-chan?” The blond smiles sweetly as he continues, “ne, Mako-chan! Could you possibly be…in love with me?”

The brunette shifts his weight, bringing up his shoulders over the surface of the water as he listens to Nagisa. When Makoto hears the blond talk about love, he just stares at the pink-eyed teen, dumbfounded as his jaw hangs open with a solid flush stains his cheeks, “Na-na~~gi~~sa~~!! You know what I mean! I don’t mean it like…”

The blond sticks out his tongue playfully as he winks. He interrupts the brunette excitedly, “ne, ne, Mako-chan…you wanna make it official? I can propose a ‘we are dating,’ statement to everyone when we finish with our baths, so they know not to hit on you.”

Makoto face palms as Nagisa continues talking and the brunette face becomes redder and redder, _‘what? What is happening? How did our conversation come to this? Nagisa, no…just…no._ ’ The brunette says in a defeated tone, “Na~gi~sa! That’s enough. We aren’t dating. We aren’t officially saying anything. Why, why are you…” The brunette suddenly feels a pair of hands wrap around his bicep.

Makoto peers through his fingers to find an angelic pink-eyed teen staring at him with innocence, curiosity, and a knowing feeling in those eyes. The brunette’s green eyes waver under Nagisa’s gaze, wondering what kind of mysterious trap he has walked into as he says carefully, “uh, Nagisa…what? You look like you know something that I don’t.”

The blond leans his head against Makoto’s shoulder as he says softly, “maybe…but I’m more interested in your thoughts about Sou-chan. I’ve noticed that you have been spending more time with Sou-chan. I think it’s cute. But, I’m curious about how you guys met again and how you two started spending more time together. I mean, you guys were all in Tokyo, but during the first semester, I didn’t hear anything about Sou-chan, and then all of a sudden, you’re spending time with Sou-chan…so what’s up with that?”

The brunette moves his hand away from his face, knitting his eyebrows, _‘eh? My thoughts about Sousuke? Wait…what?’_ Makoto sighs as he leans his head against the rim of the tub, looking up at the ceiling as he says, “it’s a long story. Rin was worried about Sousuke and asked me to check on him, but then I saw him at the café. I wasn’t working, I just stopped by to drop something off and I decided to get myself a drink since I was there. Anyway, I spotted him and moved to his table to talk to him. We talked for a bit…I mentioned that I still had his clothes that I borrowed from him so we decided to go to my apartment afterwards. Sousuke ended up staying over because…” Makoto frowns, _‘wait, I can’t tell Nagisa everything…not about Takeshi. Shit. I almost just went down that path.’_

The blond notices Makoto getting lost in thought and says, “Mako-chan…you’re hiding something from me. I can tell.” Nagisa pulls away from the brunette, puffing out his cheeks in playful irritation before bumping his forehead on the emerald-eyed teen’s bicep, gently grinding his head against Makoto’s arm. 

The emerald-eyed teen glances over at the pink-eyed teen when he pulls away to find the blond with his playful frustrated facial expression before he feels Nagisa’s forehead on his arm. Makoto smiles, chuckling at the childish behavior, “Na~gisa!”

The blond continues grinding his forehead against Makoto’s arm, “you’re being unfair, Mako-chan! You’re keeping secrets. I thought we promised not to keep secrets after what I did last year.”

The brunette’s smile fades as he recalls what happened last year. Nagisa was struggling with an internal battle between his parents’ expectations and his promise to continue swimming with his friends. Nagisa kept that hidden away within him, replacing his sadness with a beaming smile, but more than anything, Nagisa wanted to be with his friends, swimming with his friends and his parents were asking him, perhaps forcing him, to quit swimming. A pained expression graces his features, _‘you’re right, Nagisa. You kept your promise then. I didn’t mean to keep my ex a secret, but I did, didn’t I?’_

The brunette softly says, “I’m sorry…Nagisa. You’re right. I have been keeping a secret.” Makoto sighs deeply, closing his eyes as he rubs his temples with his middle finger and thumb. He continues, “I had a boyfriend. We broke up before my birthday. Dated for six months before things started to become sour. It didn’t end so well. And I think, I will have to talk to him again…when I get back to Tokyo. He said something that I just can’t shake off…anyway he couldn’t accept my close friendship with Haru. He kept thinking that Haru and I were dating because we were so close. It was a mess.”

As Makoto speaks, the blond stops his grinding to stare at Makoto. The brunette’s voice sounds so distant, and sad, and it makes the blond’s eyes widen as he continues listening to the emerald-eyed teen. Nagisa hears Makoto’s voice slightly crack at the end before he throws his arms around the brunette, hugging him, “Mako-chan…”

Makoto returns the hug with one arm, squeezing the blond gently, “I’m ok, Nagisa. I’m sorry. I should have told all of you guys about it sooner.”

Nagisa shakes his head and says, “for you to keep a secret like that…must have been so hard, Mako-chan. You love to share things with others. Just remember, we are here for you. So, don’t shut us out. If it weren’t for you guys, I would have broken down. I don’t want you to ever feel like that. So, next time…no matter how sad, how stupid, or how crazy whatever you have to say is, just tell us. And if we ever make you feel unheard, just smack us over the head, like you always do…Mako-mama!”

The brunette feels familial warmth grow brightly in his chest, hugging the blond tighter with his one arm. When the pink-eyed teen calls him, ‘Mako-mama,’ the emerald-eyed teen bursts into a fit of laughter and says between laughs, “Na-Nagisa! I can’t…believe you! You’re still…calling me that!?” 

The blond laughs with Makoto, filling the echo-like bathroom with fits of softhearted giggles.

Nagisa says between laughs, “of course! Mako-mama! Or would you prefer Mamakoto?”

Makoto continues laughing as he says with playful irritation, “Na~gi~sa! Both those nicknames sound silly.”

The two teens break apart, Nagisa sitting down next to Makoto as the two teens relax in a comfortable silence with each other. The blond rubs his fingers through his wet hair, his hands settling on the base of his neck as he leans his head back against the tub as he says, “ne, Mako-mama…I saw you staring at Sou-chan throughout the movie. I even saw you rubbing your cheeks too. Did Sou-chan tell you something embarrassing?”

The brunette turns his head to the side to find the pink-eyed teen look up at the ceiling. Makoto asks curiously, “you were watching me?”

Nagisa pouts as he submerges his chin and mouth into the water, allowing a few moments of silence to pass through them before the blond responds with a simple nod.

Makoto runs a hand through his moist hair and says tenderly, “no, Sousuke didn’t tell me anything embarrassing. I…I was just…um, observing him. I never heard him sing before. He has a really deep, husky voice. And the way he carries the melodies…it was allur…I mean, he has a nice voice. Yeah, a nice voice.” The brunette laughs sheepishly, hoping that Nagisa didn’t catch his little mishap.

The blond smiles widely, giggling to himself, _‘ahhhh! Mako-chan! I caught you! I was wondering if you were attracted to Sou-chan! I’ve noticed a few blushy-blushies when you mentioned Sou-chan during skype chats. That answers that…sometimes you are so easy to read, Mako-mama!’_

Nagisa laughs as he splashes Makoto with water, “ohhhh!? You like the way Sou-chan sings, ne? Then we have to do a karaoke night sometime! I wanna hear Sou-chan’s sexy voice too!”

Makoto yelps when he is splashed with water and splashes the blond back, “Na~~gi~~sa! I didn’t say Sousuke’s voice was sexy!?”

The blond splashes the brunette back, “yes you did, Mako-mama! You said Sou-chan has a deep, husky voice that carries a sexy melody! That it was nice to listen to!”

The brunette throws a big splash of water towards the pink-eyed teen, “did not!”

Nagisa chuckles as he wipes water away from his face, sticking out his tongue, “did too! Sou-chan is a sexy man, Mako-chan…that’s what you said!” The blond pushes a bigger splash of water towards the brunette.

Makoto makes a face as he feels swept away by the childish behavior and continues having a splash war with Nagisa, “did not! I didn’t say Sousuke was sexy! I said he was alluring!” The brunette’s eyes widen as he smacks the palm of his hand against his forehead, groaning in disbelief.

Nagisa’s eyes sparkle with surprise and delight as he splashes water around everywhere in a victory dance.

Makoto buries himself deeper into the water, his nose just above the water’s surface, trying to hide away from his own blunder. The brunette crosses his arms over his chest, and brings his knees in a little closer as he pouts under the water. He watches Nagisa dance around on the other side of the tub in absolute happiness and the emerald-eyed teen’s pout turns into a smile. He realizes how much he missed the blond puffball of angelic happiness. Nagisa just has this innocent charm about him that reminds him of a white fluffy Pomeranian. Sometimes he can envision Nagisa with cute, stubby devil horns under that blond hair, but how can anyone say ‘no’ to Nagisa, even he has a hard time saying ‘no’ to the pink-eyed teen. The brunette continues smiling to himself as he watches the breaststroke swimmer continue his silly victory dance.

The blond finally stops his dancing, sitting down as he giggles, “that’s what I thought you said, Mako-chan! I’m glad you finally said it.” Nagisa brings his knees up as he rests his forearms on his knees, smiling at the brunette.

Makoto shifts his gaze to the side, breaking eye contact with the breaststroke swimmer as he raises his mouth and chin out of the water, “fine, fine. You got me, Nagisa. In some sense…I guess I did say he was sexy.”

The blond raises an eyebrow and says, “ohhhhh? You’re attracted to Sou-chan…” Nagisa rubs his chin in thought as he continues, “I thought so.”

Makoto turns his gaze back to the pink-eyed teen and stares at him, petrified. He blinks a few times before he stammers, “e-eh? Wha-what do you mean? You thought so?”

Nagisa shifts his line of sight back down to the brunette, tilting his head to the side gently, “eh? Oh. I just figured that it was true. You were flustered or blushing and you kept staring at Sou-chan during the movie. During our skype chats, there were times you got all blushy-blushy. You never noticed, Mako-chan?”

The brunette stares at the blond, stunned.

Nagisa raises both eyebrows curiously, and waves a hand in front of the brunette’s face, “oi, Mako-chan? You there?”

Makoto shakes his head lightly and laughs nervously. He bites his bottom lip before he says, “is it that obvious? I mean…”

The blond shakes his head, “not really. I don’t think Rin, Rei, or Gou know about it. But, I know you Mako-mama…you have certain ‘tells’ that I’ve picked up since we’ve known each other. Haru-chan must know. I can’t imagine Haru-chan not knowing about this.”

The brunette sighs deeply as he throws his arms over the side of the tub dramatically, “ahhh…I can’t believe this. You’re right. Haru has asked me about Sousuke. You guys…I swear. What are my ‘tells’?”

Nagisa makes a face and says, “I’m not telling, Mako-mama! You’re just gonna be all weird if I tell you and then the other guys will definitely know something is up.”

The brunette frowns and says, “I guess so.” Silence ensues the two teens for a moment before Makoto continues in a murmur, “I don’t think he likes me like that. Someone else occupies his mind.”

The blond moves closer to the emerald-eyed teen, catching the last two sentences. He notices how Makoto sounds distant, almost unreachable. Nagisa frowns, biting the inside of his lower lip, detecting sadness and finality in Makoto’s voice. Silence fills the bathroom as Nagisa ponders, _‘awww, Mako-chan. You don’t give yourself enough credit. You like him, probably more than you think. I bet Sou-chan would return your feelings eventually…he’s one of us, minus the girly name. And who could Sou-chan be thinking of like that? Hmm, maybe one of these nights…I will bathe with Sou-chan.’_

Silence eats up the two teens for a few minutes before they hear the bathroom door opening with Rin frowning in the doorway as he says, “oi! What’s taking you guys so long?”

Haru peers over the Rin’s shoulder with a questioning gaze.

Nagisa chuckles as he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, “ahhh. Sorry, sorry! I think Mako-mama and I got a little carried away with our little splash fight earlier.” The blond chuckles lightly.

Makoto’s whines, “Na~~gi~~sa!! Don’t call me that!” The emerald-eyed teen gives the blond a knowing look that says, ‘you can call me that in private, but not when the others are around. It’s too embarrassing!’

The blond giggles and says, “alright, alright, Mako-chan!” Nagisa gets out of the tub and shakes the excess water off his body before he trots over to Rin and Haru in his naked glory.

The redhead makes a face, moving to the side to allow the blond to proceed past him. The crimson-eyed teen’s cheeks grow pink from embarrassment as he face palms, whispering to himself, “oi, don’t prance around in your birthday suit like a happy little twat. Geez…sometimes I feel like I’m surrounded by a bunch of weirdos.”

Haru elbows the redhead lightly and says, “you’re one of those weirdos too, Rin. Get undressed before I strip you.” The navy-haired teen starts undressing, wanting to get into the bathtub quickly.

Makoto smiles as he gets out of the tub, making sure not to flash his friends with unnecessary sights as he reaches for his towel, wrapping it around his waist so Rin and Haru can get clean. 

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****

** December 23rd, Tuesday, 11: 51 pm **

After getting changed into a pair of heather grey sweatpants, and a large striped white and blue long sleeve shirt, drying his hair after Nagisa, Makoto heads over to the living room where Sousuke, Rei, and Nagisa are putting down the last few futons on the floor.

The brunette walks over to the pile of pillows, picking them up and places a pillow on each futon that has been placed down. Nagisa walks over to Makoto and suddenly glomps the brunette in a hug from the side, almost causing Makoto to fall.

Nagisa giggles and says, “I’m sleeping next to you tonight, Mako-mama!”

Sousuke turns his head and quirks an eyebrow at the blond and brunette pair, “what? Mako-mama?”

Makoto flushes pink with embarrassment, “Na~gi~sa! I told you that nickname is so embarrassing!” The brunette tries to get out of the blond’s grasp.

The pink-eyed teen pouts as he releases the emerald-eye teen, puffing out his cheeks playfully, “but, Mako-mama is Mako-mama! You always make sure that we are all cared for. Why? Would you prefer that I call you mama, and drop the Mako?”

The brunette slouches forward, face palms, sighing in defeat as he says, “No. You can’t just call me ‘mama.’ Fine, fine…if you must, go ahead and call me by that silly nickname. But please don’t say it in front of Ren and Ran. They probably will start calling me that everywhere we go.” Makoto rubs the palm of his hand against his forehead and whispers, “and that would be so embarrassing.”

Sousuke chuckles, _‘that’s real cute. In fact, that’s accurate. Makoto worries and fusses over everyone making sure everything is ok, kinda like what a mother would do. I wonder what he would say…if I called him that.’_ The raven-haired teen says with an amused tone, “Mako-mama. Sort of has a nice ring to it.”

Nagisa turns his head, eyes glimmering as he runs over to the teal-eyed teen glomping the ex-butterfly swimmer, “isn’t it!? It’s the perfect nickname for Mako-chan!”

Rei smiles as he watches Nagisa and Sousuke interact together, placing a hand on Makoto’s shoulder and whispers, “don’t worry Makoto-senpai. Nagisa-kun hasn’t been using that nickname with Ren and Ran.”

The brunette glances over to the side to meet the purple-eyed teen’s gaze and smiles gently, “thanks, Rei. I’m so glad to hear that.” Makoto gives Rei his trademark smile before he turns his body to face Rei, “ah, I should tell you something since I’ve told everyone else.”

Rei looks up at the emerald-eyed teen with curiosity, “eh? What is it Makoto-senpai?”

Makoto sighs, a slight sad expression gracing his features, “I, I…I had a boyfriend for about six months. We broke up last month, before my birthday. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret from all of you, but…that’s what happened.”

Rei just stares at the brunette in front of him his eyes wavering as he process the information that Makoto just gave him, _‘a-a-a…boyfriend!? Makoto-senpai had a boyfriend in Tokyo!? And, they broke up!?’_ Rei notices the regret, guilt and sadness that reflect in those green eyes and says softly, “Makoto-senpai…I…had no idea.”

The brunette smiles sadly, “yeah, I know. I didn’t tell you about it, and that’s my fault. I really should have told all of you about it.” Makoto looks down, rubbing the palm of his hand against his arm soothingly.

Nagisa and Sousuke overhears the conversation between Makoto and Rei, both the blond and the raven-haired teen turned their heads to the side to stare at the pair, the breaststroke swimmer releasing Sousuke from his hug as he watches his friends.

Sousuke watches Makoto’s facial expressions as he tells the purple-eyed teen about his ex, _‘damn. I was hoping that jerk wouldn’t be brought up at all during this trip, but I’m glad he told them. Makoto…’_ The teal-eyed teen says softly, not wanting to disrupt the discussion Makoto and Rei are having, “he told you, didn’t he?”

Nagisa smiles, not moving his gaze away from Rei and Makoto, “yeah. He did. While we were in the tub, he told me about it. Ne, Sou-chan…was it really that bad? The break-up?”

The raven-haired teen shifts his eyes over to briefly stare at the pink-eyed teen. He notices the blond staring at Rei and Makoto with concern, and says, “it was bad. Real bad. I’ve never seen Makoto cry, not like that. I never want to see him cry like that again.”

Nagisa frowns as he listens to Sousuke’s words, _‘that bad. If Sou-chan says it’s bad...then it was really bad.’_ The pink-eyed teen turns his head to stare at the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke turns his head when he notices movement from the blond, staring into those pink orbs.

Nagisa leans in, getting up on the balls of his feet, covering the side of his mouth with his hand as he says, “Mako-chan told me that he may have to talk to him again.”

The raven-haired teen frowns deeply, leaning back just a bit to stare into those pink eyes, “what are you talking about?”

The blond shifts his eyes towards the pair, making sure they are still talking before replying, “while we were taking a bath. Mako-chan said that there is something that he just couldn’t shake off, like something he said to him.”

Sousuke sighs as he rubs the back of his neck and murmurs, “I don’t think they should talk anymore than they already have. The guy is bad news.”

Nagisa tilts his head to the side and says, “you met him? His boy…no, ex-boyfriend?”

The raven-haired teen nods once, “I don’t like him.”

Before Nagisa could reply, he hears Rei say, “Makoto-senpai! You can always talk to us about these kinds of things. Nagisa-kun and I will always support you!”

Makoto raises his hands up in defense, “Rei…I know, I know. And really, it makes me so glad to hear you say that.” The brunette smiles sweetly at the indigo-haired teen, feeling a lot better now that he has told his closest friends about his ex, albeit not quite a pleasant experience, but an experience that can only make their friendship stronger.

Rei smiles as he witnesses such a soft genuine smile on the brunette’s face, “good.” Rei sighs in relief, closing his eyes.

Makoto chuckles lightly as he ruffles the purple-eyed teen’s hair tenderly, “thank you…Rei-buchou.”

Rei lifts his head slightly to look at the emerald-eyed teen and laughs, “hahaha. Makoto-senpai!”

The brunette chuckles with the indigo-haired teen and stops as he suddenly remembers something, “oh! That reminds me. I have something for Nagisa. I got him some hakutou jelly from a confectionary store in Tokyo.” Makoto turns his head to find Nagisa and Sousuke talking and says, “Nagisa, I have something for you in my suitcase.”

Rei blinks a few times, confused and says, “Makoto-senpai…I don’t understand.”

The brunette walks over to his suitcase, unzipping it as he says, “remember when we had our skype chat awhile back…I told you and Nagisa to go back to your studies, but Nagisa didn’t want to. I told him that I would bring him some kind of confection if he went back to his studies.” Makoto pulls out a small white box that contains the pre-packaged hakutou jelly inside, putting down on the floor as he closes his suitcase, “I’m assuming that Nagisa followed through, so I’m keeping my promise that I made back then.”

Nagisa beams as he runs over to the brunette, hugging him from behind, “Mako-mama! You are the best! I remember! And I did! I went back to my studies!” The blond releases Makoto, sitting in seiza next to the emerald-eyed teen as he continues excitedly, “what is it, Mako-chan?”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow at the scene before glancing over at the purple-eyed teen staring at Makoto and Nagisa. The teal-eyed teen notices how Rei is chuckling to himself, his eyes filled with tenderness. The raven-haired teen smiles slowly, walking over to the indigo-haired teen and says as he stand next to the shorter teen, “did Nagisa really keep his end of the promise?”

Rei looks to the side, readjusting his glasses as he says with an amused smile, “yes. Nagisa was motivated that night. It was truly a beautiful sight. Just like this one.”

The raven-haired teen sighs contently as he shakes his head, “beautiful, huh?”

Before Rei could say anything, Sousuke and the purple-eyed teen hear Makoto’s high-pitched irritable voice, “Na~~gi~~sa!! Don’t eat it here! No…let’s go into the kitchen before you make a mess! Mataku!”

The brunette gently grasps Nagisa’s arm, pulling him up off the floor and leading him into the kitchen as the blond whines, “ehhhhhh!?!?! Why can’t I eat it here!? Mako-mama!” The pink-eyed teen puffs out his cheeks in playful irritation.

Rei sighs in defeat, the beautiful sight of friends keeping their promises broken by irritated voices and reprimanding actions. The indigo-haired teen murmurs as he face palms, “that’s not beautiful.”

Sousuke shrugs to himself as he says, “let them be. Let’s finish up setting up the futons.”

Rei releases a deep breath as he says, “yes! Sousuke-san.”

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****

** December 24th, Wednesday, 12: 03 am **

The free-swimmer quickly took a shower, cleaning his body so he can soak in the tub and be one with the water as soon as possible. Haru submerges into the water before Rin finished showering, happily drowning himself in the warm tranquil liquid, relishing in the embracing clarity the water has rewarded him with.

The redhead observes Haru soaking himself in the tub noticing his look of serenity, fulfillment, and a sense of belonging. Rin smiles as he watches Haru’s face relax, almost like he’s home in the tub of water. He thinks, _‘che. You really are merman. There’s no other way to put it.’_ Rin continues rubbing the soft sponge on his body, cleansing himself thoroughly.

After the redhead rinses the soapy bubbles from his body, he walks over to the tub, lifting one leg over the edge at a time before he immerses himself into the comforting, warm water. Some liquid splashes over the rim of the tub as the crimson-eyed teen descends into the steamy water. Rin sighs softly as he leans his arms against the edge of the tub, falling back onto the side of the rim as he rests the back of his neck against the edge. Rin closes his eyes, facing the ceiling as he takes a few deep breaths, relaxing in the warm water.

Haru watches the redhead across from him, his eyes trailing down the crimson-eyed teen’s body. The navy-haired teen leans against the corner of the tub, sprawled out on one side. The sapphire-eyed teen has his arms submerged in the water, the palm of his hands softly rubbing against the smooth, textured floor of the basin. The free-swimmer watches how the surface of the water cradles the redhead, especially the water swaying around Rin’s chest.

The sapphire-eyed teen submerges himself further into the water, leaning against the palms of his hands planted on the floor of the tub. His nose is just barely above the water as he extends the ball of his foot over to the redhead’s body, making contact with Rin’s rock hard abs.

Haru exhales through his nose softly as he rubs the ball of his foot over Rin’s torso, gently moving his foot up Rin’s body.

Rin inhales sharply as he feels Haru’s skin stroke his abs. The redhead smiles as Haru’s foot continues to caress his muscles, sending delightful shivers throughout his body, _‘oi…Haru…what are you trying to do?’_ The redhead senses Haru’s toes moving upwards, causing the crimson-eyed teen to gently glide his fingertips against the edge of the tub, towards his palm, feeling himself becoming hot and bothered by the action.

Haru remains quiet as he watches Rin’s face change from relaxation, to amusement, and then to seduction. He trails his toes over to Rin’s chest, brushing his big toe and ball of his foot against Rin’s nipple. The sapphire-eyed teen bites his lower lip as his the palm of his foot strokes Rin’s delicate skin.

A raw moan escapes the redhead’s lips, feeling the navy-haired teen’s foot brush up against his chest and his nipple. Rin lifts his head as he swiftly grasps Haru’s ankle, opening his eyes with tantalization reflecting in his eyes. Rin moves the free-swimmer’s foot a bit to the side as he says magnetically, “Haru…keep this up and I won’t be able to…” The redhead halts his words as Haru stares at Rin provocatively, daring the crimson-eyed teen to do something about it.

Haru wanted to brush his foot against Rin’s nipple again, but the redhead’s hand wraps around his ankle, ceasing his movements. He notices Rin’s eyes staring at him, those red eyes filled with temptation. The navy-haired teen holds Rin’s gaze before he lifts himself out of the water a bit to say, “won’t be able to…control yourself…Rin?”

The redhead inhales sharply, and exhales quickly as Haru speaks in a low, teasing tone. Rin’s heart pounds at the suggestiveness of the free-swimmer’s words and he pushes himself off his side of the tub, getting on his knees as he keeps his hand wrapped around Haru’s ankle, moving the navy-haired teen’s leg to the side as Rin crawls over between Haru’s legs. He watches the sapphire-eyed teen’s eyes widen as he struggles to sit up, moving back until Haru is sitting against the corner of the tub. Rin moves his hand up Haru’s leg, gently grazing his fingernails over the navy-haired teen’s calf as he places his hand on the edge of the tub, “damn right, Haru. How can I control myself…Ha-ru?”

Rin leans down and captures Haru’s lips in a greedy kiss as Haru brings his hands up, rubbing his fingertips over the redhead’s chest.

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****

** December 24th, Wednesday, 2: 58 am **

Makoto stirs in his sleep; a beeping sound in the distance makes the brunette slowly open his eyes. He turns to his side to find Nagisa’s hand right in front of his face. The brunette moves back from Nagisa’s arm, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand as he pushes himself up off the futon with the other.

The emerald-eyed teen takes a deep breath and looks around, noticing that the room is filled with darkness, only a dim nightlight in the dining room casts a slight blue light. Makoto turns his body, leaning against his pillow with his elbow, trying to find his cellphone to use as a light. He grasps it and presses the button on the front before a glaring white light beams up at him. Makoto winces as he fiddles with the settings of his phone to bring it down to a more comfortable brightness.

Makoto turns the phone around as he gets up from the futon and finds Nagisa all sprawled out, his arms and legs all over the place, sleeping in the futon next to him. Rei sleeping next to the blond with a relaxed expression on his face as he sleeps on his back, the blanket just below his chin, his glasses right above the pillow he’s sleeping on. The brunette spots the redhead with his back to Rei, sleeping on his side and he can’t really see Haru from where he’s standing.

The light goes out and Makoto hits the button again to check on Sousuke who’s sleeping next to him. The brunette shines the light towards the other side to find Sousuke’s futon empty. Makoto tilts his head, _‘eh? Where is he?’_

Makoto quietly moves away from his futon, moving a couple of steps away from the edge of the beds on the floor, and making sure not to step on any cellphones or glasses as he passes by. The brunette walks along the row of futons, passing Rin, and decides to check on Haru. He quirks an eyebrow as he notices Rin’s arm around Haru’s torso, spooning the navy-haired teen. The emerald-eyed teen smiles, _‘aww! How sweet! You really did miss Haru, didn’t you Rin? Oh, I hope you two aren’t doing that when Ren and Ran wake up…they’ll ask questions. I wonder…if Gou knows about you two. Probably not.’_

The brunette leaves the sleeping teens and heads towards the dining room, noticing light emanating beyond the kitchen door. The backstroke swimmer rubs his eyes again, knowing that the bright light beyond the kitchen door will probably take time for him to readjust to. Slowly, Makoto slides the door open, walks in, turns around, and shuts the door quietly.

Sousuke hears the kitchen door slide open and looks up from reading an article on his phone with a shocked expression, _‘huh? Makoto? Shit, did I wake him when I put the heating pillow into the microwave? Dammit. I knew I should have been paying more attention.’_ The raven-haired teen readjusts the warm, cotton, heating pillow filled with lavender and buckwheat hulls on his right shoulder as he says softly, “sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Makoto turns around, placing his phone in his pocket before he looks up to find Sousuke leaning against the counter and the refrigerator with some kind of pillow over his shoulder. The brunette scratches his head, squinting his eyes slightly due to the bright light of the kitchen and says quietly, “what are you doing? Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

The raven-haired teen watches the bewildered, sleepy, emerald-eyed teen stare at him curiously before he scratches his head, his slightly tussled hair sticking up all over the place. The teal-eyed teen smiles at the adorable sight of Makoto knitting his eyebrows as he walks over to the cabinet, grabbing a glass before heading over to the small round table to grab a pitcher of water.

Sousuke says, “my shoulder is a little stiff, so I couldn’t sleep. Your uncle told me he had these heating pillows stored in the kitchen and that I could help myself if I needed one.”

Makoto turns around and takes a profound sip from his glass before walking over to the raven-haired teen, stopping in front of Sousuke as he says, “oh. Is your shoulder hurting?” The brunette looks up into Sousuke’s eyes.

The raven-haired teen licks his lips and says, “no, not really. Just a little stiff. Probably because of the cold weather.” Sousuke places his phone into his black sweatpants pocket.

The brunette nods as he gazes at Sousuke, “oh…yeah that’s right. Hamasaki-san mentioned that. Do you have one of these? At home I mean.” Makoto’s eyes shift over to the cotton pillow draped over Sousuke’s shoulder. The brunette gently places his hand over the red, white, and green fabric, feeling a wave of warmth emanating through the pillow, “mmmm. It feels nice.”

Sousuke feels his heart race under that green gaze, and when Makoto’s eyes move towards his shoulder, the raven-haired teen exhales softly. He says, “no. I don’t have a heating pillow. I have a heating pad that I use instead. Um…you think I can have some of your water?”

The brunette looks up into those teal eyes and says, “oh, yeah, sure. I drank half of it already. Go ahead and finish it off.” Makoto extends his hand towards Sousuke.

The raven-haired teen grasps the glass firmly, his thumb gently grazes against the side of the backstroke swimmer’s palm, causing Makoto to inhale sharply.

Sousuke hears the brunette’s breath and swallows audibly as he stares at the glass. He moves his thumb that gently brushed against the brunette’s hand as he shifts his eyes over to stare at Makoto’s face.

Makoto closes his eyes as he bites his bottom lip after he sharply inhaled, _‘dammit. That sounded so…oh, I don’t know…wrong.’_ The brunette can feel his ears and cheeks flush at the implication of his actions, but suddenly he feels Sousuke’s thumb gently move against the side of his palm again and a warm tingly sensation courses through him as the brunette slightly trembles at the action, his knees feeling a little weaker than just moments ago.

The brunette chuckles nervously as he opens his eyes and says, “uh…umm…what…what were we talking about?”

The raven-haired teen finds himself intrigued by Makoto’s ears and cheeks turning from shades of pink, to shades of red. He says, “um, I-I don’t think we were talking about anything particular.” He takes the glass, finding his throat parched and downs the rest of Makoto’s glass of water.

Makoto looks up to find Sousuke drinking the rest of his water, the raven-haired teen’s adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he downs the liquid. The brunette tears his gaze away, rubbing his cheek, and moving his hand down to the side of his neck, _‘oh god…what am I doing? I know I just woke up, but I’m totally drooling over him. Shit.’_ The brunette takes a step towards the refrigerator, taking a couple deep breaths to calm his racing heart.

The raven-haired teen brings down the glass from his lips and hands Makoto the glass of water, “thanks. I didn’t realize how much I needed that.”

The brunette smiles nervously, taking the glass from the raven-haired teen, “oh, yeah. Um…how long have you been up anyway?” Makoto walks over to the sink and washes the cup.

Sousuke observes Makoto saunter over to the sink, his eyes traveling up and down the brunette’s backside, “uh…probably around thirty minutes or something like that. I’m not sure. I didn’t really check the time.” The raven-haired teen distracts himself by readjusting the heating pillow and applying a bit of pressure on his shoulder.

Makoto dries his hands on the dishtowel hanging on the cabinet next to him before he walks back towards Sousuke crossing his arms as he leans against the refrigerator, “seriously, how is your shoulder, Sousuke?”

The teal-eyed teen glances at Makoto and scoffs lightly, “you worry too much. It will be ok.” Sousuke holds the heating pillow in place as he does a few shoulder rolls, “yeah. It’s feeling a lot better now. I think…”

Suddenly something drops from above causing the brunette to jump and Sousuke grasps Makoto’s waist with his right arm, the heating pillow sliding off his shoulder, and covers Makoto’s mouth with his other.

Makoto feels the raven-haired teen’s strong hold on his body as well as the teal-eyed teen’s warm hand over his mouth. The brunette flushes deeply as his eyes widen in a shocked expression.

The air fills with awkward tension as the two teens breath heavily for a few moments. Sousuke stares at Makoto’s large eyes, searching his emerald orbs. The raven-haired teen finds himself speechless, his cheeks warm, his heart racing and looks within those green eyes, feeling himself being pulled into doing something unexpected, but the brunette tries to talk, his words muffled by the hand covering his mouth.

Sousuke opens and closes his mouth a couple times, feeling his cheeks burn brightly as he feels Makoto’s warm breath wash over his hand as the brunette tries to talk. He clears his throat before he says, “I, uh…I was just…m-making sure that…you were…ok. You…startle easy, and I didn’t want to wake the others.”

Makoto chuckles and tries to talk again, but muffles come out of Sousuke’s hand. The brunette raises his hands up, grasping the raven-haired teen’s hand gently, bringing his hand down from his mouth as he says, “sorry. You startled me. And really…it’s ok. I hope I didn’t wake anyone.” The brunette sighs softly, “I probably would have screamed if you didn’t cover my mouth like that.”

The backstroke swimmer looks over towards the sliding door toward the dining room, hoping that no one will wake up due to the clatter the teens made.

Sousuke grasps Makoto’s hand moving it away to look down between them and he notices some kind of plant with a string attached to it in between them, “uh, what’s that?”

Makoto turns his head, looks at Sousuke’s face and follows his line of sight. The brunette grabs the fake green plant with small white berries and says, “oh. It’s mistletoe.” The backstroke swimmer pulls the mistletoe up and hears something softly clink on the floor. Makoto tries to move back and Sousuke releases his grip on the brunette as he rubs the back of his head, looking away.

The emerald-eyed teen takes a step back and notices that the mistletoe is attached with a fishing line and a black rod that he pulls up. The brunette sighs and says, “oh my god. This must be Nagisa’s doing. He must have put this thing on top of the refrigerator for kisses during Christmas.” Makoto chuckles, “I can’t believe he brought this with him. I didn’t think he would repeat last year’s fiasco.”

Sousuke picks up the heating pillow off the floor as he listens to Makoto’s words and looks back at the brunette with a stunned expression, “wait, what? Don’t tell me he dangled that thing between people to make them kiss.”

The brunette watches the raven-haired teen pick up the heating pillow off the floor, and observes Sousuke’s slightly horrified expression. He smiles with a bit of embarrassment, “oh, well…then maybe I shouldn’t say anything. I should tell you, my family won’t let you pass if the mistletoe hanging between you and someone else.”

Sousuke frowns and sighs, “you’re serious?”

Makoto opens his mouth to say something, but stops as he closes his mouth, pressing his lips together as he nods a couple times.

The raven-haired teen leans against the counter, and places the heating pillow on it as he rubs his shoulder with his hand, “I see. So, since the mistletoe fell on us, we don’t have to do anything about it…do we?”

Makoto processes the question and is about to respond until his eyes rest on Sousuke’s hand kneading his shoulder. The brunette places his hand over Sousuke’s hand and says, “may I, Sousuke? Please…let me check your shoulder.” The brunette looks up to stare into those teal eyes.

The raven-haired teen gazes into those green eyes and sees nothing but concern laced within his features. Sousuke exhales and says, “alright.” He brings down his hand and looks away.

Makoto takes his hand and leads the raven-haired teen towards the round table with two wooden chairs. The brunette puts down the mistletoe on a rod down on the table as he quietly pulls out a chair for Sousuke to sit down.

The teal-eyed teen sits down as Makoto gently kneads his shoulder. Sousuke closes his eyes and relishes in the pressure the brunette places on his muscles and says, “nevermind, this feels so much…better.”

Makoto smiles as he continues applying pressure on Sousuke’s right shoulder and says, “let me know if you want more or less pressure.”

Sousuke leans back into the chair and says, “no…this, this is good.”

The brunette silently massages Sousuke’s shoulder for several minutes until he says, “Let me see your shoulder, Sousuke. I just want to make sure it looks ok.” Makoto moves away from Sousuke’s back and walks over to face the raven-haired teen, “take your shirt off.”

The teal-eyed teen sighs before he opens his eyes and pulls off his shirt as he says, “alright…Mako-mama.”

Makoto makes a face and says, “oh no. Don’t tell me that you are picking up Nagisa’s bad habits.”

Sousuke tosses his blue t-shirt on the table as he leans back in the chair with a smirk on his face. He shrugs as he says, “I don’t know, but that doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

Makoto kneels down next to Sousuke and gently runs his fingers over Sousuke’s right shoulder. He notices that the skin looks a little pink, probably from all the heat from the heating pillow and the massage he gave him. The brunette says, “well, maybe I should start calling you Sou-chan. What do you think about that?”

Sousuke watches Makoto gently graze his skin and he inhales deeply, feeling his heart flutter as he watches the brunette gently look after his shoulder and ponders, _‘he really is worried. Not that I’ve ever doubted it in the past, but…it’s times like these that I realize that I like the attention he gives me. Usually I hate having others being so careful around me, especially when it comes to shoulder. Makoto…hmm.’_ The raven-haired teen eyes drift over to the brunette’s lips as he watches Makoto talk.

The teal-eyed teen playfully frowns and says, “no. Don’t call me that. It doesn’t sound right coming from you, Mako-mama.” Sousuke smirks with amusement.

The brunette shifts his gaze to stare at the teal-eyed teen and knits his eyebrows playfully, “whatever you say…Sou.”

The raven-haired teen’s smirk disappears and his mouth parts as he stares at the brunette, feeling his cheeks heat up and breaks eye contact, looking towards the table. He thinks, _‘damn…is it me, or is it a little warm in here?”_

Makoto smiles as he focuses his attention back on Sousuke’s shoulder. With his thumb he grazes the raised scar of Sousuke’s incision for the surgery he had, thinking, _‘you have been through a lot Sousuke. Your shoulder has been through a lot. This…is still a sore spot for you. I wish I could make this go away, so you could feel better.’_

Sousuke closes his eyes as Makoto touches his scar. He can tell the difference since Makoto’s touch has become more delicate, cautionary, and deliberate. Every time the ex-butterfly swimmer looked at his shoulder in the mirror, he is reminded of his mistakes and his failures. Sousuke had studied the scar, just staring at it in the mirror, and all he could see is nothing but negativity. But he can tell that Makoto doesn’t carry the same perspective he does.

All of a sudden, Sousuke feels something different pressed up against his shoulder, his scar to be precise. The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows, opening his eyes and turns his head to find Makoto softly planting a kiss upon his shoulder.

Sousuke just stares at the brunette pressing his soft lips against his shoulder, the backstroke swimmer’s eyes closed with a serene expression on his face. The teal-eyed teen watches Makoto gently pull back, the feel of those angelic lips pressed upon his skin lingers, sending electric currents through him as he inhales sharply.

Makoto smiles as he turns his head to gaze at Sousuke and says, “I never answered your question. Consider this the kiss you receive from the mistletoe that dangled between us. And, let me know if you have any more problems with your shoulder, Sou. Hopefully it will feel better soon.”

The brunette can tell that there is a distinct blush on his cheeks as he gets up and heads over to the door. His hand hovers over the handle as he says, “I’m gonna head back to bed, now. Don’t stay up too late…Sou.” Makoto pulls the handle and quietly slides the door open, closing it behind him.

Makoto takes one step into the dark dining room before he places a hand over his chest, clutching his shirt, taking a few deep breaths, _‘he never said…I couldn’t call him Sou. Why? Why didn’t he stop me the second time…or the third time? I wonder…if that was a bad idea…kissing his shoulder like that.’_ The brunette takes his time calming his nerves, his heart.

Sousuke watched the brunette leave and once he is gone, he releases the breath he was holding, _‘crap. Makoto…you really are something. You’re just full of surprises. I don’t know…what to do with what you left me with, but I accept it.’_ The raven-haired teen slowly places his hand over the scar on his shoulder, tracing the raised skin with his fingertips, _‘I…you worry too much. No one has ever, done something like that before. And…I…’_ Sousuke takes a deep breath as he closes his eyes, remembering Makoto’s lips on his shoulder, gently caressing his skin as the raven-haired teen places his palm over his shoulder, _‘I do accept, and I want more…but I’m so confused.’_

The teal-eyed teen throws his head back, knitting his eyebrows as he raises both hands to cover his face trying to figure out what’s happening to him. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 24th, Wednesday, 8: 57 am **

Makoto stirs in his sleep but this time he takes a whiff of the air around him detecting the scent of fish cooking and he groans as he rubs his face with his hand saying in a groggy voice, “H-haru…please…don’t put pineapple…on the mackerel. Please…anything but that.”

Nagisa who is folding up the blankets and the futons turns his head and smiles as he crawls over to the groggy brunette and hugs him as he says in a cheery, sing-song tone, “Mako-chan! Good-morning! Hope you had some wonderful dreams, but it’s time to wake up!” The blond squeezes the emerald-eyed teen, giggling.

Makoto gasps when he feels Nagisa’s grasp on him and even though he wants to push him away, he can’t help but smile through the grogginess he feels. The brunette groans again as he wraps an arm around Nagisa, as he sits up, “ok, ok, Nagisa. Good-morning to you too.” He opens his eyes to find the breaststroke swimmer grinning at him, his pink eyes sparkling with delight.

Makoto chuckles and says, “I take it you had a good night’s sleep considering how happy you look this morning. What happened?”

Nagisa gets up and extends a hand to Makoto as he says in a quick, excited tone, “oh, nothing, Mako-chan! When I got up I saw Haru-chan, Rei-chan, and Tetsu-chan cooking in the kitchen! It was a wonderful sight! Did you know that Tetsu-chan wears a black frilly apron with cute pink hearts all over it when he cooks? Your uncle is adorable, Mako-chan! I’m gonna ask him where I can find an apron like that, so I can make Rei-chan wear it. Oh! We decided to go to the game center downtown and check out the claw cranes later! Rei-chan wants to try getting some goodies, and Haru-chan was totally cool with it. Oh! And Tetsu-chan said that he needs to go shopping with your parents, so we will go to the game center while they do their shopping. ”

The brunette takes the blond’s hand and allows the pink-eyed teen to pull him up, but he makes sure to push off the floor to ensure that Nagisa doesn’t have to pull up his whole weight. Makoto gives the blond a bewildered look before shaking his head, _‘oh…it’s too early for this kind of thing. He’s so excited. What is he talking about? An apron? Game center? Shopping?’_ The emerald-eyed teen smiles and says, “well, we’ll see about that. Is everyone up already?”

Nagisa looks down at the sleeping raven-haired teen on the floor and says, “nope. Sou-chan is still sleeping.”

Makoto turns around to find the ex-butterfly swimmer on his back, with one arm out of the blanket and the blanket up to his chin, resting peacefully. The brunette finds himself remembering the last time he watched his sleeping face, how he trailed down his finger over the bridge of his nose, and lingering on his lips.

Makoto looks down at his feet, feeling a blush burn his ears, _‘are things going to be weird between us Sousuke? Or is it just going to be me? What am I going to do? I don’t want things to be weird between us.’_ The emerald-eyed teen sighs softly, _‘I just have to remember…that he doesn’t like me like that. Yeah, he doesn’t.’_

Rin walks by and says, “yo, Makoto.”

The brunette looks up to find the redhead dressed in a pair of navy jeans, a red deep v-neck sweater with cream-colored trim. Underneath the red sweater, the crimson-eyed teen wears a white plaid with several shades of green dress shirt, with the first two buttons near the neck unbuttoned, giving the outfit more of a casual look.

The emerald-eyed teen smiles and says, “yo, Rin. Wow, you look really nice in that outfit. Trying to impress someone?” Makoto chuckles.

Rin clicks his tongue, looking away, “che. I’m not trying to impress anyone.” The redhead’s cheeks are slightly pink.

Sousuke who has been awake for the last couple of minutes, heard the whole conversation, says with his eye closed, “yeah, sure, Rin. Keep telling yourself that and maybe the rest of the world will believe you.”

The redhead looks down and says, “oi, Sousuke. If you’re awake, get up! You lazy bum.” Rin walks over to Sousuke’s side, squats down, and gently shakes his arm with his hand on the raven-haired teen’s bicep, “Sousuke…get up!”

The teal-eyed teen opens one eye and says, “make me.”

Nagisa giggles and says, “oh! I can do that!” The blond moves towards the foot of the futon, standing right in front of the raven-haired teen and says, “I’ll jump on you if you don’t get up!”

Sousuke opens both eyes and says, “oi! Don’t!” The ex-butterfly swimmer starts to push himself off the futon.”

Makoto interrupts, standing next to Nagisa, grasping the blond’s shoulders, “Na~gi~sa! Please don’t do that. I’ll help Sousuke up, why don’t you and Rin go check on Gou, Ren, and Ran. Since you went to check on Haru, Rei, and my uncle, maybe you can let them know when breakfast will be served, ne? You think you can do this for me since I woke up late?”

The pink-eyed teen quirks an eyebrow suspiciously, “eehhhh!? Do you have some special wake up call for Sou-chan?”

Rin chuckles as he says to the raven-haired teen, “get up, Sousuke. Don’t cause Makoto too many problems.” The redhead smiles at his best friend before getting up and grabbing Nagisa’s wrist, “c’mon, Nagisa. Let’s do our part and check on Gou, and the twins.”

Makoto sighs in relief, “thank you, Rin.”

The redhead winks at the emerald-eyed teen, “no problem. Get the big lug up, wash up and get dressed. Nagisa and I will be upstairs.”

Rin drags the blond towards the staircase as the blond whines, “Rin-Rin! Mako-chan didn’t answer my question! No fair! Rin-Rin!”

Makoto can imagine the blond pouting while being dragged by the redhead, possibly puffing out his cheeks in irritation. The brunette smiles as he watches the pair walk away.

Sousuke pushes himself off the futon, getting up as he rubs his face.

The brunette turns his gaze over to the raven-haired teen and says, “did you get enough sleep last night?”

The ex-butterfly swimmer takes a deep breath, “did I get enough? Enough to get me through the day, yeah.”

Makoto sighs, feeling a little embarrassed all of a sudden as he remembers what he did last night. The brunette turns his gaze to the side, rubbing the back of his neck as he says, “alright sleepy-head, let’s go wash up. And after we get dressed, I’ll make you some coffee.”

The emerald-eyed teen slowly wraps his hand around Sousuke’s forearm, feeling heat burning his ears as he leads the raven-haired teen towards the restroom.

Sousuke follows Makoto as he stares at the brunette’s hand enveloped around his forearm, feeling warmth burst through his chest. He swallows as he tears his gaze from Makoto’s hand that is still connected around his arm, then looks down at Makoto’s feet, _‘Makoto…’_

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 24th, Wednesday, 2: 19 pm **

Makoto leans against the wall as he waits for Gou to finish up in the game center washroom. He takes out his cellphone to check his messages from his uncle and his mother. He replies to the messages as he double-checks the address to the restaurant his uncle has decided on.

The brunette accidently opens up his list of text messages and his eyes fall on Ogata-san’s name. He opens up the message again to re-read before he closes his phone, and puts it in his jacket pocket. He runs a hand through his hair, stopping his movements at the back of his head. His thoughts halt his movements as he recalls what he did last night in the kitchen.

The brunette kissed Sousuke’s scarred shoulder, the raven-haired teen felt so warm under his fingertips when he trailed down Sousuke’s flesh. He wondered if Sousuke was hurting more than he let on, even if it was just the weather making his muscles stiff. Without much thought, Makoto leaned forward, pressing his lips over Sousuke’s shoulder in hopes that it would feel better.

The brunette licks his lips, moving his hand from the back of his head to tenderly touch his lips. He swallows as he relives the experience of his mouth over the teal-eyed teen’s flesh, feeling his heart pound in his ears, butterflies in his stomach, and his eyes closing, almost as if he was treasuring the moment. He thinks, _‘that was more than what I intended. I used the mistletoe as the reason to kiss his shoulder like that, but…I do have…more feelings for Sousuke…more than just friendship. I want…to do more things like that with him. He deserves more than what I can give him right now. I should really be careful. The last thing…’_

Before the brunette could finish his thought, Gou leans forward and to the side a little bit to catch the emerald-eyed teen’s eyes and says, “Makoto-senpai? Are you ok?”

The backstroke swimmer blinks a few times, dropping his hand from his mouth, and noticing curious crimson eyes staring up at him as he smiles sheepishly, “ah, Gou-chan. Sorry, sorry. I, I was just lost in my own thoughts.”

The redhead girl raises an eyebrow and says, “oh. What were you thinking about? Something you left in Tokyo? A good friend, maybe?”

Makoto chuckles for a moment, opening his mouth to respond before he finds himself holding his breath, frowning and closing his mouth. The brunette straightens his posture and stares into Gou’s inquisitive gaze, _‘I should tell her, about my boyfriend too. After last night, I really don’t want to have her being the only one left out.’_

The brunette shifts his gaze to the side as he rubs the side of his arm slowly, “um…Gou-chan. I really should tell you something. And…”

Gou straightens her posture as she readjusts her purse across her body slightly as she says with her pointer finger on the side of her chin, “hmm, is this about onii-chan and his mysterious lover with the most beautiful triceps I’ve ever seen?”

Gou smiles as she cradles her cheeks with the palm of her hands with a dreamy glint her eyes, tilting her head.

Makoto knits his eyebrows as he stares at her with a blank expression, _‘eh? Eh?? EH!?!? Triceps!? What is she…’_ Suddenly it dawns on him and he face palms as he slouches forward, _‘oh my god! Haru! She knows about Rin and Haru!?! How??’_

Gou giggles as she watches the brunette sink into himself and says, “I’ve known for a several months now. I figured it out on my own. Onii-chan and Haruka-senpai have such an affinity to each other, but onii-chan is easier to read when it comes to matters of the heart…such a romantic. Onii-chan is so funny sometimes. But, he hasn’t directly told me about it yet.”

The brunette peeks through his fingers, finding the redhead laughing behind her hand, “I…see. Well, um…ok.” Makoto chuckles sheepishly, “nothing gets past you, does it, Gou-chan.”

The redhead tilts her head and says, “sometimes. But, that isn’t what you wanted to tell me about, is it Makoto-senpai? Don’t tell me…you have a lover too?”

Makoto sighs heavily, slouching further forward as he nods, “not anymore. We broke up last month. Anyway, I told the guys about it, and I just didn’t want you to be left out, Gou-chan.”

The crimson-eyed girl’s eyes widen as she listens to the brunette, noticing the sadness in his voice. She whispers, “Makoto-senpai. I’m so…sorry.”

The emerald-eyed teen looks up to find Gou’s shocked face and smiles sadly, “don’t be. It just didn’t work out between us. And…next time someone special comes into my life, I won’t hide it from you either.”

Gou swiftly takes a couple steps towards Makoto, wrapping her arms around his neck in an embrace, “ok, Makoto-senpai.” She squeezes him gently as she feels the brunette hands on her back, returning the hug, “just know…his muscles weren’t worth it, if he can’t appreciate you.”

Makoto’s eyes widen for a moment as he listens to Gou’s words before he laughs, “Gou-chan! Thank you! I feel like I’ve wronged all of you…and you all have forgiven me.” The brunette tilts his head slightly as he knits his eyebrows, _‘eh? Wait…she said ‘his muscles.’ How…how did she know?’_

Gou steps back as she rests her hands on Makoto’s biceps, looking up into his emerald-eyes, “oh…Makoto-senpai. You haven’t wronged me. You made a mistake. In fact, I’m glad you said something about it. I had no idea. Are things really ok?”

The brunette nods and says, “it will be Gou-chan. I promise. But um…he? You said ‘he,’ didn’t you?”

The crimson-eyed girl smiles as she steps back again, she gives the emerald-eyed teen a knowing look as she says, “I took a guess. Besides, it doesn’t bother me. Onii-chan is the same. I’m just waiting for Onii-chan to build up the courage to tell me when he’s ready.”

Gou winks at Makoto as she continues, “ok. Just remember the best muscles I can see you paired with are a great pair of glutes and quadriceps.” She tilts her head to the side in thought, with her pointer finger on her chin, “hmm…maybe…”

Makoto pushes himself off the wall, moving behind the redhead as he gently places his hands on Gou’s shoulders, “ahh…I think that’s enough, Gou-chan. I’ll bear that in mind. Glutes and quads.” The brunette pushes the crimson-eyed teen away from the restrooms and over to the claw cranes the rest of the group had headed towards earlier, “c’mon. Let’s see what everyone else is up to.”

The redhead smiles as she walks forward, and says, “yes, yes, Makoto-senpai!” 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 24th, Wednesday, 2: 33 pm **

Sousuke watches Rin in front of a claw crane at the request of Ran wanting one of the stuffed dolls of _Elsa_ or _Anna_. The raven-haired teen frowns as he continues observing the redhead trying to find the proper doll to go after before he puts his money in.

Rei chuckles suddenly, catching the attention of the twins and breaking Rin’s concentration as the purple-eyed teen says, “I see it now! You should go after…” Rei points to one that looks unobstructed by anything, continuing, “that one. According to my calculations, this doll will be the easiest to grab.”

Rin makes a face, looking between the indigo-haired teen and the doll that Rei pointed out and says, “I don’t know. Why don’t you try it?”

Rei laughs and says, “what’s wrong Rin-san? Afraid that you won’t be able to grab it?”

Rin frowns and growls lightly, “oi.”

The purple-eyed teen nods once, readjusting his red-framed glasses as he says, “watch me perfectly obtain the beautiful princess _Anna_ from the sea of _Frozen_ toys!”

Ran’s eyes sparkle with delight, “Rei-butterfly-nii! You’re amazing! I wanna see! Please save princess _Anna_ with your special claw crane powers!” The little girl with pigtails bounces up and down, clasping her hands together.

Rin moves to the side and says, “go right ahead, big shot. I’d like to see your deductions come to fruition.”

Nagisa giggles as he places his hands on Haru’s shoulder, “ne, ne, Haru-chan! I wanna see you try a different machine after this! It’s the one with the purple penguins! But I wanna see Rei snatch the princess first.” The blond bounces around excitedly.

Haru nods nonchalantly to answer the blond’s question before he peers over Rin’s shoulder to see what everyone one else is talking about.

Makoto and Gou walk over to the gang huddled over the crane machine. The crimson-eyed girl says curiously, “eh? What are you guys doing?”

Both Gou and Makoto look to the side to find _Frozen_ plush toys in the machine. Makoto chuckles lightly as he says, “ah.”

Everyone watches Rei use the claw crane machine. Nagisa moves over to where Ran is, picking her up gently so she can see the prize that the purple-eyed teen is trying to get for her.

Ren pulls Sousuke’s jacket lightly, causing the teal-eyed teen to stare into big brown orbs. The raven-haired teen tilts his head and says, “yes, Ren? Something wrong?”

Ren extends his arms up, a nonverbal response to Sousuke’s question, indicating that the young boy wants the broody teen to pick him up.

Sousuke sighs, squatting down and says, “alright, grab on to me.”

The little boy walks over to Sousuke’s right side about to grab on to be picked up but stops himself and says quietly, “oh…not that side. Onii-chan said the other side.”

The raven-haired teen raises his eyebrows and says, “what do you mean by that? What did Makoto tell you?”

Ren moves over to Sousuke’s left side, wrapping his arms around the raven-haired teen’s shoulders and says, “onii-chan just said that your left side is stronger than your right. He didn’t say why. Is it true? That your left side is stronger? Do you work out one side more than the other?”

The teal-eyed teen picks up Ren with his left arm, easily lifting the boy up as he listens to the brown-eyed boy’s response, _‘when did he tell you that?’_

Before Sousuke could reply, Ren busies himself by watching the claw crane machine from the raven-haired teen’s height.

Sousuke lightly frowns, watching the little boy in his arms stare at the claw crane with interest as the raven-haired teen wonders, _‘huh. I wonder why Makoto decided to tell Ren about my shoulder? Wait…he said that my left side is stronger, not my right side is injured.’_ The teal-eyed teen scoffs softly, _‘figures Makoto wouldn't tell them about my injury.’_ The ex-butterfly swimmer smiles, his face relaxing into a more calming presence, rather than his normal intimidating, indifferent vibe. Sousuke doesn’t notice his own facial features, nor the presence he is exuding.

Suddenly the doll drops right before the claw opens up, dropping on the clear plastic divider and falling into the sea of _Frozen_ toys.

Rei’s jaw drops in horror, his calculations failing him as his hand trembles over the joystick. Nagisa gently taps Rei’s shoulder with his shoulder and says playfully, “awwww! Try again, Rei-chan! The evil claw is trying to foil your precious deductions! C’mon! Don’t give up now! You were so close! Right, Ran-Ran?”

Ran’s pout switches over to a beaming smile, “yeah! Nagi-nii is right! You have to try again! Princess _Anna_ was so close from being rescued! You have to save her, Rei-butterfly-nii!”

Rei’s trembling hand reaches up to readjusts his glasses once again, looking at the new predicament of the situation in the sea of _Frozen_ toys. He says with a newfound determination, “I will save princess _Anna_ from the confines of this contraption! And I will make sure that the princess is safely within Ran’s hands…without fail! I will accomplish this task!” Rei laughs with the burning passion building up within his soul.

Nagisa’s eyes sparkle with admiration, “ahhhh! Rei-chan! You’re like a knight in shining armor! Ne, Ran-Ran?”

Ran nods vigorously and says, “yes! Just like _Kristoff_! Well…I don’t think you eat your boogers like he does.”

Nagisa laughs wholeheartedly, imagining Rei sticking his fingers in his nose, eating boogers. The pink-eyed teen says between laughs, “hahaha! Rei-chan! Oh my god! Rei-chan! Hahaha!”

Gou makes a face and frowns, “I can’t imagine Rei-kun doing that.” She shakes her head, slightly disgusted by the suggestion.

Makoto chuckles as he watches Rei, Nagisa, Ran, and Gou interact with each other before his eyes move over to the other side of the claw crane machine. He notices Rin and Haru whispering to each other about something, and behind the pair is Sousuke carrying his little brother. The brunette takes a closer look and notices that Ren is on the raven-haired teen’s left side. Makoto sighs with relief, _‘thank goodness. I was afraid Ren would forget about what I told him yesterday…about Sousuke’s shoulder. Or was it Sousuke that made sure about his shoulder? Well, either way, I’m glad he’s being careful about it.’_

The emerald-eyed teen gently grazes his fingertips over his lips, remembering the moment he kissed Sousuke’s shoulder. He can feel his ears burn lightly in a flush as he continues observing how Ren asks Sousuke about something, another machine that’s on the other side.

Ren points to a claw crane machine behind them, across the way that has _Youkai Watch_ goodies in it and says, “oh! I want to look at that. Can I Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen turns his body to look at the machine that the little boy points to, noticing some small plush toys of some silly looking characters, “ok. Sure, why not. Seems like Rei is gonna be here awhile trying to save princess _Anna_. Let me just tell Rin where we are going, ok?”

Ren smiles and nods, “ok.”

Sousuke leans forward towards Rin’s ear and whispers, “Rin, I’m gonna take Ren over to the machine that’s across the way. He wants to check out the toys in there.”

Rin was watching Rei try to get the princess _Anna_ for the second time and when he hears Sousuke’s voice out of the blue, he slightly stiffens in a bit of shock, not expecting the raven-haired teen to just lean forward and whisper in his ear. The redhead turns around and says, “eh? What was that, Sousuke?”

The teal-eyed teen sighs and says, “Ren and I are heading over there.” Sousuke turns his body and points to one of the machines across the way.

Haru watches Rin, Sousuke, and Ren from the corner of his eye before his full attention moves to follow the ex-butterfly swimmer’s hand, following with his eyes what the raven-haired teen is referring to.

Rin quirks an eyebrow and says, “I don’t know, Sousuke. I just don’t want you losing your way.”

The teal-eyed teen frowns and says, “I won’t get lost, Rin.”

Rin rolls his eyes, “yeah, right. Maybe I should go with you.”

Haru looks over towards the brunette on the other side of the claw crane machine, trying to gain Makoto’s attention with his gaze.

The brunette notices Sousuke and Rin talking before his eyes catch Haru’s sapphire gaze. Makoto tilts his head at the navy-haired teen with a questioning stare.

The free-swimmer says silently with his eyes, ‘Sousuke wants to take Ren to a different machine and Rin doesn’t want him to get lost. You should go with him.’

The brunette nods with a smile, walking around the group and catches Rin’s words.

The redhead sighs, “that’s not what I mean, Sousuke.”

Makoto interrupts, “ne, Sousuke, Rin...what’s wrong?”

Ren speaks up and says, “onii-chan. I want to see the machine with the _Youkai Watch_ characters. Is it ok if Sousuke and I go?”

Makoto chuckles as he ruffles Ren’s hair affectionately, “of course. Is it ok if I come with you guys?” The brunette shifts his gaze to the raven-haired teen.

The teal-eyed teen stares at the backstroke swimmer with a wavering gaze and says, “I’m sure Ren would love to have you come with us. Isn’t that right, Ren?”

The little boy smiles as he nods, “yup. Let’s go.”

Sousuke carrying Makoto’s little brother and the brunette slowly walk over across the way to a different claw crane machine.

Rin turns around and notices that Rei had just missed getting the princess yet again.

Haru glances between the group of friends that surround him and Makoto as they walk away.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ren lets go of Sousuke shoulder, placing his hands on the glass of the claw crane machine with a huge smile on his face, “whoa! Look at that! They have _Jibanyan_! And it’s super cute too! Ran would love one too!” The brown-eyed boy looks between his big brother and Sousuke, “can I try? I wanna try!”

Makoto chuckles and says, “alright, Ren. I have some money, you can try a few times.”

Sousuke puts down the little boy, moving to the side as he watches Makoto and Ren decide which ones they want to try for. The raven-haired teen looks back over to where Rin and the others are, and witnesses Rei screaming. The teal-eyed teen knits his eyebrows shaking his head at the dramatic display of the purple-eyed teen grasping his indigo hair with his hands as he screams up towards the heavens. He notices Rin taking Rei’s place, as Gou comforts the bespectacled butterfly swimmer by patting his back.

Makoto looks up to check on the teal-eyed teen and finds Sousuke looking back at the others. Quickly the brunette looks back to find Rin in front of the claw crane and wonders, _‘oh…I wonder what happened over there. Seems Sousuke is curious too. Or maybe he’s worried about Rin.’_

Ren jumps up and down and says, “I know which one I’m gonna try for, onii-chan!” He turns around to face his big brother and says, “put in the money. I wanna try!”

Makoto giggles at the exuberant energy Ren displays, digging his hand into his jacket pocket, pulling out the needed coins to place into the machine. The brunette gives the coins to Ren and says, “alright. Go on. Let’s see how well you do, Ren. Remember if you need any help, Sousuke and I will be right here.”

The raven-haired teen hears his name, and turns his head to observe Ren turning around and placing the coins into the machine. Sousuke leans down and whispers into Makoto’s ear, “so, what’s he trying for?”

The brunette holds his breath for a moment, releasing some air as he side-glances over at the teal-eyed teen staring at the machine in front of them and swallows softly, “oh. I’m pretty sure he’s trying for _Jibanyan_. The white and red cat with the two tails and the yellow belt.”

Ren grabs the joystick and moves the claw towards one of the _Jibanyan_ in the machine, looking up from the claw, to the joystick, and at the plush of his choice, concentrating.

Sousuke watches the claw the little boy controls, and sees which plush Ren is trying to go for.

Makoto finds himself staring at the raven-haired teen’s profile and Ren’s voice brings him back to the current circumstances.

Ren says, “I think I have it!” The little boy presses the button and watches the claw come down on the on the _Jibanyan_ plush toy.

Makoto, Sousuke, and Ren stare at the claw as it comes up and Ren groans as the plush toy slips through the claws hands.

The brunette digs through his pocket and gives Ren more money to try again.

The little boy hugs Makoto and says, “thank you, onii-chan! You are the best!” He releases his older brother, smiling, “one day we are gonna get married, right?”

Sousuke raises his eyebrows and says, “what? You and your brother are gonna get married?” The teal-eyed teen gazes at Makoto with confusion.

The emerald-eyed teen smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “um, well. Ren…I’m not so sure about that.”

Ren knits his eyebrows and tilts his head, “huh? Why not? Oh. Don’t tell me you are gonna marry Ran!?”

Sousuke makes a bewildered face, becoming more concerned about the conversation.

Makoto sighs deeply, “Ren…I’m not so sure about that either. C’mon, Ren…let’s focus on getting that _Jibanyan_ instead.” The brunette gently guides the brown-eyed boy to turn around towards the machine and try again.

Sousuke leans closer to the brunette and whispers into his ear, “so, you’re gonna marry one of your siblings, huh?”

The brunette face palms and groans lightly, “well, it all started when Ran wanted to play ‘house’ and now both Ren and Ran fight over who will marry me when they get older, but I haven’t really given either of them an answer. I think they know they really can’t marry me…at least I hope so.”

Sousuke chuckles softly, side-glancing over at the emerald-eyed teen, “is that so? They really love you, don’t they?”

Makoto looks to the side and their gazes meet. The brunette’s eyes waver before he looks away, his ears burning as he chuckles lightly, “a-um, yeah, I guess so. I spoil them…probably more than I should.”

Sousuke feels warmth fill him as Makoto’s emerald gaze meets his teal ones, his heart skips a beat for a moment before it dissipates; when the brunette looks away, the teal-eyed teen was about to say something but he hears a frustrated groan come from Ren.

The little boy turns around and says with defeat, “I missed again, onii-chan.”

Makoto pats Ren’s head sweetly and says, “awww. I’m sorry, Ren.”

Sousuke digs into his pocket and says, “can I try, Ren? What will you give me this time if I get you one?”

Makoto’s eyes widen, his mouth parting in shock, _‘whoa. Are you serious, Sousuke!? That’s not…’_

Before the brunette could finish his thoughts, or even reply, Ren says, “well…I already said onii-chan will do anything for you last night, so, this time, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, “is that a promise? Anything I want?”

Ren nods and says, “you have my word! I promise.”

Makoto sighs in defeat and says, “whoa, Ren! Are you sure you should be making promises like that? And your word, no less. Ren. You need to be more careful when you offer something like that to another person.”

Ren tilts his head and says, “eh? But I thought Sousuke is a good friend. If he’s a good friend to you, he’s a good person, right? He won’t do anything bad, or make me do anything bad, right?”

Sousuke chuckles, “I promise I won’t ask you to do something you don’t want to do, Ren. How does that sound?”

Ren smiles and nods, “I think that sounds fair.” He looks over at Makoto and says, “isn’t it?”

The brunette makes a face and says, “yeah, that is. Just…be more careful with other people, Ren.”

The brown-eyed boy nods as he moves out of the way, allowing Sousuke to take control of the joystick in front of the machine.

Makoto picks up Ren, carrying him so he can see up high.

Sousuke puts the coins in the machine and carefully moves the claw over the red and white cat plushie, looking between the claw and the toy, lining it up.

Ren watches intently as Makoto stares at the raven-haired teen’s serious face. The brunette smiles at the effort the teal-eyed teen is exhibiting to get Ren one of those plush toys. The last time Makoto tried to get his siblings anything from a claw crane machine, he blew his allowance that he was given.

Ren gasps as he sees _Jibanyan_ in the claw and moving towards the slot. Makoto puts Ren down, watching the scene in awe, hoping the claw doesn’t drop the toy before it reaches the opening. The brunette holds his breath as he waits for the claw to hover over the slot, releasing it as it drops through the hole. Ren bends down and grabs the plush toy hugging it.

Makoto says without thinking, “wow. You’re really good at this. I never can get things out of machines like this.”

Sousuke turns his head and smirks at the brunette, “I guess I have a special skill.”

Ren jumps up and down, hugging Sousuke’s leg, “wow! You are the best, Sou-nii!”

The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen as he looks down into those brown-eyes and says, “huh? Sou-nii?”

Ren laughs and says, “yeah! Sou-nii! You’re really nice! I like you!”

Sousuke blinks, not knowing what to say. Makoto kneels down on one knee, placing his hand on Ren’s shoulder, smiling, “Sousuke is sweet, isn’t he, Ren?” The brunette looks up at the teal-eyed teen and says, “real sweet.”

The raven-haired teen blinks a couple times and frowns before he sighs, “I’m not sweet.” Sousuke crosses his arms over his chest.

Ren laughs as releases Sousuke’s leg, hugging his new prized possession, “yup. Sou-nii is super nice! I’m gonna tell Ran!” Ren runs over to the other side, hugging _Jibanyan_ closely.

Sousuke watches the little boy run off and says softly, “oi. What the…” He sighs as he sees Ren talking with Haru, “I’m not sweet.”

Makoto gets up on his feet, chuckling at the raven-haired teen, “seems like I'm not the only one that thinks you’re sweet on the inside, Sousuke.”

The teal-eyed teen rubs his neck, looking away from the brunette, “seems so. Don’t forget, your brother offered your services to me.”

Makoto laughs sheepishly, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets as he looks down at his shoes, “yeah…I know. Have you decided what you want from me?”

Sousuke eyes shift over to the brunette and says, “no, not yet.” The teal-eyed teen places his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and says, “hey, when you got up last night, did you see what position Rin and Haru were in?”

The brunette listens to Sousuke’s words and makes a face, “um, yeah, I think so. Did it bother you? Seeing them like that?”

Sousuke takes a moment to process the question, _‘so, they were still sleeping like that after I left. I didn’t really check when I went back to bed…’_ The raven-haired teen says, “I’m not sure. But, I guess I’ll have to get used to it.”

Sousuke glances over at the Rin and the gang, still hovering over the _Frozen_ claw crane before he says, “oh, by the way, did you know that you were holding on to the hem of my shirt last night? I thought that you were going to wake up when I tried to get up, but you just snored.” 

The brunette’s mouth hangs open for a moment, _‘wait, what? Oh god! I held on to his shirt!? Crap! I thought that was something I only did when I was a kid…and only with Haru. Wait, what! I do not!’_ Makoto frowns as he says, “I don’t snore!” Makoto looks up to stare at the raven-haired teen, slightly pouty. 

The raven-haired smirks, leans in and whispers, “yeah, you do.”

Makoto gasps, but his cheeks flush slightly at how close Sousuke is to his ear and says with a trembling voice, “n-no. I, I don’t…snore.”

Sousuke chuckles, smiling, “whatever you say, Mako-mama.”

The brunette’s heart flutters when he hears Sousuke’s soft laugh by his ear, tickling his neck and sending electricity through his senses. Makoto gently hits Sousuke side and says, “geez. Seriously? Are you really going to start calling me that…Sou?”

The raven-haired chuckles when Makoto elbows him in the side of his stomach and he quickly covers the spot with his hand, _‘oi, Makoto. Geez! What, you don’t like it when I call you Mako-mama, eh?’_ Before the teal-eyed teen could respond, he hears Makoto use that nickname again, just like last night and he holds his breath for a moment, feeling his heart pound in his chest and his lips part in shock.

Without much thought, Sousuke places his arm over Makoto’s shoulder as he leans in closer to the brunette’s ear and says, “You make it seem like we are very close, Makoto. Or am I mistaken?”

Makoto freezes, realizing the implication of Sousuke’s words. His mind goes blank as he heart pounds in his chest. The brunette’s hands twitch in his jacket pockets as they curl into trembling fists. The emerald-eyed teen feels his whole face heat up as he tries to come up with something to say.

The two teens are silent for a moment before Sousuke moves back a little bit, tilting his head to check on the brunette. He notices that Makoto is completely flushed and the raven-haired teen panics, _‘oh, shit! He’s embarrassed! Shit! I didn’t mean to freak him out or anything…I, I was just trying to be playful! Crap! How do I fix this!?’_ The raven-haired teen takes his arm off the brunette, takes a few steps to face Makoto as he places his hands on the emerald-eyed teen’s biceps and says worriedly, “oi, Makoto? Are you ok? Your face is all red. Oi! Makoto!” The teal-eyed teen shakes the brunette to try to get his attention.

Makoto looks up at the raven-haired teen, his eyes wide with shock as he swallows and says, “ye-yeah? Sou…Sousuke?” The brunette shifts his gaze down from those concerned teal eyes to Sousuke’s chest as he continues, “sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to space out like that. You, you just caught me off guard with your question. Um, sh-should I stop? St-stop calling you…S-sou?”

The teal-eyed teen sighs in relief when Makoto speaks, but listens to the brunette’s ramblings until he asks about the nickname. Sousuke knits his eyebrows for a moment, releasing his hold on the brunette as he hands move down to his sides, _‘stop? Stop using…Sou?’_ Honestly the raven-haired liked hearing the brunette call him something so endearing, and suddenly he realizes the implication of the question he asked Makoto.

Sousuke places a hand over his mouth, _‘oh shit! When I said close, I meant close like friends, good friends, or like best friends, no…Rin is my best friend. But I didn’t mean it like, not like…like lovers! Or did I? Fuck! He must think I meant it like that, didn’t he? Is that why he’s asking to stop using that nickname? He doesn’t feel comfortable using it, if that’s the meaning. Crap!’_

The teal-eyed teen drops his hand from his mouth, as he says, “I was just joking around, Makoto. Look, I’ll stop calling you Mako-mama, ok? It seems to make you uncomfortable. I’ll just leave Nagisa to call you by that nickname.” Sousuke looks to the side, watching a pair of girls fawn over the cute keychains in another claw crane machine.

Makoto hears Sousuke’s voice become slightly anxious, uptight, and cautious. The brunette looks up to find the raven-haired teen looking at something else, but the backstroke swimmer finds the warmth that he just felt moments ago turn cold, _‘eh? Wait! No, no, no! That…I…oh, I don’t know what I mean, but…’_ The brunette quickly responds, his voice reaching a higher tone than normal, “Wait! No! I didn’t mean that you can’t call me by a nickname, you can! Just, just not that nickname. Call me Mako, just…Mako.”

Sousuke’s ears perk up when the brunette mentions the nickname he can call him, turns his head to stare into those big emerald eyes. The raven-haired teen’s eyes waver, feeling himself become warmer and warmer with each heartbeat that fills his chest. The teal-eyed teen opens his mouth to say something, but his voice fails him and he clears his throat hoping the brunette didn’t notice his failure to speak. Sousuke licks his lips as he continues staring into those green eyes, “ok. Mako.”

The brunette finds Sousuke’s teal eyes sway as he stares at him, wondering if his green gaze is doing the same, he feels like his eyes are fluttering as he waits for the raven-haired teen to say something, _‘did I really just say that? Just Mako? I did.’_ Makoto’s heart trembles as he continues to wait, and when he hears the ex-butterfly swimmer clear his throat, he holds his breath awaiting his reply.

When Sousuke finally replies, Makoto releases his breath through his mouth slowly, feeling his heart skip a beat, his chest fill with affection. Makoto smiles sweetly, hearing the teal-eyed teen call him something other than ‘Mako-mama,’ or ‘Makoto,’ just feels right. Makoto looks down at Sousuke’s chest again as he says vulnerably, “ok, so…is it ok if I call you Sou? Or is that not ok? You never said that I couldn’t, even last night…you, you didn’t say anything after I…um, after I…”

Sousuke is taken aback by Makoto’s angelic smile, leaving him breathless. When the brunette tears his gaze away from him, the raven-haired teen takes a deep breath. When Makoto tries to say what the teal-eyed teen thinks the brunette is trying to say, Sousuke finishes that sentence for him in a soft tone, “after you kissed me.”

Makoto’s eyes widen as he looks up at the teal-eyed teen and says quickly with an abash laugh, “ahaha, yeah. After…um, that, yeah. Well…a-ahaha…” The brunette lifts his hand from his pocket, scratching his cheek.

The raven-haired teen sighs softly with conflict, a little bit embarrassed, and a little bit in self-chastise, _‘damn…I shouldn’t have said it quite like that. I mean, yeah he did, but it wasn’t, like ‘that.’ Crap, I’m real smooth with my words today, huh. Must be because I didn’t get enough sleep.’_ Sousuke looks down and says, “um, yeah. Go ahead and call me ‘Sou,’ Mako.” The teal-eyed teen slightly winces at how stupid that sounded to him, and he shoves his hands into his jean pockets.

The brunette smiles as he hears Sousuke’s response, and he notices a slight blush on the raven-haired teen’s cheeks. Makoto chuckles at the sight, hoping the broody teen doesn’t lash out at him for laughing. Before Makoto could say anything, Haru stops a few feet away from them and says, “Makoto, Sousuke. Everyone wants to go to the other side of the game center to check out the other machines. Are you two ok? We’ve been waiting for you.” The navy-haired teen shifts his gaze between Makoto and Sousuke curiously.

Makoto is the first to turn his head to the side to meet Haru’s sapphire stare. The brunette’s smile disappears as he is informed that they were holding everyone up from other activities. The brunette winces with an apologetic expression as he turns his body to face Haru, lifting his hands up to clasp them together as he says, “sorry, sorry. I didn’t, I mean we didn’t mean to take so long over here. We’ll be there in a moment, Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen very slightly knits his eyebrows saying with his eyes to the brunette, ‘another moment? Ok. I’ll let everyone know, but I can’t keep any promises when it comes to Ren and Ran, Makoto. Nagisa took them to the big gumball machine to stop them from running over here.’

Haru nods once before he turns around to walk over to Rin and Gou talking in front of the _Frozen_ claw crane machine.

Sousuke watches the sapphire-eyed teen leave and says, “don’t tell me, he actually said something to you with just a look.”

Makoto turns his head, and their eyes meet before the brunette giggles, “ok, then I won’t tell you…Sou.” The brunette winks as he takes Sousuke’s hand in his, gently squeezing, “c’mon, we better go before my little brother and my little sister start spoiling their dinner even more than they already have.”

Sousuke smiles as he allows the brunette to drag him away from the _Youkai Watch_ claw crane. He squeezes Makoto’s hand, noticing the brunette looking over his shoulder and says, “alright, alright…Mako.”

The brunette laughs sweetly, a small blush staining Makoto’s cheeks.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 24th, Wednesday, 6: 21 pm **

Makoto is sitting down next to Haru as his siblings are sitting next to his mother. The navy-haired teen pulls off the cooked, juicy, thin slices of beef from the grill in front of them, placing some of the meat on Makoto’s plate. The brunette smiles as he watches Haru give Rei some of the yakiniku from the grill. The emerald-eyed teen leans forward to find Rei observing the meat and pulling it off when the purple-eyed teen deems the meat to be perfectly cooked and placing the beef on Ren’s plate.

The owner of _Hotaru Yaki_ sits at the head of the table next to Makoto, talking to his uncle who sits across from the brunette; Makoto smiles as the owner, Juuichi Oishi laughs with his uncle, reminiscing of past events. Sousuke is sitting next to the brunette’s uncle with Rin sitting next to him, and Nagisa pestering the redhead.

Makoto watches Sousuke serve the cooked beef to his uncle and Rin before serving himself. Haru notices the emerald-eyed teen’s gaze on the raven-haired teen before he turns his head and asks, “Makoto, you’re staring. Do you want to ask him something?”

The brunette glances over to meet Haru’s questioning gaze and says, “ahh. No. I don’t need to ask him anything. I was just…um, making sure he had enough on his plate. That’s all.”

Haru quirks an eyebrow as he watches Makoto distract himself by eating some of the yakiniku on his plate and says, “hmm. Ok. I didn’t realize that you could tell how much food he has by staring at his face. That’s impressive, Makoto.” The navy-haired teen picks up some food on his plate with his chopsticks as he waits for the brunette’s response.

Makoto slightly chokes on his food, patting his chest, coughing as he grabs his glass of water.

Oishi, the owner, eyes shift over to the brunette, hearing the emerald-eyed teen coughing. He leans over and places a hand on Makoto’s back, “oh. You ok there, Makoto?”

Makoto nods as he puts the glass down, “sorry. Yes, I’m fine. Just went down the wrong tube. Thanks.” The brunette smiles at the sandy brown-haired man.

Oishi chuckles, “good, good. Take your time, Makoto.”

The brunette smiles at the older man before the man’s attention is set on his uncle. Makoto turns his head and says, “Haru…what makes you so sure that I was staring at his face and not his plate?”

The navy-haired teen puts his chopsticks down before he turns his head to stare into those emerald orbs, “if you were staring at his plate, you would be staring down, not up at his face. Did you think about what we talked about, Makoto?”

The brunette looks away, feeling like Haru would be able to read him too easily and says carefully, “kind of. I think that I am…” Makoto glances over towards Sousuke and Rin as he whispers, “feeling some kind of attraction, yes.” The brunette looks away from Sousuke’s smiling face to look at the navy-haired teen as he continues in a murmur, “more than just physical, yes. Do I want to act on it?…Not really. I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

Haru sneaks a glance over at Rin and Sousuke, noticing how the two teens are fighting over the same piece of meat on the grill with their chopsticks. The sapphire-eyed teen leans closer to Makoto and says quietly, “ok. Sleep with me tonight.”

Makoto’s eyes go wide for a moment as he jerks back a little bit before saying, “e-eh? What about…”

Haru shakes his head lightly as he says with his eyes, ‘don’t worry about Rin. He’ll understand. You can sleep between me and Rin if you’re that worried about it. Besides, Rin told me that he would like to sleep next to Sousuke one of these nights.’

The brunette sighs as his shoulders slouch forward and says with his eyes, “b-but, I don’t want to get in between you and Rin. He was spooning you last night and I don’t want to get in the middle of that if he happens to try to hold you…or me for that matter. That would just be…’

Haru smiles slightly and mentally says with a glint in his eyes, ‘I wouldn’t mind seeing that.’

Makoto whines, “Ha~ru~! Don’t give me that look.” He thinks, _‘Rin wants to sleep next to Sousuke…I wonder if Sousuke wants the same thing.’_

Before Makoto and Haru could say anything else, Rin says to Haru, “I bet I can eat more meat than you, Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen glances over to find Rin’s piercing gaze set on him. Haru feels his heart flutter as a smile graces his features, “oh? Same bet, Rin?”

The redhead blinks a few times before he looks away, his cheeks turning pink as he says, “oi! You’re just not gonna let that go, are you?” Rin grins as he sets his gaze back on Haru and says with confidence, “you’re on, Haru! First one to eat the most meat in 2 minutes wins!”

Nagisa’s eyes sparkle with amazement as he says with excitement, “ohhhhh! Wow! It’s a showdown between Rin-Rin and Haru-chan! I’m rooting for Rin-Rin! Beat Haru-chan!”

Sousuke smirks at the navy-haired teen and says, “Haru…you are so gonna lose to this crybaby.”

Rin quickly turns his head as he whaps the back of Sousuke’s head, “oi! I’m not a crybaby!”

Makoto makes a face and says, “you don’t know Haru very well, Sou! He will beat Rin for sure!”

Rei nods and says, “Haruka-senpai is a gracious eater…just as beautiful as when he is in the water.”

The sapphire-eyed teen was about to say something, but when he hears Rei’s response, he turns his head to stare at the purple-eyed teen sitting next to him with mild shock.

Nagisa, Rin, Sousuke, and Makoto stop to gaze at Rei with a blank stare.

The purple-haired teen readjusts his glasses, his thumb and middle finger resting at the edges of his red frames as he looks over the negative space between his fingers and says, “Haruka-senpai is truly amazing in all endeavors he attempts. It is with no doubt in my mind, that Haruka-senpai will be the victor in this showdown.”

Nagisa burst out into laughter, falling back on the wooden chair as he holds his stomach.

Rin quirks an eyebrow at Rei as he says in a deep tone, “oi…”

Makoto chuckles at the whole scene, glancing over at the raven-haired teen who has a confused expression on his face. The brunette turns his head and says to the owner, “Oishi-san, do you think it is possible to get more meat? A couple of my friends want to have a showdown…who can eat the most meat in two minutes.”

The older man eyes twinkle with excitement before he breaks into laughter, “ahaha! That’s the spirit! Yes, yes, of course, Makoto. I will get the meat myself. I can’t wait to see the results!” Oishi turns his head to say to Tetsuya, “ne, Tetsu! Remember, when we would do the same? You, me, and Kaoru…those were good times.”

The olivine brown-haired man says with a sad smile, “yeah. Those were good times, Juuichi. Kaoru…really knew how to pack the meat in. She beat us every time.”

Oishi gets up and pats Tetsuya’s back, squeezing his shoulder as he says comfortingly, “yeah. She really was something special. Unforgettable.” The brown-haired man says, “I better get that meat,” before he walks off towards the kitchen.

Makoto looks down as he listens to the conversation between his uncle and the owner, _‘auntie. I really would love to hear more stories about her when she was younger. I’ve heard some from mom and dad, but…’_ The brunette looks up to find his uncle picking up a small cup of sake and downing some before he sets it down on the table staring listlessly at the empty white cup, _‘I’m sorry uncle.’_

Tetsuya looks up to find Makoto gazing at him worriedly. The older man turns his head to the side to find teal eyes staring at him with concern as well and smiles, “ah. Do not worry, Makoto, Sousuke. Kaoru passed away seven years ago…it brings me joy to know that she’s remembered. It hurts a little, but that’s only because I wish I had more time with her. Ah, you boys are young…do not worry yourself with such concerns. There is a time and place for everything. And right now…we celebrate!” The older man chuckles.

Sousuke just stares at the older man next to him, finally understanding the circumstances of Makoto’s aunt; there was a moment when they were cooking in the kitchen together that he wondered if Tetsuya and Makoto’s aunt were divorced, like his parents.

Makoto smiles sadly before he chuckles with his uncle, “yeah, you’re right, uncle. Auntie would want us to celebrate.” The brunette gazes at Sousuke and says with a smile, “Sou…you really are sweet sometimes. Making sure we are all ok.”

The raven-haired teen blinks, looks away as he rubs his neck, “che. Whatever, Mako.”

Tetsuya bursts into laughter as he says, “I’d like to see who can eat more meat between you and Makoto. I have this gut feeling that Makoto would win.”

Sousuke turns his head to stare at the older man, frowning slightly, “I can’t argue with you Tetsuya-san. Mako has a big appetite, he’s practically insatiable.”

Makoto’s mouth parts, a shocked expression on his face, “hey! Sou! That’s not true! I’m not insatiable! I may be a big eater, but I’m not insatiable!” The brunette pouts slightly as he crosses his arms in defiance.

Sousuke and Tetsuya laugh at the adorable expression Makoto makes, causing the brunette to frown in a playful manner. 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 24th, Wednesday, 9: 58 pm **

Sousuke sighs contently as he submerges his body into the big tub of soothing, warm water, waiting for Rin to finish up with rinsing himself off before entering the bath. He submerges his whole body under the water with only his head and knees breaking the surface. The raven-haired teen rubs his right shoulder lightly before he trails his index finger over his scar.

He closes his eyes as he recalls the brunette tenderly placing his soft lips over Sousuke’s flesh, leaving a wet kiss upon his shoulder. Sousuke takes a deep breath as he continues dragging his fingers over his raised scar, _‘damn, I don’t think I’ll be able to get that out of my mind…at all. How can he kiss my shoulder like that? Most people would find scars disgusting, ugly, something to stay away from, but not Makoto. I let him look at it, not that I can really hide it anyway...he’d find some way to see it. Just like that time, at the pool…he was upset, swimming like an idiot because of his ex and I just stripped out of my clothes to stop him. When we got out, he saw it.’_

The raven-haired teen takes a moment thinking about that specific time the two teen were at the pool, and opens his eyes, _‘he was so vulnerable, filled with so much emotion…but at the end of it all, he smiled. And I said something really embarrassing because of it…I told him he was an angel…resilient and wondrous, but he needed to hear something like that. He thanked me, and his smile only grew. But then, he trailed his fingers over the scar, his face, his voice held no judgment, just concern for me. And I told him about my surgery, I told him about the scar.’_

Before the teal-eyed teen could ponder further on his thoughts, Rin enters the tub, causing some of the water to overflow past the tub’s edge and falling to the floor into the metal drain next to the tub. Sousuke watches the redhead shift his body into the tub, finding a comfortable spot and position.

The raven-haired teen smiles as he says, “I can’t believe you and Haru tied at 39 slices of beef in two minutes. Hell, I couldn’t even manage 31 slices of beef in that time limit.” 

Rin chuckles as he says, “shit, did you see Makoto! Damn, he beat us all with a whopping 42 slices of beef. I had no idea he can eat so much.”

The two teens share a laugh, remembering the scene when Ren and Ran tried to catch up with all of them, Nagisa tried to join in and ate 33 pieces of beef while Rei only ate 20 pieces in two minutes. It really was a sight to see.

Sousuke asks curiously, “so, about you and Haru in the tub last night. Did you guys do naughty things?”

Rin looks up and makes a face at the raven-haired teen as he says seriously, “I thought you weren’t ready to hear that kind of thing?”

The teal-eyed teen raises an eyebrow, “evading the question, nice, bro.” Sousuke looks away, his eyes focusing on the white tile with a blue strip as he says, “I think I’m ready to hear about some of it, not all of it. I’m still getting used to the idea of you and Haru dating, being a couple and all that. But, one thing I’ve noticed is that he truly makes you happy. I noticed that during dinner. You guys haven’t seen each other, physically, for a while now, and there is chemistry between the both of you. It seems mutual. I’m surprised that you aren’t all over him every chance you get.”

Rin rubs the back of his neck as Sousuke speaks, feeling himself being slightly exposed, _‘damn. Am I that obvious? I didn’t think I did anything out of the ordinary that would cause anyone to be suspicious. Maybe…Sousuke is looking for it.’_ The redhead licks his lips before he responds, “are you sure? What about your feelings…for me? Have you, uh…thought about that?”

The raven-haired teen smiles as he says, “yeah, I’m sure. I’ll let you know if it’s too much.” Sousuke knits his eyebrows as he thinks, _‘have I thought about my feelings for him? Honestly, not a whole lot. I have been preoccupied with someone else…Makoto. I wonder…maybe I should ask him about that.”_

Sousuke exhales slowly as he says, “well, not really. I have been thinking about you and Haru, as a couple. I haven’t really given myself space to think about my feelings for you. Ne, Rin…can I confide in you with something?”

The crimson-eyed teen tilts his head to the side as he runs a hand through his hair, “oh? Must be something serious. Yeah, you can trust me, Sousuke. What is it?”

The raven-haired teen turns his head to stare at the redhead for a moment before he looks away again. This time, Sousuke stares at one of the white stools in the corner of the bathroom as he says, “it’s not too serious. I’ve just noticed that I’ve been thinking about Makoto a lot lately.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow at Sousuke’s admission, _‘eh? Thinking about Makoto? What does he mean by that?’_ The redhead sinks down into the tub as he leans back against the tub’s edge, resting his neck against the hard surface, looking up at the ceiling, “thinking about Makoto? I noticed that you’ve been calling him ‘Mako,’ during dinner. How long have you been calling each other that?”

Sousuke can feel his cheeks heat up at the mention of the nickname he has been calling the brunette, “that’s…more recent. He doesn’t like it when I call him ‘Mako-mama.’ Even though it’s quite suiting for him.”

Rin laughs and says, “are you kidding me? When did you start calling him that?”

The raven-haired teen chuckles, “last night. He started calling me ‘Sou.’ Today he told me not to call him by that silly nickname, and to call him, ‘Mako’ instead.”

Rin takes a moment to process the information and says without too much thought, “so wait a minute, Sousuke. You two just started calling each other, ‘Sou,’ and ‘Mako’?” The redhead sits up and stares at the teal-eyed teen across from him, “doesn’t that seem kinda intimate? Did his ex call him by some nickname too?”

Sousuke notices movement across from him and their eyes meet, teal and red orbs glimmering. The raven-haired teen looks down as thinks about Rin’s questions, _‘hmm. Intimate? Makoto and I have become closer, but I don’t think intimate is the right word for us. We aren’t that close, at least I don’t think so. Huh, I’m not sure. I did see him with Makoto before…and he may have called him, ‘Mako.’ Wait, Rin! What are you implying!?’_

The teal-eyed teen raises his gaze up to meet Rin’s crimson stare and says, “yeah. We just decided to call each other that today. I don’t think it’s that intimate, we’re just friends. And, I don’t know about his ex, although I think I may have overheard him call him, ‘Mako’ once, but I can’t be certain. Don’t you have some kind of silly nickname for Haru? Like…saba or something? Hmm…maybe Shinju?”

Rin places his hands on the back of his neck as he listens to Sousuke and says, “huh. Ok…but you said you have been thinking about him a lot lately, right? Are you worried about him or something?”

The redhead makes a face as he says, “oi! Saba, really Sousuke? Che. I don’t think so. Haru has, uh this, um thing that he calls saba-kun. And shinju is a girl’s name! I can’t call him that!”

Sousuke frowns as Rin asks him questions, crossing his arms over his chest, “yeah, I have been thinking about him a lot. I’m partly worried about him, yes. He’s too nice and his ex is an asshole. I don’t like the idea of them talking to each other without, someone there to protect him. If that prick ever lays a hand on him, I’d hunt down the bastard and beat him to a bloody pulp. I don’t care what the consequences would be, the jerk needs to leave Makoto alone.”

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, a small silence fills between the best friends. Sousuke knits his eyebrows as he says, “wait, what ‘thing’ are you talking about? Haru calls something, saba-kun!? I don’t see why you can’t? Isn’t that like a thing between you, Haru, Makoto, Nagisa, and Rei? You all have girly names, so I don’t see why Haru would be so opposed to a nickname like Shinju? Besides, I think it suits him. For you, he is like an oyster with a treasure inside. A rare find, like a pearl, right? And that kind of thing holds a lot of meaning for you too, Rin. Your grandmother was a pearl diver. I thought it was fitting.”

Rin releases his hands from behind his neck as he submerges them into the warm water, listening to Sousuke’s words, _‘shit…bro. Fuck, you better not! Don’t go looking for a fight, Sousuke! Makoto would be in tears if you got hurt, you should know this by now. Wait, wait…what are you saying, Sousuke? That Makoto is going to talk to that fuckin’ bastard when he goes back to Tokyo!?’_ Before the redhead could continue his thoughts, Sousuke speaks again and Rin gazes at the raven-haired teen in front of him, his eyes wavering with sentiment, moved by the thought Sousuke put into a possible nickname for Haru. He wonders, _‘is this your way of saying you accept my relationship with Haru? Sousuke…’_

Sousuke raises his eyes, meeting that glimmering crimson gaze. The raven-haired teen shifts his gaze to the side as he rubs the back of his neck, “uh…don’t start crying now.”

Rin clicks his tongue and gently kicks Sousuke’s shin, “oi! I’m not crying! I was just…thinking that’s all.”

The teal-eyed teen smiles as Rin kicks him, wincing playfully at the redhead’s antics, “don’t think too hard, Rin. You might hurt yourself.” Sousuke chuckles to himself.

The redhead makes a face as he kicks Sousuke’s shin again, “oi! That wasn’t an invitation to continue teasing me, Sousuke! And I know what you’re thinking! I’m not a crybaby!”

Sousuke roars with laughter, his deep voice echoing off the walls, causing Rin to follow suit, chuckling with the raven-haired teen. The teal-eyed teen says, “hey! You never answered my question, Rin. Did you and Haru do dirty things in the tub or not?”

The redhead scoffs as he looks to the side, crossing his arms, “why should I tell you? Haru and I have done lots of things in this tub. Besides, we haven’t finished talking about your worries and thoughts pertaining to Makoto.”

The teal-eyed teen trails his hand over to his right shoulder, trailing his fingers over his scar, “oh, yeah.” Sousuke looks over at the slightly pouty crimson-eyed teen and smiles, _‘it’s so easy to rile you up, Rin. One of my favorite things to do.’_ The ex-butterfly swimmer says, “so, are you gonna call him Shinju or what?”

Rin eyes widen as a small blush graces his features; the redhead turns his head to the side, pouting, “I’ll think about it. You’re right about one thing. A nickname like that…would carry a lot of meaning for me. I just don’t know if Haru would allow me to call him something like that.”

Sousuke tilts his head to the side and says with a serious tone, “yeah? I would let you call me that, if we were together. Actually, I’d let you call me anything you want if it holds meaning for you. Haru would be an idiot…not to allow you to call him something so endearing.”

Rin swallows as he listens to the raven-haired teen’s deep voice. Something about Sousuke’s tone catches him off guard, he knits his eyebrows trying to figure out the meaning behind the words he says. The redhead focuses his attention on the edge of the tub as he ponders Sousuke’s words.

The teal-eyed teen watches Rin for a moment, the redhead becoming quiet and his eyes reflecting that he’s thinking about something. Sousuke finds himself enchanted by the sight, also with the knowledge that Rin is currently naked, in the same tub with him.

Sousuke licks his lips as he shifts his weight, pushing himself off the corner of the tub he got comfortable in and gets on his knees as he approaches the preoccupied redhead.

The teal-eyed teen places the palms of his hands on the edge of tub with Rin in between, his thigh brushing up against the redhead’s as the crimson-eyed teen suddenly turns his head to find Sousuke hovering over him.

Rin’s eyes widen as he places his hand over Sousuke’s forearm, trying to push the raven-haired teen away. The redhead notices how Sousuke’s teal eyes have become dark, unreadable to him. He says carefully, “Sousuke…what are you doing? Wha…”

Sousuke leans forward, inching closer and closer towards Rin’s face. The raven-haired teen thinks, _‘god, Rin…I want you…’_

Rin squeezes Sousuke’s forearm in hopes that the raven-haired teen would stop his advancements, but his subtle message was left ignored as Sousuke continues to descend toward him. Rin knits his eyebrows as anger and sadness fill his chest. He looks up at Sousuke with a fiery gaze, _‘Sousuke! I will hurt you if you do this! I thought you were getting over me! Fuck, Sousuke! Don’t you dare…don’t you dare do this! We’re bros, right!?’_

Sousuke continues closing the distance between them, until their noses touch.

The redhead growls lowly. Rin says in a choleric manner as he raises his other hand over Sousuke’s right shoulder, “Sousuke…don’t do this.”

The raven-haired teen inhales sharply when he feels Rin’s hand over his shoulder, over his scar. An image of the Makoto’s lips pressed against his shoulder enters his mind. Those beautiful emerald eyes staring at him, glimmering with a smile. Sousuke closes his eyes, shakes his head lightly, moving his head back as he exhales, _‘Mako…Makoto.’_

Sousuke moves back as he focuses his attention on Rin’s angry eyes. The teal-eyed teen frowns as he says, “Rin.”

The redhead closes his eyes as he releases his hold on the ex-butterfly swimmer’s forearm and shoulder, “Sousuke…what is up with you?” Rin balls his hands into fists and thrusts his hands downwards making two big splashes.

Sousuke knits his eyebrows as he sits back down on his side of the tub and says cautiously, “shit. Was I about to…kiss you?” The raven-haired teen places his hand over his mouth, licking his lips, and making sure that he really didn’t kiss the redhead.

Rin rubs his face a few times before lifting them up and through his hair releasing an irritated sigh. He looks away and says with a growl, “yeah. That’s what it looked like to me. I thought you were trying to get over me, Sousuke. Not attempt to get into my pants…er…you know what I mean! If I were wearing pants…”

The raven-haired teen lifts his hand over his eyes, rubbing his temples with his thumb and middle finger, “sorry. I got a bit carried away there. It won’t happen again.” Sousuke closes his eyes for another moment, _‘I was thinking about Makoto at the last moment…when Rin put his hand on my shoulder. Damn.’_

Rin huffs as he grabs his towel and gets up from the tub, quickly covering himself as he says, “yeah, it better not! I’m gonna get dressed, but I’ll wait for you. Take your time, but cool your jets, okay, Sousuke.”

Sousuke grunts under his breath as he sighs, irked by his own actions, _‘shit. I fucked that up royally. Ugh, one moment of weakness and I go trying to kiss my best friend who’s in a committed relationship. What am I thinking?’_ The raven-haired teen hears the soft pitter patter of Rin’s footsteps, walking away from the tub and into the changing area, leaving the teal-eyed teen cursing himself for doing something really stupid.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 25th, Thursday, 2: 19 am **

Sousuke sits up after trying to fall asleep for the umpteenth time that evening. He sighs as he rubs his face.

Rin opens his eyes when he hears the raven-haired teen stir next to him and turns his body to face the teal-eyed teen. He says in a quiet voice, “oi, Sousuke. Can’t sleep?”

The raven-haired teen looks to the side, in the darkness and says in a whisper, “did I wake you Rin?”

The redhead pushes himself off the futon, sitting up, murmuring, “nah. I couldn’t sleep. We need to talk, Sousuke. You think we can…”

Sousuke does a neck roll, his neck cracking as he mumbles, “yeah. Let’s head to the kitchen. I think I need a drink.”

The raven-haired teen searches for his cellphone and once he has it in his grasp, he turns on the home screen using it as a light to find his way to the kitchen. Rin follows the teal-eyed teen and slides the door closed as soon as they reach their destination.

Sousuke turns on the light, wincing at the sudden brightness as he puts his phone down on the kitchen counter, rubbing his eyes.

Rin covers his eyes from the extreme brightness, but manages to see a chair on his left. He saunters over to it, plops down, and sighs.

The raven-haired teen quietly opens one of the wooden kitchen cabinets, grabs a glass and walks over to the small round table where Rin is sitting. He pours himself a glass of water from the pitcher before strolling over to the chair across from Rin, taking a sip of water.

Rin leans over his body, resting his elbows on his thighs, rubbing his eyes, “damn. I can’t believe Nagisa…the little innocent man with devil horns. I’m glad we opened our gifts at midnight instead of waiting for the morning. There is no way Rei would have been able to explain his gift to the others without sounding inappropriate.”

The teal-eyed teen takes a small sip of water before he says, “oh yeah. Where the hell did he find…that?”

The redhead puts his hands down, letting them dangle between his legs as he says, “probably online or a store that sells sex toys. But seriously, a purple masturbation sleeve with pink butterflies? And I thought I’ve seen some strange stuff in my life, and Nagisa just had to find…that.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, pinching the bridge of his nose, “well, he got me something innocuous, just a ribbed tank top with a plaid flannel dress shirt. It’s actually quite nice. It’s probably gonna be a tight fit on me though.”

Rin chuckles, “I think that’s the point, Sousuke. He probably wants you to show off your muscles. It’s a lot better than what he got me, that’s for sure. The little brat got me a couple of pairs of lacy thongs. What the hell am I gonna do with those anyway? Ugh!” The redhead brings up his hands to ruffle his own hair in frustration.

Sousuke feels sympathetic to the redhead, but glad that he didn’t receive something so embarrassing. The raven-haired teen says, “I still think Rei got the worse one.”

Rin sighs in defeat, hanging his head, “yeah, you’re right.” The redhead lifts his head to stare at the raven-haired teen, “by the way, what did you get Makoto? He just said it was tickets to an event. I know you got everyone gift cards to their favorite places, except for Haru. You mentioned that you’re giving him a couple of bottles of wine to cook with.”

Sousuke shifts his eyes to the side, rubbing his neck, “oh. I actually wasn’t sure what to get him. I got the idea from Yumiko. They are tickets to a chocolate factory in Tokyo, I pre-registered for the event. Since he loves chocolate, I figured he might be interested in seeing how it’s made, and make some candy too. I’m sure he’ll bring Haru with him.”

Rin smiles at the teal-eyed teen, “maybe. But I’d bet he will ask you first. You got it for him, he probably wants to share that experience with you. Anyway, what do you think about what Makoto got you?”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow at the redhead, “I don’t know what to think of it. It’s cute, but I feel like you and Makoto understood some kind of inside joke about it. It reminds me of what I got Makoto for his birthday, except it’s a white bunny with bluish-green eyes inside of a whale shark’s mouth.”

Rin laughs softly, “dude! You don’t get it, huh? It represents you.”

Sousuke frowns and makes a face, “what? I’m not a bunny! Or a whale shark that eats bunnies.”

The redhead chuckles as he straighten up in his chair, “no, no! Nothing like that. I remember Makoto mentioned that you remind him of a bunny. You know, closed off, subtle, and kinda hard to get close to. And the whale shark…probably because you come off as intimidating, but are actually pretty harmless.”

Sousuke sighs, “fine, fine, whatever. Either way, I think it’s cute. Just thought he was trying to give me a companion.” The teal-eyed teen thinks, _‘actually, I thought it was a sleeping companion for my bad dreams. Since he lent me Mr. Orca-cat as a companion. I thought he gave me my own. Which is…so Makoto.’_

Rin rubs his face, turning his body to face the round table before leaning his elbows on the cool tabletop, “maybe. So…we didn’t really finish our conversation when we took a bath together. It’s been bothering me.”

Sousuke takes a long sip from his glass, feeling a sense of relief when the wet liquid soothes his dry throat. The raven-haired teen drinks over half of the glass of water before putting it down on the table, “I’m sorry. About almost kissing you.” The teal-eyed teen shifts his gaze up to meet those crimson eyes and continues, “why didn’t you do a better job stopping me, anyway?”

Rin stares into those hard, yet curious teal eyes and says, “because…I trust you, bro. I believe in our friendship, and that you wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our relationship. You know what I mean, right?” Rin shifts his gaze down at the round wooden table, focusing his eyes on the wood grain, “I don’t know. You surprised me, and I wasn’t really expecting you to try something like that. Sousuke, be honest with me, completely honest with me. Do you still love me? Like, still want a romantic relationship with me?”

Sousuke listens to Rin’s voice, tinted with anger, vexation, and pensiveness. He takes Rin’s words to heart, the meaning sinking into his mind as he takes a deep breath. The raven-haired teen feels guilty, responsible, and repulsed by what he did. The ex-butterfly swimmer balls his hand into a fist as he says with a pained expression, “I never…want to hurt you Rin. I really am sorry. It won’t ever happen again, Rin.”

Rin’s eyes widen as he listens to Sousuke’s words and his eyes start to water, _‘shit, Sousuke. Fuck. I know, I know. You’ve already apologized…like three times. Damn, you never apologize unless you mean it, I know that.’_ He rubs his eyes with his hand, removing the evidence that he was crying.

The teal-eyed teen leans back in his chair, swallowing slowly as he continues, “let me be blunt. You asked if I still love you…yes, I do. Do I want a romantic relationship with you…no, I don’t. You and Haru…have something I can never touch. I can never be Haru. I can never make your eyes burn with passion like he does. I can never put a smile on your face like Haru can. I can never make you feel something special like he does. I can never be…I never was your rival, Haru is. You love him, Rin. You told me that, and I see that. Haru…he loves you too, I know he does. He trusts you and he trusts me. I didn’t just betray your trust, Rin…I betrayed Haru’s too.”

Rin stares at the raven-haired teen, listening to Sousuke’s deep voice becoming defenseless, and straightforward. The redhead interrupts in a small, quiet voice, “Sousuke. Stop…sto…”

Sousuke raises his hand up, indicating to the crimson-eyed teen to stop talking and to let him finish. The raven-haired teen turns his head, his teal eyes gazing into those wavering red eyes as he continues softly, “I made a mistake, and I’m glad you stopped me. I’ve always been jealous of Haru, for the longest time. I hated the fact that he was able to take your attention away from me. I wanted to know…what it would be like to be with you. As wrong as that sounds, that is what I felt that moment I tried to kiss you. I wasn’t thinking, I just acted on that…feeling.”

Sousuke inhales deeply, “I don’t want a romantic relationship with you, Rin. Because you don’t want one with me. I will always love you, bro. I’m working on changing the kind of love I have for you. Makoto has been helping me with that…in ways I don’t think he realizes yet. Makoto figured out my feelings for you before I told you. It’s because of him that I was able to come forward and tell you about my feelings. He’s…” The raven-haired teen shifts his gaze down on his glass of water, and continues, “he really is something, Rin.”

The raven-haired teen lifts his hand to rub his right shoulder as he continues staring at the glass of water, _‘maybe I said too much.’_

Rin watches the ex-butterfly swimmer speak, his eyes never leaving Sousuke’s face. The redhead listens to Sousuke’s words, not wanting to miss a single word, and when Sousuke looks away as he talks about Makoto, Rin can’t help but feel grateful to the brunette. The all-around swimmer notices the teal-eyed teen rub his shoulder, and worry starts to eat at him.

Silence fills the kitchen for several minutes, both lost in their own thoughts.

Rin breaks the silence as he says, “ok. Ok, Sousuke. I hear you.” Rin scratches the back of his head.

Sousuke looks up and asks cautiously, “are we…ok?”

The redhead holds the raven-haired teen’s gaze before a small smile graces his features, “yeah, we’re cool, bro. I’m… I’m sorry for making you confess all that, but I’m glad you told me.”

The teal-eyed teen smiles, “yeah. If it helps, then it’s worth it. Just don’t tell Haru about it, ok?”

Rin nods slowly, “ok. I won’t tell him anything about it. So, um…tell me more about Makoto. You said you were thinking about him a lot lately, that you were worried about him. But, I can’t help but wonder if there’s more.”

Sousuke nods a couple times as he looks down at the table, turning his body to face the table and wrapping his hands around the glass of water. The raven-haired teen says, “alright. I um, well we, Makoto and I have had some uh…really interesting talks over the past month. And...”

Rin knits his eyebrows, holding up his hand to stop Sousuke from continuing as he interrupts the teal-eyed teen, “whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Don’t tell me…you’re actually nervous about telling me…what ever it is you’re trying to tell me?” The redhead rests his chin on the palm of his hand as he waits for a response.

Sousuke looks up to meet confused crimson eyes and sighs, feeling a little more tired than he did minutes ago. The raven-haired teen rests the palm of his hand against his temple as he says, “yeah, I guess I’m a little…uptight about it.” The teal-eyed teen pauses for a moment, grabbing the glass of water and downing the rest of the liquid. He puts down the glass and says, “I think I like Makoto.”

Rin lifts his chin up from his hand, eyes widening as his lips part slightly. The redhead stumbles with his words, “wh-what do you…ho-how did this…” The crimson-eyed teen leans back in his chair crossing his arms and says, “explain. What do you mean you like him?”

Sousuke frowns as he rubs his temples with his hand, “how the hell am I suppose to explain it? I just…like him. He just makes me feel things when I see him smile or when he holds my hand. I don’t know…I almost kissed him once, and I had a dream…a sex dream with him too.”

Rin stares at the raven-haired teen with disbelief. He watches Sousuke continue to rub his temples with his hand, refusing to meet his gaze. The redhead rubs his neck, _‘Fuck…you almost kissed him? A sex dream too? Damn! I would’ve never guessed that.’_

Sousuke mutters in a soft voice, “I don’t know. I think he just wants to be friends, but last night, we were here, in the kitchen, talking. Nagisa’s mistletoe on a rod fell on us, and then Makoto wanted to check on my shoulder. I let him. And he kissed me, well, my shoulder. He left right after that.”

Rin halts his movements, leaning forward a little bit to hear Sousuke’s words. The redhead asks, “what do you want, Sousuke? You said you like him, it sounds like you really like him. Do you want to kiss him?”

The raven-haired teen raises his head up to find Rin with his head tilted to the side and his hand resting on the crook of his neck. Sousuke meets the inquisitive gaze, _‘what do I want? I haven’t thought about it that way. I’ve been concerned about him more than anything. Do I want to kiss him? I did then. Last night…I had wondered what it would be like to kiss him.’_

The redhead rests his elbows on the table, leaning forward as he says, “Sousuke, don’t think too hard about it. This is so unlike you. Usually when you want something, you just go for it…but I can understand your hesitance. Shit, I’m not one to talk, either. Took me forever to even admit that I had feelings for Haru.”

Sousuke scoffs as he breaks eye contact with the redhead, “it was so obvious, Rin. I was afraid you would fall for him. Hell, even Ai knew you had a thing for Haru.”

Rin growls lightly, “oi! We aren’t talking about me, we’re talking about you…and your desire for Makoto.”

Sousuke frowns, “fine.” The raven-haired teen leans back in his chair, crossing his arms, “you never answered my question by the way.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow, “what question?”

The teal-eyed teen smirks, “if you and Haru did naughty things in the tub when you took a bath with him.”

The redhead makes a face, staring at Sousuke, “shit, you’re right. I didn’t answer that question. Fine. Since you’re so curious, I’ll tell you.” Rin looks away as he says with a flush on his face, “you’re right…I couldn’t keep my hands off him. We made out a bit and before we left the tub…I gave him a gobby. There you happy now?” Rin leans back in his chair as he face palms, embarrassment overtaking him.

Sousuke tilts his head, _‘gobby? What’s a gobby?”_ The raven-haired teen rubs his neck, _‘he gave him a gobby?’_

Rin looks up to find Sousuke with a slightly confused expression, he clicks his tongue and says, “blowjob. I blew him…gave him head…sucked his coc…”

Sousuke feels his cheeks burn slightly, realizing that Rin must have figured out that he didn’t know what the redhead said. Quickly the teal-eyed teen says, “ok, ok! I got it. You sucked him off. I, I just haven’t heard…that particular expression before.”

The redhead knits his eyebrows, “ok, sorry. I guess I’ve been in Australia for a while I forgot it was slang. I…shit. I didn’t mean to…”

The ex-butterfly swimmer asks, “that’s it? He didn’t alleviate, um, your…”

Rin flushes looking away again, “yeah, yeah…he did. He just uh…fuck! This is so awkward. He gave me a gobby too, ok. Can we just leave it at that? This is so embarrassing.” The redhead rubs his cheek, knowing he is blushing and wanting the redness that probably is on his face to go away.

The redhead quickly says, “do you wanna kiss Makoto? Don’t…”

Sousuke interrupts the redhead, “yeah…” The raven-haired teen covers part of his face with his hand as he closes his eyes, “yeah. But if I kiss him…I know we can never go back to being friends. I don’t want to lose him. I…I don’t know.”

Rin stops rubbing his cheeks as he hears the afflicted plight in Sousuke’s voice. The redhead takes a deep breath as he turns his head to stare at the raven-haired teen, _‘oh man! This isn’t just a crush, he’s really conflicted here. Damn, Sousuke. Why didn’t you say something earlier? Shit, I’m not good at this sort of thing. I mean, look at what I did with my relationship with Haru. I didn’t confess when we were in Australia last year, no…I spilled my guts to him, yeah, but I didn’t tell him…I didn’t tell him that I fell in love. Instead, I beat around the bush, kissed him, fooled around with him…and before I found the courage to say anything, we were already back here, in Japan. Shit, if it wasn’t for Makoto…I don’t think I would have pushed myself to say something about it and make a commitment. Sousuke…’_

The crimson-eyed teen responds softly, “you make it sound like Makoto will leave you or something. Let me tell you something about Makoto, he never abandons his friends. You are his friend, Sousuke. If, if anything does spark between you two, I don’t think he’ll leave you, as a friend.”

Sousuke stares at the redhead with a bewildered expression, “I don’t understand. What are you saying? That Makoto will never leave his ex, as a friend?” The raven-haired teen frowns deeply, “Makoto and that bas…”

Rin interrupts, “shhh! Not so loud, Sousuke. And that’s not what I mean! I don’t know the circumstance between Makoto and his ex, but I do know more about you and Makoto. You guys are friends, right? You started out as friends, and Makoto values you as a friend. Now things could get muddled between you two, but I know Makoto. He doesn’t give up easy, even if he acts like he does from time to time. And you…you work hard, Sousuke. I know you will make it work if that’s what you want.”

Sousuke crosses his arms, staring down at his lap as he listens to the redhead, “what makes you so sure, huh?” The raven-haired teen looks down and says quietly, “everyone I care about eventually leaves…”

Rin drops his hands to the side, his eyes widening, _‘Sousuke…shit. This isn’t just about Makoto. You’re talking about me, and your family.’_ The redhead stares at the raven-haired teen, his eyes now closed, but a deep frown on his face. Rin wants to say something, something to put the teal-eyed teen at ease or more at ease, but his mind comes up with a blank.

A heavy, disquieting silence fills the atmosphere between them as several minutes pass.

Suddenly the door to the kitchen slides open, an older man with glasses, and red, green, and yellow plaid flannel pajamas walks in. Rin turns around and says, “Tetsuya-san?”

The older man closes the kitchen door before looking over to the small table and says, “Rin, Sousuke. My, my…I noticed the kitchen light was on, but I wasn’t expecting you boys to be up so late. Having a hard time sleeping?”

Sousuke gives the older man a small smile, “yeah…just have a lot on my mind. Sorry. I hope we didn’t wake you, Tetsuya-san.”

The older man readjusts his glasses, before shutting off the flashlight in his hand, “oh no. I’ve been sleeping on and off, but it’s not because of either of you.”

Tetsuya smiles at the two boys before continuing, “I also have had a lot of things on my mind. But don’t you worry about my problems, I will find my answers when we go to Iwatobi later in the week.”

Tetsuya walks over to the cupboards, opening one of the cabinets and pulling out a white round mug before closing it and opening up another cabinet looking through his tea stash, “I find drinking some herbal tea helps me get back to sleep. Would you like me to make you some?”

Rin glances at the teal-eyed teen worriedly before looking back at the older man, “no thank you, Tetsuya-san. Thanks for the offer.”

Tetsuya smiles at the redhead before his eyes shift over to Sousuke, “how about you, Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen looks up and says, “no thank you, Tetsuya-san.”

The older man finds the tin filled with goya bitter melon tea bags, plopping one into the white mug before putting the tin away, “alright. Well, I will be done soon and you two can go back to your conversation.”

Rin and Sousuke’s backs straighten at the mention of them going back to their talk. The two teens share a shocked stare before they gaze at Tetsuya’s back.

The older man walks over to the water heater, placing the cup under the flow of water, “If you two are worried that I overheard something I shouldn’t, I assure you, I haven’t. I just assumed you two were talking. I didn’t mean to intrude on your private gathering.” Tetsuya presses the button to dispense the hot water into his mug.

The two teens remain quiet, listening to the rumbling sound the hot water dispenser makes.

Tetsuya picks up the mug of tea, gently bobbing the tea bag in the cup as he turns around, leaning on the kitchen counter, “good medicine tastes bitter.” The older man brings up the cup of tea up towards his lips, blowing on the hot liquid before taking a small sip of tea.

The older man in the plaid flannel pajamas nods to himself before slowly walking over to the kitchen door. He says as his hand hovers over the door handle, “I didn’t understand what that meant until my best friend gave me advice. It was truthful and painful, yet something I was in dire need of listening to. When I can’t sleep, and I drink this tea, I remember her advice. This used to taste so bitter to me, but now I have grown accustom to it, reaping the benefits. I hope you boys find solace tonight. Oh…Merry Christmas. I’ll see you in the morning.” Tetsuya smiles sadly as he opens the kitchen door, closing it behind him.

Rin and Sousuke watch the older man leave the kitchen and listen to his soft footsteps as he retreats back to his bedroom.

Sousuke’s eyes shift over to the back of the Rin’s head, wondering if Tetsuya heard some of their conversation, even if he claimed he didn’t.

Rin turns around and says, “do you get the feeling that he had some idea what we were talking about?”

Sousuke nods a couple times, “probably. I guess I have some things to think about.” The teal-eyed teen grabs his glass, pushes his body off of the chair, and walks towards the sink to wash the glass.

Rin gets up, following the raven-haired teen to the sink as he turns around to lean his back on the adjacent counter as he crosses his arms, “Sousuke…when you figured some things out, let me know. I can be that best friend who gives you some good medicine.” The redhead smiles at the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke glances over at the crimson-eyed teen and chuckles, “I’ll keep that in mind, Rin. I’ll hold you to that, and I will do the same for you.” The teal-eyed teen picks up the sponge to clean his glass.

Rin grins at the raven-haired teen, “deal.” The redhead watches Sousuke lather up the sponge with soap, cleaning the cup, “also, if you want to keep your friends, Sousuke…the ones that care about you will make the effort no matter what happens in the future. If for some reason Makoto leaves you, count on me to help you through it, even if I’m far away.”

The teal-eyed teen huffs lightly, playfully, “don’t make promises you can’t keep, Rin. Once I hold you to your word, I will have an expectation of you following through with it.” Sousuke turns the water on to rinse the glass.

The redhead clicks his tongue, “che. So trusting, Sousuke. Fine. Let’s see if I keep my word. I’m older now, and I’m sure I’ll make more mistakes, but I’ve learned some stuff from the stupid things I did in my childhood. I’m not afraid of your expectations. Bring it on!”

Sousuke chuckles, “you’re on, bro. Consider that a promise I will hold you to.” The teal-eyed teen glances over to smirk at the redhead before placing the glass into the dish drying rack.

Rin laughs lightly as he pushes himself off the counter, placing his hand on Sousuke’s shoulder as he says, “you got it, bro. When you’re ready to kiss Makoto, do it!”

Sousuke smiles as he feels their friendship become stronger when Rin pats his shoulder gently. The teal-eyed teen’s hand hovers over the dishtowel as the redhead speaks, causing the ex-butterfly swimmer’s chest to flutter at the thought of kissing the brunette sleeping in the living room.

Before Sousuke could say anything, he hears the redhead’s footsteps walking away from him as he says, “I’m tired now. I’ll see ya in a few. Night Sousuke.”

The teal-eyed teen grabs the dishtowel before turning around to find the redhead closing the kitchen door. He mutters under his breath as he dries his hands, “Rin…shit. I don’t know if I can sleep now.” Sousuke turns around and places the dishtowel on the rack he found it, _‘it’s a good thing that Makoto isn’t sleeping next to me tonight. I’m distracted…I wonder if that kiss he gave me last night held any meaning for him. Ugh, no more thoughts about kisses! It’s Christmas! I need sleep.’_

Sousuke picks up his phone on the counter, turns off the lights to the kitchen before heading back to the living room to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Again, thank you for your patience! I know it has been over a month since I’ve last updated this fic. A lot of things have been happening for me, a few unexpected things that has kept me preoccupied. 
> 
> A few notes that I would like to mention: 
> 
> (1) I debated for a little bit about what movie the family should watch, and I decided to go with the Disney film, Frozen. Since it was such a big hit here in the U.S., and from those I have talked to, live or visited Japan, it was big there too. So I thought Ran may be really into the film. ^_^;;; And of course, I had to go with the Sing-a-long version. ^_^ Also since Yokai Watch is super popular I figured Ren might be into it hehe.
> 
> (2) Gou and the muscles. From the Free episodes, it’s mentioned that Haru’s charm point is his triceps (and I think for the rest of the guys it goes: Nagisa’s → calves, Rei’s → biceps, deltoids, Makoto → back muscles. Now I’m not sure if there is any mention for the other guys, I’m guessing that Rin’s is his pectoral muscles). I just decided that Gou would prefer to see Makoto with someone with great glutes, quads. (He needs a man with a good butt *hintsousukehint*)
> 
> (3) Ren mentioning that he wants to marry his big brother, Makoto. If I recall correctly, one of the drama CDs mentioned that Ren and Ran would fight over who gets to marry Makoto; so I decided to put this part in here. 
> 
> (4) The part where Sousuke mentions the nickname: Shinju真珠. If it’s not clear in the story above, shinju means pearl. I recall that Rin’s grandmother was a pearl diver, and I figured that Sousuke would have known this fact as well. 
> 
> (5) Now this may be sorta out of the blue, but I named the owner of the restaurant, Hotaru Yaki, Oishi. For any Prince of Tennis fans out there, I really couldn’t help myself since it was a yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant. So as a kind of homage to that episode of Prince of Tennis with the yakiniku battle (where I sorta got the idea to have the Tachibana’s and company go to), I decided to name the owner, Oishi (after Seigaku’s team member: Shuichiro Oishi…the boy loves his meat…^^;;;). That and my friend said that I would name something after Hotarumaru from Touken Ranbu if he joined her party that day and he popped up right after she said that haha. So it’s Hotaru Yaki for that little bugger ^_~ 
> 
> (6) Gobby. ^^;;; I looked up Australian slang for blowjob and this is what came up. If I am wrong, I’m sorry, I mean no disrespect. I just thought it would be funny if Rin said something that Sousuke didn’t understand. 
> 
> (7) And I heard from a friend that colorful Santas are becoming a trend in Japan (aka she saw a lot of pink and blue ones) so I had to include that hehe~
> 
> Gosh I had a hard time with this chapter because every time I wrote “bro” or something like that I kept hearing “backstroke for days!” and “bro!” “douchebag” and horrible things from the dub @___@ sorry if you like the dub ^^;;;
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support and yay for comments!! I will reply back to the comments from the last chapter soon ^///^


	15. Chapter 15

** December 25th, Thursday, 7:41 am  **

****

Makoto winces in his slumber as he hears two excited voices next to him telling him to wake up. He frowns as he finds himself feeling a little colder than he did a moment ago, his subconscious mind trying to make sense of everything. Makoto shuts his eyes tightly as he stirs in his sleep, mumbling, “five more minutes…just…five…” The backstroke swimmer shifts his body so he is sleeping on his back as he covers his eyes with his forearm trying to go back to sleep with a light snore.

Ran and Ren look at each other and then back at their sleeping older brother. Ran then pouts while throwing the blanket that was over Makoto’s body towards the brunette’s feet as Ren bites his bottom lip. Ran huffs lightly, crossing her arms.

Ren sighs dejectedly and whispers, “Ran…this isn’t working. What are we gonna do?”

Ran looks over at her twin brother, narrowing her eyes slightly before her eyes become wide as an idea pops into her head. She unfolds her arms, placing the palm of her hands on her thighs as she whispers in an excited tone, “Ren…it’s time.”

Ren tilts his head confused and murmurs, “time? Time for what, Ran?” The little boy fidgets with his hands as he waits for Ran’s response.

The little girl smiles and says a little more loudly then she intended to, “it’s time…for tickle monster.”

Ren’s eyes widen before he beams with excitement. He murmurs with a hushed enthusiasm, “oh! Yes! Tickle time!”

The twins move down towards Makoto’s torso, hovering over their sleeping big brother. Ren and Ran’s hands move out to the side as they wiggle their fingers with anticipation for their attack.

Ran whispers, “on the count of three…One…”

Ren nods as his smile widens, “yeah…two…”

Ran lowers her hands over Makoto’s torso and yells, “three!”

Ran dives in and tickles her brother, causing the brunette to kick his legs out as he laughs, however Ren unexpectedly shrieks as an arm swiftly goes around his torso, pulling him away from his brother. Ren turns his head to find Haru rubbing his eyes and says nonchalantly, “isn’t it too early to be playing tricks on your brother. Ren?”

The little boy turns his head to face a very sleepy Haru and says with a loud voice, “Haru-nii!! You scared me! I can’t believe you ruined my sneak attack!”

Rin bolts up from his sleep as he barks, “put your hands up! Up where I can see them!”

Haru and Ren gaze at the sudden movement from the redhead. Their surprised gazes becoming perplexed as they listen to the crimson-eyed teen’s words.

Ran stops her attack on her big brother to turn around to stare at the redhead.

Rin frowns as he scratches the back of his head, slowly turning his gaze over towards Ran, Ren, and Haru. He squints for a moment taking in the scene next to him. His eyes shift over to a laughing Makoto holding his stomach. The redhead quirks an eyebrow and says, “huh? What’s going on?”

Haru releases the little boy as he sits up on his futon, crossing his legs as he faces Makoto whose laughter is dying down. Before the navy-haired teen gets a chance to say anything, someone glomps him from behind.

Nagisa wraps his arms around Haru’s shoulders, causing the sapphire-eyed teen to lean forward with the blond’s crushing embrace as he says in an animated tone, “ah! Good morning Ren-Ren, Ran-Ran, Rin-Rin, Haru-chan! Merry Christmas!” The pink-eyed teen giggles as he continues, “Mako-chan got the best alarm ever! Mou! Ren-Ren, Ran-Ran…you should have woken me up first so we could attack Mako-chan together!”

Makoto rubs his face with one hand as he listens to everyone around him. He throws a playful glare at Nagisa and says, “Na~gi~sa! Don't give Ren and Ran any ideas!”

Rei starts to stir in his sleep from all of the ruckus, yawning as he slowly pushes himself up into a sitting position.

Nagisa hears the indigo-haired teen behind him stir and releases his hold on Haru to give Rei a morning glomp as well.

Makoto gets up from his futon and just when the brunette is about to stand up straight, Ren and Ran each glomp onto Makoto, wrapping their arms around their big brother’s waist as they look up, they say, “Merry Christmas, onii-chan!”

The brunette smiles as he pats Ren and Ran’s head, “Merry Christmas! C’mon…let’s go wash up before breakfast.” Makoto bends down and picks up his siblings as he carries them off to the washroom on the second floor.

Rin tilts his head as he watches Makoto walk out of the living room before plopping himself back down on the futon, “ugh! What time is it anyway?”

Sousuke turns his body with his phone in hand as he says, “it’s 7:50.”

The redhead turns his head and says, “you’re up too?”

The teal-eyed teen sighs sluggishly, “yeah. So…what were you dreaming about?”

Rin blinks for a moment, feeling some kind of embarrassment fill him as he sits up, “uhh…nothing. I don’t remember.” The redhead quickly pushes himself off the futon as he stretches his arms above his head as he says, “I’m gonna brush my teeth.”

Haru watches the redhead trot off towards the washroom on the first floor. The navy-haired teen turns his head to find Sousuke eyes on him. The two teens stare at each other. Haru slightly tilts his head to the side with a blank stare, _‘hmm…why is he staring at me like that?’_

The raven-haired teen quirks his eyebrow at Rin before his eyes shift over to the sapphire-eyed teen sitting crossed legged on the futon. He gazes at the navy-haired teen, watching Haru follow the redhead with his eyes before the free-swimmer turns his head and stares at him. Sousuke didn’t mean to get caught staring, his eyes marginally gleam with regret and remorse. The raven-haired teen’s lips form a thin line as he ponders about the stupid lapse of judgment he had yesterday. He thinks, _‘shit. I really fucked up last night. Ugh…I hate this feeling. The feeling that I did something wrong when I didn’t even follow through.’_

Sousuke breaks eye contact as turns his head to face the ceiling, rubbing his face with one hand as he continues, _‘I apologized to Rin. Haru doesn’t know…’_ The teal-eyed teen takes a deep breath and pushes himself up into a sitting position, side glancing over towards Haru and says, “aren’t you gonna follow him?”

The sapphire-eyed teen keeps his gaze aloof as he watches Sousuke curiously, _‘hmm…he’s staring at me strangely. Did something happen between Sousuke and Makoto last night? Oh…now he’s looking away from me. Maybe it’s nothing.’_ Sousuke’s question breaks Haru’s chain of thought, but the question the teal-eyed teen asks is deep in tone, but fickle and uncertain in meaning.

Instead of answering verbally, Haru gets up and follows the redhead into the washroom, wondering if he should ask Sousuke a few questions at a later time.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 25th, Thursday, 9:58 am  **

After a hearty breakfast with some fluffy steamed rice, egg, grilled fish, and miso soup, the raven-haired teen offered to help with the dishes after such a filling meal. However, Mrs. Tachibana declined his offer, asking the teal-eyed teen to relax and enjoy the company.

Sousuke is standing by the glowing, warm fireplace doing a few shoulder exercises as he watches Makoto, Ren, Ran, Gou, Nagisa, and Rei in between the dining room and the living room talking about their first experiences with Santa.

The raven-haired teen never believed the fairytales about Santa Claus and decided to tune out their voices as his eyes shifts over to the smiling brunette kneeling down in front of Ren and Ran. 

As Sousuke observes the emerald-eyed teen, his thoughts drift off to his frustration with himself during breakfast. Sousuke had been watching the brunette all throughout the meal, and unfortunately Makoto was sitting in between his siblings as they monopolized the emerald-eyed teen’s attention, leaving Sousuke to sit across from Ran and next to Nagisa and Rin.

Sousuke huffs lightly as he recalls Rin nudging him with his elbow as he caught him staring at Makoto. He gave the redhead a punitive glare, after which he was rewarded with a playful shark-tooth grin in return. The raven-haired teen wonders if telling the crimson-eyed teen about his newfound desire for Makoto was a smart idea as it seems that Rin has been teasing him all morning with knowing smiles and grins, _‘stupid Rin. Che. See if I tell you something next time. And Nagisa…ugh…he’s like a leech sometimes.’_

Rin walks into the living room and notices Sousuke doing some shoulder rolls and says, “Sousuke.”

The raven-haired teen stops his movements, bringing his hands down as he turns his body to face the redhead. He notices Rin’s eyes move from his face and down to his shoulder. Sousuke places his hands into his jean pockets, looking away from Rin, “don’t worry about it. I was just doing a few exercises. No big deal.” Sousuke side glances at the redhead and says, “where’s Haru?”

The crimson-eyed teen shrugs and says, “He’s upstairs, and told me to make sure no one goes up. Not sure what he’s up to.” Rin places a hand on Sousuke’s left shoulder and asks curiously, “did you talk to Makoto?”

Sousuke stiffens at the mention of the brunette and glares at the redhead, “no. He’s been busy.” The raven-haired teen tilts his head lightly as if he’s pointing over at the group between the living room and the dining room.

Rin turns his head to stare at the group lively talking about Santa Claus. The redhead smiles as he listens to Gou talk about her beliefs about Santa Claus. The redhead looks up at Sousuke, “you should join the conversation, Sousuke. Maybe you’ll learn something real interesting.” The crimson-eyed teen grins at Sousuke playfully.

The teal-eyed teen slightly slouches as he rolls his shoulder to remove Rin’s hand as he says, “oi. Stop that.” Sousuke rubs his temples as he continues in a mutter, “I’m almost regretting telling you about that. Keep it up Rin and maybe I’ll just fall harder for you.”

Rin crosses his arms, frowning at the raven-haired teen, “che. Don’t joke about that, Sousuke.”

Sousuke lifts his head and gazes at the redhead in front of him. The two teens stare at each other momentarily, _‘dammit. He’s right. I really shouldn’t joke about that.’_ The teal-eyed teen looks away as he straightens his posture, rubbing the back of his neck, “you’re right. Don’t push it, Rin.”

Rin sighs dramatically, looking down with a slight apology in his eyes, “yeah, ok. I, I just…I don’t know. Want you to be happy too, I guess. And…”

The raven-haired teen huffs, “Alright, I get it…you sappy romantic greeting card.”

Rin makes a face as he amusingly punches Sousuke’s chest, “oi, Sousuke! I’m not a romantic greeting card, you grump.”

The two teens laugh at each other’s childishness, Sousuke brushes Rin’s fist aside as he throws an arm around Rin’s shoulders laughing with him.

Rin brings his hands up, one resting over Sousuke’s shoulder, and the other gently grasping Sousuke’s forearm. The redhead tries to kick Sousuke’s calf, only to have his head pushed closer to the ex-butterfly swimmer’s chest, “oi! Sousuke! You little basta…”

Sousuke quickly interrupts with a devious smirk, “watch it, Rin. You got such a dirty mouth.”

Makoto hears laughter and turns his head to find Rin and Sousuke laughing at each other. The brunette smiles as he watches the raven-haired teen place his arm over Rin’s shoulder. The backstroke swimmer’s eyes waver as he continues watching the pair of best friends in merriment until Nagisa glomps him from behind, causing the brunette to lean forward due to the impact.

The brunette whines, as Ren, Ran, Gou, and Rei laugh at the sight before Ren and Ran throw their arms around Makoto. The emerald-eyed teen sighs as he wraps his arms around Ren and Ran’s torso, “Ren, Ran…Nagisa…ok. That’s enough. I love you all…but please let go.”

Nagisa gasps as he releases Makoto, kneeling beside him as he says in a loud voice, “Mako-chan! You love me!?!?” He looks up to Rei and Gou and bounces excitedly, “Mako-chan loves me!!”

Ren and Ran let go of Makoto, Ran frowning as she crosses her arms in front of the blond, shaking her head, “no! Onii-chan loves me! We’re gonna get married!”

Ren stomps his foot on the carpeted floor, throwing his fists downwards as he says, “no fair, Ran! Onii-chan is marrying me!”

Nagisa joins in and says with a pout, “eeeehhhhh!?!? But Mako-chan just confessed his love to me!”

Rei readjusts his red frame glasses as he sighs in defeat, “Nagisa-kun…”

Gou giggles, covering her mouth as she says, “Makoto-senpai…you have so many admirers. You’re so lucky!”

Makoto sighs, his shoulders slumping forward, knitting his eyebrows as he rubs his temples, thinking, _‘not quite. But…I do feel loved and cared for.’_

Sousuke side glances over to Makoto and the others, listening to their conversation, releasing the redhead from his grasp.

Rin looks between the group and Sousuke, noticing the raven-haired teen’s scowl. The redhead is about to say something until he hears the sound of ringing bells behind him.

Makoto hears the bells, _‘oh thank goodness! Santa is here.’_

Everyone looks over towards the staircase, as they all hear a deep, cheery voice say, “ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas everyone! I have some presents for all the good children!”

Descending down the staircase is a man clad in a red suit with white trim, a red and white cap, a black belt, black boots, long white hair, a curly white beard and gold-rimmed glasses.

Ren and Ran jump up and down, the discussion of who will marry Makoto forgotten as they run over to the staircase to greet Santa Claus.

Santa puts down the red sack of presents onto the floor as he kneels down to embrace Ren and Ran, “Merry Christmas, Ren, Ran! Have you been good this year?”

Ren pulls back to look into Santa’s eyes and nods vigorously, “I’ve been good.”

Ran giggles as she pulls back, “Santa! Did you bring us all our presents?”

Santa gets up and says, “well…let’s see what’s inside my magic sack. I have checked my list, and I know you both have been very good children. Why don’t we go into the living room and sit down?”

Ren and Ran run into the living room waiting for Santa to sit down on the couch and distribute the presents.

Rin and Sousuke move into the living room, watching Santa, Ren and Ran move toward the couch. Sousuke raises his eyebrow as he watches the scene, looking closely at Santa’s face, _‘that is some get-up…and is that…Tachibana-san? It is.’_

Makoto moves closer to the scene, standing next to Rin as Nagisa goes over to Ren and Ran, kneeling before Santa, excited to see what Santa has in his magic sack of goodies.

Gou and Rei stand behind the large blue couch, Gou leaning her elbows against the back of the couch as she smiles watching Ren and Ran with Santa Claus.

The brunette chuckles as he watches Ran sit on Santa’s lap and whispers over to Rin and Sousuke, “My dad does this every year.”

Rin turns his head and smiles at Makoto, “ah. So…did he dress up as Santa when you were a kid too?”

The emerald-eyed teen shifts his gaze over to the redhead and nods, “yeah. I was heartbroken when I found out that Santa wasn’t real…but my dad still enjoys sharing the magic with Ren and Ran.”

Haru stands next to Sousuke, causing the teal-eyed teen to turn his head to stare at the navy-haired teen, “where have you been?”

The free-swimmer looks up at Sousuke with a blank gaze and says with seriousness, “I was upstairs helping Santa.”

Makoto looks over at Haru and says, “Thank you…Haru. I would have gone up and helped, but Ren and Ran probably would have followed me if I was gone for too long.”

Haru looks over at the emerald-eyed teen and nods.

Suddenly the group hears Rei protest, “Nagisa-kun! What are you doing!?”

Makoto, Rin, Sousuke, and Haru turn their heads towards Rei and Santa.

Nagisa plops himself right on Santa’s lap, as he wraps his arms around him. The pink-eyed teen giggles as he sticks out his tongue playfully at Rei.

Ren and Ran laugh at the sight of Nagi-nii sitting on Santa’s lap. Ren kneels on the carpeted floor and says between giggles, “Nagi-nii!! You’re so funny! You look silly sitting on Santa’s lap.”

Ran sits next to Santa as she asks Nagisa, “are you gonna ask for something, Nagi-nii?”

Makoto chuckles as he watches Rei flop over the back of the large blue couch muttering, “this isn’t beautiful! Nagisa-kun…”

Rin shakes his head as he walks over to lean against the back of the couch with Gou as he strikes a conversation with his sister and dragging the indigo-haired teen up by the collar.

Haru watches the redhead for a moment before his eyes shift over to Makoto and Sousuke. He notices how the two teens are staring at Nagisa sitting on Santa’s lap.

The raven-haired teen turns his head to stare at the brunette standing next to him, observing the backstroke swimmer’s eyes twinkle with entertainment, the corners of his eyes crinkling with delight. Sousuke continues to stare at the smiling brunette, entranced by the elation Makoto exudes by just watching his friends and family spending time together.

The raven-haired teen shifts his eyes over to Santa, Nagisa, Ren, and Ran watching the joyous moment unfold before him. He notices how all their eyes sparkle with cheerfulness and conviviality. Sousuke finds himself smiling gently at the scene before him, there’s just something heartwarming about seeing the youthful, puerile-like fairytale of Santa Claus. Sousuke never believed in Santa when he was young, the idea of one man riding in a sleigh with a bunch of flying reindeer with a massive load of presents to give to all the children in the world is just impossible.

Haru notices the small smile that graces Sousuke’s features and wonders how often the raven-haired teen smiles. In high school, he hardly seen the teal-eyed teen smile, he seemed more glum and irascible. Even when Makoto first started visiting the ex-butterfly swimmer, Sousuke didn’t really smile, not like he has been. The navy-haired teen turns his head to watch Nagisa, Ren, Ran and Tachibana-san, not wanting to be caught staring at the teal-eyed teen next to him. His thoughts shift over to Makoto and his newfound friendship with the raven-haired teen. The sapphire-eyed teen knows that Makoto and Sousuke have been becoming close, and Makoto has developed feelings for Sousuke.

Haru crosses his arms over his body as he raises his other hand up to his chin as he continues to think, _‘Makoto likes Sousuke. How does Sousuke feel about Makoto? Hmm…Sousuke. I don’t know if I like the idea of Makoto and Sousuke together. Sousuke can be scary at times. I have to give this more thought.’_

Before Haru could ponder further, he hears Santa say in a deep voice, “Makoto! Why don’t you come here and tell Santa about your adventures in Tokyo.” Haru tilts his head curiously as Santa gently pats his now empty lap.

Makoto’s eyes widen at the suggestion and says sheepishly, “uh…Santa…I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m much too old to be sitting on your lap and…”

Santa throws his hand up in the air, waving his hand, dismissing the brunette’s words as he says, “oh, Makoto! Indulge this old man for old times sake. Come, come…sit on Santa’s lap and tell me about your adventures.”

Ren and Ran bounce over to Makoto, each twin taking a hand and pulling the emerald-eyed teen over to Santa as Ran says, “onii-chan!! If Nagi-nii can do it, you can do it! Santa has amazing magical powers and can lift a million tons! Carrying you would be nothing compared to all the presents he hauls around to give everyone.”

Ren nods as he continues, “yeah, onii-chan! Santa is a superhero! A Christmas superhero!”

Makoto smiles sheepishly as he allows his younger siblings to drag him over to Santa. Ren and Ran move behind Makoto, pushing their big brother to sit on Santa’s lap when they get in front of the man in the red suit.

Makoto sighs and decides to sit on his father’s lap with hesitation. Once Makoto puts his weight on Santa’s leg, the man in the red suit whispers, “my, my, Makoto. You are much heavier than I expected.”

The emerald-eyed teen makes a face as he stares at his father in the Santa suit and says quickly, “ok, Santa...um…can I get up now? This is so embarrassing.” Makoto places his hand over his face as he shakes his head.

Ren shakes his head as he says to his big brother, “no, you can’t onii-chan! You have to tell Santa all about your adventures in Tokyo!”

Nagisa beams as he sits next to Santa, “yeah, Mako-chan! You have to tell us about your adventures in Tokyo! But…you can sit on my lap if you don’t want to sit on Santa’s lap anymore.”

Sousuke laughs at the goofiness of the scene before him and finds himself enjoying the entertaining festivities of Christmas with the Tachibana family and the gang from Iwatobi.

Makoto looks over at Sousuke when he hears a laugh coming from that direction. The brunette stares at the raven-haired teen, slightly hunched over, as he chuckles, his eyes squinting and a grin on his face. The emerald-eyed teen finds himself in awe at the sight before Santa says, “shall I ask Sousuke to sit on my lap as well?”

The backstroke swimmer’s head snaps over to stare down at his beaming father. Makoto makes a face and says, “Sa~n~ta! No! Fine, fine. Let me tell you about my adventures in Tokyo, Santa.”

Makoto looks down to find Ren and Ran smiling at him and he returns the smile lovingly, lifting his gaze up to Sousuke, teal and green eyes clash together for a moment as the brunette says, “do you want to know how Sousuke and I met in Tokyo?”

Santa roars with laughter and says, “please, tell us, Makoto.”

The brunette chuckles as he decides to relieve his father’s poor leg, hoping that he didn’t cut off his father’s circulation as he sits next to Santa. He begins his story about how he met Sousuke at the _Momento Café_ in November during a Saturday evening. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 25th, Thursday, 3:20 pm  **

Makoto holds Ren and Ran’s hand as they walk back from a nearby delicatessen that his uncle frequents. The brunette’s father was hankering for a hot sandwich after everyone finished up opening their presents and they all agreed that taking a walk would be nice.

Makoto chases after Ren and Ran into a nearby park, telling his siblings to be careful not to slip on the snow. Nagisa bends down and makes a ball of snow throwing it at the brunette’s retreating back.

The emerald-eyed teen feels and hears a thud on his back. He quickly comes to a halt and turns around to find the blond holding his stomach with laughter bursting through the frosty winter air.

Makoto makes a face and just when he’s about to bend down and grab a pile of snow, he feels and hears two thuds, one on his shoulder, and the other on his thigh. He turns around to find Ren and Ran giggling. The brunette scrunches up his nose as he says, “that’s not fair! You guys are ganging up on me!”

Nagisa trots over to the brunette and says, “that’s because you are so fun to tease, Mako-ch…” The blond feels a thud on his shoulder, small pieces of snow dribbling down onto his scarf, feeling a slight chill. The pink-eyed teen turns around to find a shark-tooth redhead as he raises an eyebrow with challenge, “what was that Nagisa? Who is fun to tease you little monkey?”

Ran runs over towards Makoto and Nagisa, with her attention focused on Rin. With a snowball in hand she throws it confidently towards the redhead. Rin notices the movement and puts his weight on one side, lunging to dodge the snowball. A thud is heard as Rei was behind the crimson-eyed teen, the snowball hitting his chest. Rin looks at Rei and chuckles, “you got nailed, Rei.”

Rei’s eyebrow twitches as he readjusts his red-rimmed eyeglasses, trying to keep his cool externally as he murmurs, “Rin-san…you could have warned me of an on-coming assault.”

Haru who was standing next to Rin frowns with his eyes, feeling a surge of competition run through his senses. Seeing Rin’s fighting spirit causes the navy-haired teen to respond naturally. He walks over to Ran, squatting down and places his hand on Ran’s shoulder as he looks up at Nagisa, “let’s beat them. Rin, Makoto, Rei.”

Makoto’s eyes widen as he observes Haru with a glint of rivalry in his deep blue eyes. The brunette can’t help but smile, _‘Haru.’_ Before the emerald-eyed teen could ponder further, the bubbly blond jumps up and down in place as he says, “really, Haru-chan!?!? Yay! We’re on the same team!”

Ren runs over, getting in-between Makoto and Haru and says, “me too, me too. I wanna be on the same team as Nagi-nii and Haru-nii!”

Haru’s face shows no emotion, but his eyes gleam with slight excitement as he nods and says, “nn. Let’s beat them…as a team.”

Makoto makes a face as he thinks out loud, “hmm, okay. So, Haru, Nagisa, Ren and Ran. That’s four. Me, Rin, and Rei…” He looks over at his parents and his uncle who are talking amongst themselves, smiling about something before his eyes settles on Sousuke and Gou chatting sorta playfully and kinda serious. The brunette stares at the raven-haired teen as he says, “we need one more member.”

Nagisa turns his head to find the brunette’s eyes lingering on someone and he follows Makoto’s trail, twisting his body to the side. The pink-eyed teen observes the teal-eyed teen rubbing the back of his neck and looking off to the side before a smile plays at the blond’s lips, “Sou-chan! He’ll play with us!”

Ren and Ran jump up and down with enthusiasm. Ren says cheerfully, “yeah! Sou-nii will play with us!" 

Ran grabs Ren’s hand and says, “let’s go, Ren.” The twins run off to ask Sousuke to play with them.

Makoto raises his hand out and is about to chase after Ren and Ran, but he feels Haru’s hand on his shoulder. It startles the brunette, and he looks to his right questioningly, “Ha-Haru?”

The sapphire-eyed teen’s mouth parts slightly as if he’s about to say something, but Haru’s eyes waver as if he is battling with himself about something. Makoto tilts his head to the side with concern as he continues, “Haru? What is it?”

Rin and Rei distract the navy-haired teen and the backstroke swimmer as the two argue about tactics for their potential snowball battle.

Sousuke crosses his arms over his chest as he thinks deeply. His lips form a thin line as he furrows his eyebrows, _‘ugh, I can’t believe this. Mom…you invited Gou and the Matsuoka family to the wedding too? And, Gou actually met my mom’s fiancé!? Great. I haven’t even met the guy yet. I haven’t told Rin about this…or anyone else for that matter.’_

Gou tilts her head as she asks, “Yamazaki-san did tell you about the wedding, right?”

Sousuke sighs heavily as he looks away from the redheaded girl. He says somberly, “yeah. I know about it.”

Gou knits her eyebrows with worry, noticing how the raven-haired teen seems so indifferent about the situation. The redhead has met Sousuke’s family many years ago, but from her recollection, Sousuke always came over to their house more frequently. Sousuke’s mother, Yamazaki-san, and her mother have become friends over time and Gou would occasionally talk to Yamazaki-san. Before the crimson-eyed girl could say anything, Ren and Ran run up to them.

Ren glomps onto Sousuke’s waist and says excitedly, “Sou-nii, Sou-nii!! You have to play with us! We are gonna hunt down the evildoers and pummel them with snowballs! You have to help us!”

Ran frowns as she puts her gloved hands on her hips, leaning forward a bit and says, “wait a minute, Ren! We…we are the heroes and Sou-nii is gonna be an evil-doer!”

Gou giggles as she listens to Ren and Ran’s explanation and adds, “aww, Sousuke-kun...looks like they need you.”

The raven-haired teen throws the amused redheaded girl a hard look before he looks down between the twins as he slightly quirks an eyebrow and says, “whoa, wait a minute. What is all this about heroes and evil-doers?”

Ran quickly answers, “we are having a snowball fight and you will be on onii-chan’s team. The rest of us will be on Haru-nii’s team.”

Sousuke squats down and says, “is that so? Who else is on your brother’s team?”

Ren opens his mouth to answer, but Ran says, “Rin-nii and Rei-nii. Haru-nii and Nagi-nii are on our team.”

The raven-haired teen gets up and says, “alright. I’ll play your little game.”

Ren and Ran jump up and down in excitement. Ren takes Sousuke’s gloved hand into his and says, “come on, Sou-nii! Let’s play!”

Sousuke allows the twins to drag him towards the playground as Gou waves at the raven-haired teen with amusement in her crimson eyes. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 25th, Thursday, 4:10 pm  **

Sousuke runs into the play structure, sufficiently dodging a snowball in the process as he squats down to pick up a pile of snow. He looks around and decides to climb up one more level of the play structure. The raven-haired teen notices Rin and Haru running around an igloo-like structure with a slide on the top, constantly throwing snowballs at each other. Nagisa has stolen Rei’s glasses and throws snowballs at the poor indigo-haired teen as he yells at the blond.

The teal-eyed teen hears laughter on the other side of the structure, turns around, quietly moves through the snow-covered play structure, and looks around the corner of the entrance of the play structure. He finds Makoto spinning around with Ren and Ran in his arms until the brunette gets dizzy and carefully falls to the floor, holding on to his cheerful siblings.

Sousuke finds himself smiling at the sight, as it seems that everyone has broken up into smaller groups and just having fun. He continues to watch the sight of Ren and Ran laughing beside Makoto as the backstroke swimmer starts to tickle his siblings. Suddenly he feels a thud on his chest.

Sousuke looks to the side and finds Gou standing a few feet from him, giggling to herself as she throws another snowball towards the raven-haired teen. It hits his knee and he playfully glares at the redheaded girl as he picks up a pile of snow, climbing down the play structure with the intention of chasing Gou.

The raven-haired teen chases Gou around the playground, deliberately missing Gou as the redheaded girl throws snowballs in his direction, and the crimson-eyed girl was able to land a couple of snowballs on Sousuke. When the raven-haired teen is about to throw his snowball, he finds a pressure around his wrist.

Sousuke turns to the side to find Rin grasping his wrist with an angry expression on his face. Rin barks, “oi! What do you think you’re doing!? You can’t hit my sister with that…otherwise I will have to knock you down, bro.”

The raven-haired teen is about to retort, but Ren and Ran decide to use Rin as a shield causing the redhead to release the teal-eyed teen, losing his balance, and falling to the floor along with Ren and Ran.

The redhead falls on his side as he says, “oi! Ren…Ran!? What are you doing!?” He leans his hand on the floor as he looks around him to make sure that they are ok.

Makoto halts right next to Sousuke, leaning forward as the brunette places his hands on his knees panting lightly. The emerald-eyed teen looks up and smiles at the ex-butterfly swimmer, “are you having fun?”

Sousuke looks over to the brunette and notices that he is slightly flushed from running around with his siblings. The raven-haired teen lightly chuckles, “I guess so. I can see you are.”

The brunette pulls down his black scarf as puffs of condensation are seen as Makoto breathes in and out. He stands up straight as he stares down at Ren and Ran trying to tickle Rin on the floor, “yeah…I am.” Makoto chuckles as Rin breaks into laughter with the playfulness the twins are expressing towards the redhead.

Haru and Gou walk over to check out the action between Rin and the twins. Haru beams into a bright smile and tries to cover it with his red and blue scarf, gently hiking it up over his nose. Gou covers her mouth as she giggles at the sight of Rin, Ren, and Ran.

Rin tackles Ren and Ran and gets them both into a loose headlock as he says, “oi…you little rascals! I told you, I’m not ticklish!”

Sousuke smiles as he watches the crimson-eyed teen, happy to see Rin in good spirits. The teal-eyed teen looks up to find Haru and Gou watching Ren, Ran, and Rin. The raven-haired teen watches the navy-haired teen closely noticing the side of his lips curved in a smile as he brings up his scarf to cover his mouth. The teal-eyed teen wonders, _‘you really like him, don’t you, Haru? That’s some smile…it would make Rin blush like the romantic he is. I can see why he’s so enchanted with you. But, you hardly express anything…in a sense, it’s kinda nice to see you react like this. I wonder…if you know how far Rin’s affection for you goes.’_

The raven-haired teen suddenly notices Makoto’s sweet laughter next to him, causing Sousuke to turn his head. He watches how the brunette’s eyes twinkle with merriment as the backstroke swimmer observes his siblings and Rin playfully wrestle with each other. Somehow, Makoto’s eyes shift and unexpectedly focus on the raven-haired teen. Sousuke’s eyes widen momentarily, _‘oh shit! He caught me staring at him. Crap…what do I say?’_

The brunette feels like someone is staring at him and looks around to find magnetized teal orbs gazing at him. The moment after their eyes meet, Makoto detects the raven-haired teen’s eyes fluctuate and widen. Makoto realizes that he had just witnessed something, something relevant and profound in just a few moments, and his heart skips a beat. Makoto bites his lower lip as he feels a pulsating heat burst through him, _‘Sou…Sousuke. Is it possible that you were…staring at me? Or, is there something on my face?’_

Tetsuya walks over and stands next to Makoto as he gently places a hand on his shoulder, “let’s head back home and play a game together. I don’t want any of you getting too cold out here.”

Makoto stiffens abruptly as he turns his head to find his uncle smiling at him sweetly. The brunette stares into Tetsuya’s green eyes with shock, as he tries to find his voice that seems to be lost to him.

Tetsuya tilts his head with curiosity, but shifts his gaze over to Ren and Ran. The older man says with a smile, “you two need a nice warm bath. Wanna take one with me, Ren?”

Ren looks up at his uncle and smiles, “oh, oh! Can I bring my boat into the tub and pretend we are pirates? Oh, oh! Can dad come join us too?”

Tetsuya chuckles as he extends his arms for Ren, “yes, yes. C’mon everyone. Let’s head back home.”

Makoto nods at his uncle, still finding it difficult to find his voice. Briefly he looks over at the teal-eyed teen and notices that Sousuke has moved away and is squatting down to help Ran up from the ground. The brunette frowns and sighs as he looks around the playground. He finds Nagisa and Rei on top of the igloo structure still throwing snowballs at each other. The brunette smiles as he walks over to the igloo to tell them that it’s time to go back to his uncle’s home.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 25th, Thursday, 5:27 pm  **

Makoto is sitting down on the couch, leaning his elbows on his knees with a Wii-controller in his hands as he plays _Mario Party 8,_ taking turns back and forth with Ran as they use the character, _Princess Daisy_. Rin and Sousuke took turns with _Yoshi_ , Haru and Nagisa took turns with _Donkey Kong_ , and Rei and Gou took turns with _Princess Peach_. Currently, Rei and Gou are in the lead with two stars. Ren, Tetsuya, and his father are taking a bath together while his mother prepares for Ran to take a bath afterwards as well as setting the table for dinner. 

Makoto passes the controller over to his sister, sighing as he came in last during the mini-game. Ran takes the controller as she prepares herself to do her best to catch up with Rei and Gou. The brunette smiles as he leans back into the couch, looking over towards Haru who is sitting next to him, Gou who is sitting between the navy-haired teen and the ex-butterfly swimmer. Rei, Rin, and Nagisa are sitting on the floor in front of their perspective partners. The brunette looks over to the raven-haired teen, it’s his turn to play, and Makoto notices that Sousuke is leaning back in the couch, giving the brunette a good look at the raven-haired teen’s profile.

The emerald-eyed teen watches Sousuke’s light scowl as he stares at the T.V. screen, Makoto assuming the raven-haired teen didn’t like the roll of numbers he received.

Rin groans, “ugh…bro! You have the worst luck with this game.”

Sousuke’s scowl deepens, “be quiet, Rin.”

Nagisa chuckles as he listens to Rin and Sousuke, “awww! Better luck next time, Sou-chan! I’m glad I choose Haru-chan as my partner!”

Rei gently scolds the blond, shifting his eyes between the T.V. screen and the pink-eyed teen next to him, “Nagisa-kun...you weren’t doing that much better the last round. So stop giving Sousuke-kun a hard time.” The indigo-haired teen gently bumps his shoulder with Nagisa’s.

The pink-eyed teen puffs his cheeks out, as he crosses his arms, “Rei-chan! That was just one round of bad luck on my part. Sou-chan hasn’t gotten a good roll yet.” 

Rin leans forward, placing his elbows his crossed legged knees, “oi, oi, Nagisa! Don’t push your luck! Sousuke will do better next time, just you wait.”

Haru looks down to watch Nagisa and Rin go back and forth with their discussion. He sighs at the child-like behavior between the blond and the redhead and decides to sneak a peek to see what Makoto thinks about all this. The navy-haired teen slightly turns his head to the side, shifting his gaze over to the brunette sitting next to him. He finds that Makoto is leaning back on the couch, and turns his head a little more to get a glimpse of what the emerald-eyed teen is thinking.

Haru raises an eyebrow to find Makoto’s eyes peering over at someone else. The sapphire-eyed teen turns his head to the other side and finds Sousuke also leaning back on the couch as he stares at the screen with disapproval. Haru pouts with his eyes as he thinks, _‘Makoto, you’re staring at him.’_

The navy-haired teen sighs silently as he focuses his gaze back on the T.V. and says, “Nagisa…if you don’t stop, I’m switching partners.”

The blond quickly turns around and pouts, “Ha~ru~cha~n!! That’s not fair!”

Rei, Rin, and, Gou chuckle as they watch Nagisa turn around and pout at the navy-haired teen. Gou says gently, “Nagisa-kun…don’t give Sousuke-kun a hard time.”

The blond continues to pout, “mou! Even you are against me, Gou-kun!”

Haru sighs as he says, “let’s just play the game.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 25th, Thursday, 6:09 pm  **

Makoto looks around as he realizes that Sousuke has been gone for over ten minutes since he said he was going to return a call to his sister, Yumiko, and he hasn’t returned yet. Ren took Sousuke’s place after his bath, allowing the teal-eyed teen to leave the room to find some privacy. The brunette slightly frowns as he decides to look for the raven-haired teen. He notices that his father is leaning his palms on the back of the couch watching the T.V.

The brunette looks up as he holds up the Wii-mote, extending it to his father and says, “dad, can you take over for me? I’ll be back.”

The bespeckled man looks down and says, “oh. Alright. I can take over for you.” He takes the controller in his hand.

Makoto smiles before he places a hand on Ran’s shoulder, “I’ll be right back, Ran. Dad will take my place for a little bit, ok?”

The young girl looks over and slightly pouts, “oh, alright, onii-chan. You better come back.”

The brunette chuckles, “I will.” He gets up, quickly walking past in front of the T.V., only blocking Ran’s view for a couple of seconds. Makoto looks around the living room wondering, _‘hmm…where would Sousuke go to have a private conversation? I wonder if he asked my uncle about it.’_

The brunette spots his uncle sitting down at the dining table, texting someone on his phone. The emerald-eyed teen gently places a hand on his uncle’s shoulder and asks, “hmm, uncle? Do you know where Sousuke is?”

The older man tears his gaze from his phone to look up into his nephew’s eyes and says, “ah, Sousuke. I told him he could use my room to have some privacy. I think he said he was returning a family member’s phone call. Why do you ask, Makoto?”

The brunette chuckles nervously as he says, “oh, well…I just wanted to make sure that he’s ok. If he’s still on the phone, I’ll give him his privacy.”

Tetsuya raises an eyebrow and says in a teasing tone, “ah…checking up on your friends.”

The backstroke swimmer’s eyes widen as he gapes at the older man, “u-uncle! I-I’m not! I just…I’m just worried is all. I’m just going to quickly make sure that he’s ok…and that’s that.”

The older man chuckles, bringing up one hand to pat Makoto’s hand on his shoulder, “yes, yes, Makoto. Just remember that dinner will be arriving in about fifteen minutes or so.”

Makoto makes a face playfully and says, “alright uncle. I’ll try to remember.” The brunette trots out of the dining room and back into the living room as he takes a peek to see how the game is going before he turns the corner to walk down the hallway towards his uncle’s bedroom.

The brunette slowly walks over to his uncle’s bedroom door, noticing that the door is slightly ajar causing a beam of light to pour into the dim hallway. When the emerald-eyed teen is standing in front of the door, he sticks his head out just a bit to check and see if Sousuke is still on the phone.

Makoto furrows his eyebrows as he hears nothing coming from the bedroom. He raises his hand to knock on the door, but before he is able to have contact with the door, Makoto hears a soft sigh come from inside.

Makoto freezes for a few moments, wondering if he should intrude on Sousuke’s private time. He swallows before he decides to gently rap on the door.

The raven-haired looks down at his cellphone after talking to Yumiko. He places his phone in the back pocket of his black jeans as he looks over to the bed where he left the plush toy Makoto gave him for Christmas.

Sousuke walks over to the sea green colored bed, picking up the white bunny in a whale shark costume. The teal-eyed teen smiles at the adorable white bunny, gently petting the soft fur of the plush toy, thinking, _‘I still don’t understand this. A bunny in a whale shark suit. I’m gonna have to ask you about this…something tells me there’s more than meets the eye. I’m glad I picked this up before talking to Yumiko. Looks like my dad has a few dinners planned when I get back to Tokyo…great. And Yumiko won’t be able to attend one of them…even better.’_

The raven-haired teen sighs deeply, sitting down on the bed as he leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he holds the bunny in a whale shark suit, _‘I should think of a name for you. Hmmm…’_

Suddenly, the ex-butterfly swimmer hears a mellow knock on the door and lifts his head to stare at the door as he says, “come in.”

The brunette gingerly opens the door, peeking over the edge, smiling at the teal-eyed teen as he says softly, “is this a bad time?”

Sousuke’s eyes widen when he sees Makoto’s soft green eyes peer over the door’s frame and says, “oh…no. I’m done with the call.”

Makoto knits his eyebrows briefly, slinking into the bedroom, and closing the door behind him. The brunette leans against the door and says, “you’ve been gone for awhile…I was starting to get worried.”

Sousuke smiles, breaking eye contact with the brunette, “ah. I wasn’t really keeping track of time. Oh, Yumiko says ‘Merry Christmas’ to you. She didn’t want to disturb you while you were visiting with your family…and she says ‘thank you’ for inviting me. She thinks I need this.” The raven-haired teen shrugs lightly, squeezing the plush toy in his hands before he sets his gaze on the cute bunny’s face.

The brunette watches the raven-haired teen curiously and something seems off, almost like he’s avoiding something. His voice seems so devoid of emotion, almost as if he tucked his feelings away deep inside. Makoto hears Yumiko’s words through Sousuke and frowns slightly. He slowly strides over to the ex-butterfly swimmer, standing in front of him before he kneels down, sitting on the floor in seiza as he says while trying to catch Sousuke’s line of sight, “I will have to text her later. Thanks for relaying the message to me, Sou. I wonder…if you are having a good time with me…and with the rest of the gang too.”

Sousuke hears worry and puzzlement in the emerald-eyed teen’s voice, causing the ex-butterfly swimmer to look up from the plushie in his hands, finding those green eyes peering at him. He knits his eyebrows as he says, “eh?”

Makoto sighs softly as he continues staring into those teal orbs, “are you enjoying yourself, Sousuke?”

Sousuke straightens up his back, breaking eye contact with the brunette in front of him as he runs a hand through his hair. He says in a soft tone, almost as if he’s embarrassed to admit it, “yeah. Yeah, I am.”

The emerald-eyed teen tilts his head to the side as he observes the raven-haired teen, noticing how self-conscious Sousuke appears to be. Makoto feels his heart skip a beat, hearing Sousuke’s tender response, _‘Sou…Sousuke.’_ Makoto swallows as silence fills the room. The brunette starts to fidget, squirming a bit in place as his mind draws a blank as to what to fill the silence with. Without much thought he says, “so, um…did you name the bunny yet?”

Sousuke looks over to the bookcase across the room, looking at the small trinkets on the top shelf as the silence fills the room. The raven-haired teen’s thoughts reflect upon the past few days in Nagoya with Makoto, Rin, Haru, Gou, Nagisa, Rei, and Makoto’s family. He’s seen so many smiles, heard lots of laughter, and deep down there is acceptance and clarity. It’s so different than what he’s used to, and he took part in it. It feels nice, something about the closeness and compassion that he’s felt gives him hope for a slice of happiness. But, it’s not his. This isn’t his family, these aren’t his friends, it’s Makoto’s family, Makoto’s friends, Rin’s friends. Can he really take part in something that doesn’t belong to him? Makoto had said that his friends view him as a friend, but is that really true? Same goes for Rin. Rin had said something similar as well, but it just doesn’t feel right to the raven-haired teen. Regardless, he’s just a guest, experiencing something that has become foreign to him, consideration and warmth.

Makoto’s question shifts Sousuke’s thinking process, focusing on the query asked of him instead. The raven-haired teen turns his head and watches the brunette, “no, not yet. I’ve been wondering…why a bunny in a whale shark suit.”

The emerald-eyed teen looks up to find curious teal eyes gazing at him. Makoto laughs sheepishly, “oh. Well…don’t take this the wrong way, ok? So…when Rin and I were talking, I had mentioned that you remind me of a rabbit. And let me explain…so…I don’t know if you have been around rabbits before, but rabbits can be quite selective with whom they share their time with. From my experience, rabbits are hard to get to know, and it takes time for them to open up. But, once a rabbit opens up, they are sweet, courageous, funny, and affectionate. They trust the other…persistently and everlasting. They…also hide pain really well too. And well…the more I thought about it, the more I saw similarities between you and rabbits.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, listening to the emerald-eyed teen’s explanation, not quite agreeing with Makoto’s assessment, but understanding some of the points the brunette mentions. The raven-haired teen chuckles at the end of Makoto’s explanation, “oh? Is that right? I just had a feeling you put a lot of thought into this. I wanted to ask you last night, but with everyone else around, it just didn’t seem like a good time to ask you about it. So, what about the whale shark?”

Makoto makes an embarrassed expression as he listens to Sousuke’s response, _‘you really do, Sou.’_ The brunette licks his lips before he says, looking down at his hands on his lap, “remember that night we swam the breaststroke together? Well…I thought about us swimming together, well, more about what I felt when I was swimming with you. You swim with conviction, ambition, and you give off this impervious feeling when you swim. You cut through the water with this strong sense of passion that can be intimidating. But…I also felt that you were a bit guarded, like you were shielding yourself from other burdens. It reminds me of a whale shark. Whale sharks are huge, their size so impressive as they swim through the water, and taking into account about what I said about rabbits, I just thought you reminded me of them.” He thinks to himself, ‘ _and while large and intimidating, whale sharks are usually harmless..but I don’t want to tell him that.’_

Sousuke stares at Makoto, noticing how the brunette fidgets with his hands, shifting from sitting on his shins to the balls of his feet as he talks. The raven-haired teen’s eyes waver as he listens, realizing that Makoto had put much more thought into the Christmas gift than he had previously thought. He knew there was more as Makoto is quite thoughtful, and with all seriousness, he thought that Makoto had given him the plushie as a means to help him sleep through the night, considering that the emerald-eyed teen had given him Mr. Orca-cat for a period of time.

The teal-eyed teen looks down at the plush toy in his hands, rubbing his thumbs against the soft fur, “ah. I, um…thanks, Mako. You put a lot of thought into this. It really is cute. Let me be honest, I thought that you were giving me a sleeping buddy, since you lent me Mr. Orca-cat. I would have never thought a rabbit nor a whale shark would represent me.”

The backstroke swimmer looks up to find Sousuke gazing at the plush toy in his hands, contemplating as he speaks. Makoto notices something with the way Sousuke holds the bunny in a whale shark suit, almost as if something about it is priceless. Makoto, lifts his butt off his calves, kneeling down in front of Sousuke as he places his hands over the raven-haired teen’s and says in a bare whisper, “it can be…your sleeping buddy. If it helps keep the nightmares away…that would be wonderful.”

Sousuke feels electricity fill him as Makoto’s hands brush up against his. He inhales sharply as he watches the brunette’s hands over his before his eyes shift upwards to find Makoto’s face much closer to his. He realizes that the backstroke swimmer must have changed his position as Makoto is slightly leaning forward, towards the raven-haired teen. Sousuke finds his gaze searching Makoto’s green stare and finding himself unable to form words as he listens to the brunette’s soft words.

Makoto notices how Sousuke’s teal eyes waver with emotion, and it’s mesmerizing. The brunette unconsciously squeezes his hands over the raven-haired teen’s, feeling a simmering heat building within him. Sousuke’s skin feels so warm against his, and he bites his lower lip as his heart starts to race.

Sousuke exhales intensely, feeling the brunette’s hands tighten over his, causing the raven-haired teen to deeply stare into those beautiful green eyes and seeing something he’s never noticed before. He can’t pinpoint what it is he sees, as he’s never seen such a gaze directed at him before, the only word that comes to mind is thirst, but he can’t be certain. Sousuke’s voice trembles, “Ma-Mako…”

The teal-eyed teen feels fire pierce through him, saying Makoto’s name so intimately causes the raven-haired teen to back up involuntarily, almost as if he would get burned if he continued to move forward. Sousuke breaks eye contact as he says with uncertainty, “Makoto…that was…I don’t know what that was but…”

Before Sousuke or Makoto could respond, the door flies open as Ren and Ran run through the door.

The sound of the door opening instantaneously, causes the brunette to jump in place as he quickly looks over to his siblings, “oh my god! You scared me!” Makoto releases his hold on the teal-eyed teen as he changes his position to face Ren and Ran and grasps them in an embrace.

Ren and Ran giggle as they return Makoto’s hug. Ran says excitedly, “the food is here! Uncle’s friend brought all kinds of sushi! And a Christmas cake with a Santa on top, too! They are setting the table now.”

Ren adds as he pulls away from Makoto to stare at his big brother, “and uncle said we can’t eat until we are all together! Nagi-nii is already drooling over all the unagi! Rei-nii said that he will fight off Nagi-nii if he must so we all get at least one bite of unagi, but we have to go soon, onii-chan!”

Ran’s eyes move towards Sousuke, turning her head slightly to look up at him. The little girl with the pigtails looks at Sousuke’s left shoulder, and then the right one. She scrunches up her face momentarily as if she is trying to remember something.

Makoto chuckles and says, “alright. Well, we can’t have Nagisa pigging out on all the goodies while we’re gone, right?”

Ren laughs and says, “Nagi-nii is silly. I think he’s kidding.”

Sousuke stares at the little girl gazing at him wondering what’s on her mind; he raises an eyebrow in curiosity as he places the plush toy on the bed as he keeps his eyes on Ran.

The little girl goes around Makoto and places a hand on Sousuke’s knee, “Sou-nii. Can I ask you something?”

Makoto’s ears perk up when he hears Ran’s voice and shifts his position to face Sousuke and Ran. Ren holds on to the brunette’s bicep as the backstroke swimmer moves slightly, he continues to watch Ran and Sousuke.

The raven-haired teen nods, “sure. What is it?”

Ran smiles for a moment before a frown replaces her features. She tilts her head as she stares up at Sousuke, “onii-chan said that one of your arms is stronger than the other, which one is it, and how did that happen?”

Sousuke swallows after Ran is done asking her question and before he could reply, Makoto interrupts and says quickly, “Ra-Ran!? That’s a personal question. I don’t think…”

The raven-haired teen looks over at the emerald-eyed teen and notices a flustered flush on his face, probably due to embarrassment. Sousuke interrupts, “Mako. I mean, Makoto. It’s ok. She’s just curious. It’s ok.”

The brunette looks up into those teal orbs, and feels heat race through him as he calls him by his nickname, but when Sousuke corrects himself, his heart sinks. Makoto swallows and says in a shaky tone, “I-I know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything about it.”

Ran looks back and forth between Sousuke and her big brother and says, “is it bad? If it is, you don’t have to say…”

Sousuke places his hand over Ran’s, interrupting her, “it’s ok, Ran. Let me answer your question. My left side is stronger than my right. Earlier this year, I had surgery on my right shoulder because of an injury. It’s fine now, but a lot of people are worried about me, including your brother.”

Ran’s mouth parts in shock as Sousuke explains what happened to his shoulder and she places her other hand over the raven-haired teen’s. She says in a timid tone, “oh. It must have hurt real bad, huh? But, you’re better now?”

Sousuke blinks as he releases a breath and says, “yeah. It did hurt bad. But, I’m better now. I just have to be a little careful, that’s all.”

Ran climbs up the bed on Sousuke’s right side and gently pets Sousuke’s shoulder as she says, “I hope it gets better…like one hundred percent better…wait no. One hundred and fifty percent better, Sou-nii.” She smiles sweetly at the raven-haired teen before she bestows a cute kiss on Sousuke’s shoulder, “onii-chan says that kissing a boo-boo helps keep the pain away.”

Ren bolts over to Sousuke, crashing into his leg as he says, “hey! I want to kiss the boo-boo too! Can I, Sou-nii?”

Sousuke looks at Ran bewilderedly, not sure how to take the petting of his injured shoulder, and then the kiss on top of it all. When Ren crashes into him, the raven-haired teen looks down to find pleading brown eyes gazing up at him.

Ran giggles and says, “of course you can, Ren. The more boo-boo kisses, the better it will be. Remember, that’s what onii-chan always says whenever we get cuts and stuff.”

Makoto opens his mouth as he crawls over the small space between him and Sousuke to get to Ren, he says as he places a hand on his little brother’s shoulder, “wh-whoa! Wait a moment, Ren. Let’s ask Sousuke first, ok? I know I’ve said that boo-boo kisses are the best medicine to keep the pain away, but Sousuke should decide what he wants, ok?”

Ren pouts and looks back up at the teal-eyed teen, giving him the most pathetic gaze he could muster, “pretty please, Sou-nii?”

Sousuke blinks as he gazes into Ren’s brown eyes as he debates with himself of whether or not he should allow the little boy to kiss his shoulder like the little girl had done. He closes his eyes and sighs in defeat, “alright. Sure. Go ahead and kiss my boo-boo.”

Ren jumps up and down, “yay! I get to kiss the boo-boo!”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke with sympathy and understanding, smiling gently at the raven-haired teen. The brunette picks up Ren, placing him on Sousuke’s leg to allow the brown-eyed boy to place a kiss on Sousuke’s shoulder.

Ren quickly pecks Sousuke’s shoulder with a kissing sound and says, “Sou-nii, I’m gonna ask Santa to heal your shoulder if it’s not better next year. I promise.”

Sousuke ruffles Ren’s hair and says, “oi. Don’t waste your precious wishes on something like that, Ren. It will be fine.”

Ran moves behind Sousuke and wraps her arms around the raven-haired teen’s shoulders, resting her head on the ex-butterfly swimmer’s left shoulder, “now, onii-chan needs to kiss your boo-boo. He gives the best boo-boo kisses ever! You know, the last time I rode my bike and scrapped my knee, he sang to me every night until the Band-Aid came off. If you ask real nice, onii-chan will do that for you too.”

Ren chuckles as he brushes Sousuke’s hand off his head, “yeah! Onii-chan is the best!” He looks over at Makoto and says, “onii-chan, now you have to kiss Sou-nii’s boo-boo! You just got to!”

The brunette’s mouth parts as he stutters, “Re-Ren. Ra-Ran. Wha-what do you mean that I’m…the best!? I-I’m not! I just…I was just trying to make you feel better.” Makoto rubs his ear, trying to will the oncoming blush from blooming onto his face.

Sousuke looks over at Makoto and notices the shock expressed through his features, and when the emerald-eyed teen rubs his ear, the teal-eyed teen smirks. He licks his lips and says, “so, you guys really think that Makoto is the best boo-boo kisser, ever?”

Ren and Ran say, “yes,” in unison with Ren being slightly delayed to respond. Ran adds, “onii-chan is the best kisser ever! We would know. Onii-chan has kissed every boo-boo Ren and I have ever had! Haru-nii tries, but he’s not that good at it. Mom and dad are the next best boo-boo kissers.”

Makoto face palms at Ran’s comment as he mumbles under his breath, “oh my god. I can’t believe this. I don’t even know what to say about all this…it’s so…embarrassing.” 

Sousuke snorts slightly, finding Ran’s explanation amusing. The little tidbit about Haru not being a great boo-boo kisser is surprising. The raven-haired teen can’t even picture the free-swimmer attempting to kiss a child’s boo-boo, but if Ren and Ran had the experience, who is he to invalidate it, even though it seems so out of character for the navy-haired teen. The ex-butterfly swimmer looks over at Makoto, half-smirks as he notices the brunette covering his face with his hand. He says calmly, “huh. I had no idea that Makoto was so good at…boo-boo kissing. I think Makoto might be a little shy right now. Would it be ok if I ask him later?”

Ren jumps off of Sousuke’s lap, walks a few steps, grabs Makoto’s hand and says, “onii-chan! Don’t be so embarrassed! Ran and I think you are the best! C’mon, onii-chan. Don’t you want Sou-nii to feel better?” Ren gently tugs on Makoto’s hand, pulling the brunette towards Sousuke and Ran.

Makoto peeks through his fingers, sighing deeply, “alright, alright. I do want Sousuke to feel better. As long as it’s alright with Sousuke, I’ll kiss his boo-boo.”

Ran raises one arm up in the air and says, “yay! Onii-chan! You are the bestest in the whole wide world!”

The brunette smiles as he allows Ren to lead him towards Sousuke and Ran. Ren climbs up on the bed, sitting in seiza waiting patiently for Makoto to kiss Sousuke’s shoulder.

Makoto moves closer to Sousuke, getting right in between the raven-haired teen’s legs. He looks over at Ran and says, “why don’t you and Ren go to the dining room. I promise I’ll kiss Sousuke’s boo-boo. You can ask him…save us some seats, ok?”

Ran smiles and says, “ok.” She releases her hold on Sousuke and clambers off the bed. She turns around and says, “c’mon, Ren! Let’s save onii-chan and Sou-nii some seats in the dining room.”

Ren frowns momentarily but nods as he climbs off the bed. He turns around and points a finger at his older brother, “you better give him the best boo-boo kiss, onii-chan! Otherwise I’m eating your share of unagi.”

Makoto’s eyebrow raises at Ren’s assertion before Ran takes Ren’s hand, skipping out of Tetsuya’s bedroom.

Sousuke chuckles, still staring at the open door the twins disappeared from and says, “those two are really something. How did you manage with little siblings like them?”

The brunette sighs and murmurs, “I wonder about that myself sometimes. I think I’ve spoiled them too much.” Makoto turns his head to stare at the teal-eyed teen. Their eyes meet, green and teal gazes crashing into each other. The brunette didn’t realize that both his hands are on Sousuke’s thighs until he balls his hands. Makoto’s nails tenderly grazing against the textured fabric of the teal-eyed teen’s jeans. The backstroke swimmer breaks eye contact, looking down, looking down at Sousuke’s crotch. He quickly turns his head to the side and says vulnerably, “so…so this kiss…I-I mean this boo-boo kissing thing…”

Sousuke’s breath halts as their eyes meet, those sensitive green eyes focusing on him makes the raven-haired teen want to keep those orbs on him, and only him. But just as he was about to say something, Makoto grazes his fingertips against his thighs causing the ex-butterfly swimmer to swallow audibly and heat to bubble within his core. Suddenly, that beautiful green gaze is gone and Sousuke watches the brunette look down, then off to the side. Makoto’s defenseless voice makes the raven-haired teen lick his lips before the words register in his mind. The ex-butterfly swimmer exhales with a slight laugh in his voice, “you don’t have to. But knowing you, you’ll do it. I can’t imagine you lying to your siblings. If you want, we could count that time in the kitchen and just leave it at that.”

Makoto side glances his gaze toward the teal-eyed teen, seeing amusement and some other emotion on Sousuke’s features. He turns his head to face the raven-haired teen and opens his mouth to say something, but decides against it. He looks down on Sousuke’s right shoulder, placing his hand on the teal-eyed teen’s back and says with confidence, “no. This…this is different, Sou.”

Makoto looks up into Sousuke’s eyes and says tenderly, “p-please accept this act of healing…Sousuke.” The brunette slowly looks back down at Sousuke’s right shoulder and presses his lips against the raven-haired teen’s soft cotton sweater. Makoto closes his eyes with his lips still pressed up against Sousuke’s shoulder before releasing his hold on the ex-butterfly swimmer. Makoto lingers over Sousuke’s shoulder, feeling himself flush as his cheeks feel warmer than moments ago, _‘what am I doing? It must be so obvious. Oh, Sou…Sousuke. I like you. I like you, like you.’_

The teal-eyed teen gazes at the brunette when their eyes meet again, and he sees an inquiring stare within those green orbs, he finds it interesting how the backstroke swimmer is able to stare at him with non-judgmental eyes. He wonders how the emerald-eyed teen stares at him with such an expression, it’s comforting and freeing. He notices Makoto’s lips part slightly, and he focuses his attention on the brunette’s bottom lip. Sousuke finds himself enchanted by Makoto’s full bottom lip, looking so smooth and robust, causing Sousuke to lean in just a bit. The brunette looks to the side, the view of his lips away from Sousuke’s line of sight and he slightly pouts.

Makoto speaks in an assertive tone, Sousuke’s ears perk up and the soft power that comes from the first syllable, clarifies that the brunette does not want the kiss he received a couple nights ago to count now. The words that follow after, bemuse the teal-eyed teen, _‘huh? Different? I don’t understand. What do you mean…’_ Sousuke is taken aback when Makoto faces him once again, but this time there is transparency and warmth emanating from the brunette’s emerald gaze. The raven-haired teen listens to Makoto’s delicate words, his heart holding on to each and every word that pours out of the backstroke swimmer’s lips, _‘act of healing…accept…Mako.’_

When Makoto’s eyes shift over to his shoulder, Sousuke releases a breath he has been holding softly. He can feel Makoto’s hand on the back of his shoulder, firmly pressing against him and Sousuke closes his eyes as he balls his hand on the sea green comforter he’s sitting on. The pressure of Makoto’s lips he can feel through his sweater, but it’s not the same as when the brunette had kissed him in the kitchen. This kiss seemed more intimate, sweeter, and wistful. Sousuke feels his chest swell with endearment that he takes in a shaky inhale trying to calm his nerves, _‘Mako…what’s happening…what’s…’_

Someone clears their throat, causing the raven-haired teen to jolt in place as he turns his head to stare towards the open door, _‘fuck!’_

Makoto didn’t hear the third person in the room, but when Sousuke moved as if he was shaken up by something, the brunette quickly opens his eyes and turns his head towards the door. Haru stands in front of the door with his arms crossed over his chest. The emerald-eyed teen shifts from his kneeling position, pushing off the bed as he rolls his weight onto the balls of his feet, rising from the floor, “Ha-Haru? I-I’m sorry. We were just…I mean…we are, um…”

The navy-haired teen shakes his head and says firmly, “it’s time for dinner. Come on before everyone starts to worry.” Haru’s eyes shift over to Sousuke before he walks out of the bedroom, expecting Makoto and Sousuke to follow suit, _‘Makoto…what are you doing? You said you were going to work out your feelings. And here you are hugging him or something? We are going to have to talk later…when we get back to Iwatobi.’_

Sousuke gets up after Haru leaves the room and says cautiously, “I guess we better go.”

Makoto nods, feeling insecure all of a sudden, “yeah. We better go.” The brunette walks out of the bedroom, hearing Sousuke’s light footsteps after him, _‘Haru…why were you glaring at Sousuke?’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 25th, Thursday, 7:41 pm  **

Sousuke takes the last bite of his Christmas cake, only finishing two-thirds of the slice of cake given to him. It’s not that it’s bad, but it’s just really sweet with all the strawberries and whipped cream on top. The raven-haired teen notices that Ren is done with his cake, licking off all the whipped cream on his fork. He scoffs lightly as he leans closer to Ren’s ear and whispers, “Ren, wanna finish the rest of my cake?”

Ren turns his head and beams at the teal-eyed teen as he nods vigorously with the fork still trapped in his mouth.

Sousuke smiles as he slides his plate over to the brown-eyed boy, watching the chocolate-haired child grab the plate with one hand as he pulls the fork out of his mouth, digging into the strawberry shortcake. The teal-eyed teen chuckles lightly as he grabs his mug of creamy eggnog with one hand and rests his chin on the palm of his other hand.

Ren and Ran had saved a seat for Sousuke, right in between the twins as Ran saved a seat next to her for Makoto to occupy. Throughout dinner, the raven-haired teen noticed how Haru would stare at him from time to time, almost as if he was upset with him about something. Sousuke would return his gaze from across the table, more curiously but still with a blank stare. He doesn’t understand what Haru is trying to say with his eyes, only Makoto has that crazy ability to comprehend Haru’s silent way of expressing himself.

Sousuke notices how Nagisa and Rei collect the dishes to bring into the kitchen, where Makoto’s mother and father are cleaning up. Sousuke shakes his head as he watches Nagisa pass by, he can’t believe how much cake the blond can pack away with all the sushi he ate prior to dessert. Sousuke hears Rin, Gou, and Makoto’s laughter, and Ran joining in on the conversation about what it means to be romantic. The raven-haired teen scrunches up his nose, _‘oi, Rin…and you say you aren’t the romantic kind of guy. Geez.’_

The teal-eyed teen hears Ren clank his dish and he turns his head to find Ren retreating into the kitchen. Sousuke watches the little boy carefully trot into the kitchen before Rei closes the door to prevent all the clinking and clanking from being heard in the dining room. Sousuke sighs, looking at his cup of half drunk eggnog.

Haru gets up off his chair, carrying his blue ceramic mug of eggnog with him as he sits down next to Sousuke, taking Ren’s seat. The raven-haired teen notices movement in his peripheral vision, and his hand tenses on the cup of eggnog slightly, _‘why are you sitting next to me, Haru? Are you finally gonna tell me what’s on your mind or are you gonna continue staring at me until I say something about it, huh?’_

Haru turns his head to gaze at Sousuke’s profile and he distinctly sees a frown upon the raven-haired teen’s features. The navy-haired teen hears Suzuki’s voice join in on the conversation about romance, followed by Ran’s sunny laughter. The sapphire-eyed teen bites the inside of his cheek, disappointed that he couldn’t express his thoughts to the ex-butterfly swimmer throughout dinner and dessert, but Sousuke’s never been as observant as Makoto when it comes to him. The navy-haired teen releases a breath softly, leaning in just enough to whisper into Sousuke’s ear, “what were you two doing in Suzuki’s bedroom?”

Sousuke raises his chin from his hand as he listens to Haru’s words. He can sense a bit of discontent in his tone, which makes the raven-haired teen suspicious. He turns his head, his eyes shifting over to Haru’s deep blue eyes and says coolly, “we were talking.”

Haru’s eyebrow lightly twitches with Sousuke’s response, _‘talking? Makoto was way too close to you to be talking.’_ Haru huffs lightly, leaning back into his chair as he says crossing his arms over his chest, “that close? It looked like you were relishing in the moment, Sousuke.”

Sousuke lightly grunts, scowling, _‘oi…what the hell, Haru? Fuck, it’s none of your damn business.’_ Teal eyes glares at the navy-haired teen facing the table, refusing to meet his gaze. Sousuke releases his hold on the mug in front of him and shifts his position on the chair to face the sapphire-eyed teen next to him. He props his elbow on the table and drapes his arm over the back of Haru’s chair as he leans in and says coldly, “what’s your problem, Haru? Makoto and I were just talking about…”

Haru stiffens as he notices Sousuke’s attention being fixed completely on him and through the corner of his eye, he can see the raven-haired teen leaning into him with a threatening stance. The sapphire-eyed teen frowns as his hands clench around the knit sweater he’s wearing. He interrupts the ex-butterfly swimmer as he says in a hushed, rigid tone, “there was more than that. You can’t fool me. Tell me the truth, Yamazaki.”

The raven-haired teen’s frown deepens when he hears the free-swimmer use his surname rather than his first name, _‘shit. He’s pissed. Fuck…I didn’t do anything wrong! Goddammit! It just had to be you walking through that door! Ugh, I don’t want to piss you off…fine, you little prick!’_ Sousuke balls his hand as he tries to calm his angry nerves. He exhales sharply as he focuses his attention on the white tablecloth in front of them. Sousuke takes a couple deep breaths as he tries to say smoothly, “alright. We were talking. I asked about the Christmas gift he gave me and…I thought it was nice hearing his thought process about it. Anyway, the twins came in and asked about my shoulder. I told them. And then they wanted to kiss my injury and asked Makoto to join in. Makoto told them to leave and I told him he didn’t have to do it if he didn’t want to. So…yeah. He just kissed my injury, that’s all that happened.”

Haru can sense Sousuke’s anger rising and he visibly winces. He waits for the raven-haired teen to say something and allows the silence between them to lag until the ex-butterfly swimmer is ready to answer his question. Haru closes his eyes, taking a few calm breaths to center himself, waiting patiently for Sousuke’s response. Finally the raven-haired teen speaks, a bit on the harsh end, but Haru brushes that aside, listening to the words that spills out. Haru’s eyes widen when Sousuke mentions kissing his injury. His eyes shift to the side and he finds the teal-eyed teen staring at the table in front of them as he speaks, _‘kissing boo-boos. That’s what happened? So…that’s what I saw. Makoto kissing his boo-boo. I thought…they were doing something more intimate, like kissing and a hug afterwards. Do you know? I’m certain Makoto likes you, Sousuke. If you can’t pick that up, then you’re dumb. You better be over Rin by now if that’s the case.’_

Haru turns his head to gaze at the raven-haired teen, uncrossing his arms as he grips the edge of the seat with one hand, leaning forward a little as he says, “ok. Tell me what they call it. If you give me the correct answer, then I’ll believe you.”

Sousuke whips his head toward the navy-haired teen, eyes widening at the demand Haru makes. The ex-butterfly swimmer’s mouth parts with the impact of the condition offered to him, _‘why you little…punk! You just want to hear me say it, don’t you. Damn, you are such a little shit. I don’t see what Rin sees in you.’_ The teal-eyed teen frowns, his stare becoming hardened as he murmurs, “you little…fine. They called it…boo-boos. Kissing boo-boos to help keep the pain away.” The raven-haired teen rubs his face as he huffs in annoyance for saying something so childish.

Haru watches the teal-eyed teen internally struggle with telling him the actual words the twins and Makoto had said about the magic of kissing injuries. The navy-haired teen keeps a straight face as Sousuke explains what was said in Suzuki’s bedroom, but if the raven-haired teen were able to read him, he would have noticed that Haru’s eyes gleam with hilarity. The free-swimmer wants to laugh, just a little bit because Sousuke has to whisper the words to him as if it is something to be embarrassed about. Haru cracks a tiny smile when Sousuke rubs his face and says, “I believe you, Sousuke. The twins claim that Makoto is the best.”

Sousuke peeks though his fingers and catches a glimpse of an amused simper before it’s replaced with a nonchalant expression. He releases a breath harshly and says, “oh, so they told you that too, huh?”

Haru nods affirming Sousuke’s inquiry. He looks up at the raven-haired teen and his face becomes solemn. The navy-haired teen says quietly, “don’t hurt him. Promise me you won’t hurt him.” Haru looks down wanting to say more, wanting to tell him not to pursue anything with Makoto until he is sure that he holds no romantic feelings for Rin, but the words get stuck in his head, finding it impossible to express to the teal-eyed teen before him. The navy-haired teen doesn’t want things to become awkward and strange between them. They just recently came to terms with their friendship, or at least that was the intention.

The sapphire-eyed teen tightens his hold on the cushioned seat below him, feeling slightly insecure with the words he just said, waiting for some kind of reply from the broody teen sitting next to him.

Sousuke blinks when he sees Haru’s expression change, wondering if by chance he imagined it, but the soft and unguarded words that flew out of his mouth sounded like a desperate attempt to protect Makoto. Sousuke frowns, feeling guilt for some reason, even though he hasn’t committed some wrong in regards to Makoto. The raven-haired teen licks his lips as he says, “I promise. I won’t hurt him. And I didn’t hurt him earlier. Not sure what you thought I did to him in the bedro…”

Suddenly a foreign plant-like object dangles right in front of his face and Sousuke quickly jerks back as his eyes focus on the swinging object in front of him.

Haru feels something brush against his hair, and looks up to find himself hit with some kind of item hanging on top of him. He backs away stiffly as his eyes follow the swaying thing between him and Sousuke. The navy-haired teen’s face become blasé, not finding the fake whitish-green mistletoe to be amusing; instead Haru looks to the side to find Nagisa holding on to a black pole of sorts, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Haru frowns and says with boredom, “what is this, Nagisa?”

Sousuke eyes become wide, _‘ah, shit! I forgot! Makoto mentioned that Nagisa would use this to make people kiss last Christmas. Dammit! He caught me. I’m gonna have to be more vigilant about this.’_ The raven-haired teen scowls, “you can’t be serious!? What do you expect me to do?”

Nagisa giggles cutely, “awww! Don’t be like that, Sou-chan! You’ll ruin the Christmas spirit! C’mon! Just one itsy, wittle, kiss! Anywhere!” The blond juts out his bottom lip, pouts all sweetly as he gives Sousuke and Haru puppy-dog eyes to finish off his adorable pleading.

Sousuke face-palms as Rei and Ren come out of the kitchen. Rei releases an exasperated sigh, shaking his head as soon as he notices what the pink-eyed teen is intending to do for the rest of the evening. Ren jumps up and down, running over to Nagisa, hugging from the side, “mistletoe! I love mistletoe!”

Rin, Gou, Tetsuya, Makoto, and Ran look over to find Nagisa with a pole and mistletoe dangling on a clear wire. Rin snorts at the idea of Haru and Sousuke having to share some sort of kiss, let alone being caught under the mistletoe together. The redhead covers his mouth, laughing to himself and trying his best not to attract too much attention.

Gou’s crimson eyes sparkle as she cups her cheeks, “ahhh! Adorable! Sousuke-kun and Haruka-senpai under the mistletoe! It’s a muscly Christmas miracle!” Her eyes glaze over with hearts and stars in her crimson orbs. Tetsuya laughs at Gou’s comment, finding the whole scenario of someone going around with mistletoe priceless. 

Ran slips out of her chair and hugs Nagisa from the other side, “Nagi-nii! I can’t believe you brought that with you! You’re amazing, Nagi-nii! Christmas kisses for everyone!” The little girl giggles cheerfully.

Makoto blinks momentarily, taking in the unbelievable sight and trying to wrap his mind around the idea of Sousuke and Haru under the mistletoe, and the outcome of such a predicament. The brunette quickly rises to his feet walking over to Nagisa and placing his hands on the blond’s shoulders as he says, “Na~gisa! I don’t think this is such a good idea. Here…I’ll give you a kiss if you dangle the mistletoe between us, ok?”

Rin snorts again at the shoddy attempt to save Haru and Sousuke from the evil mistletoe that hangs above the dark-haired teen. The redhead falls onto his sister’s shoulder, trying to keep himself from laughing too much.

Makoto looks over to the crimson-eyed teen, pouting, “Ri~~n! It’s not a laughing matter. Stop that.”

Nagisa shakes his head, “as much as I would love to kiss you, Mako-chan, it’s not our turn. The mistletoe goddess has chosen Haru and Sousuke for this Christmas miracle.” 

Sousuke and Haru stare at each other trying to figure out how to get out of this mess. Haru is the first to break eye contact, looking up at Makoto and Nagisa, “you said anywhere, right?”

Ren and Ran giggle at the prospect of Haru-nii possibly kissing Sou-nii and Ran says excitedly, “I know! You can kiss his boo-boo too, Haru-nii!”

Makoto’s eyes widen momentarily as his hands tense on Nagisa’s shoulder. The blond looks down at Ran with a questioning look. Rei quirks an eyebrow and wonders how the conversation has stirred in the direction it has taken now.

Rin’s head quickly bolts up from Gou’s shoulder, his eyes wavering at the connotation of Ran’s words. He looks worriedly at Sousuke, hoping that the raven-haired teen will be ok.

Sousuke sighs and says, “yeah, just do that, and it will be done.”

Nagisa shakes his head, “wait a minute. Where are you kissing Haru-chan?”

The raven-haired teen looks up at the pink-eyed teen with distaste, “hah? I have to what now?”

Haru shrugs, shifts in his seat to lean forward planting a peck on Sousuke’s shoulder. He moves back and looks into those shocked teal eyes as he says blankly, “just do the same Sousuke. Let’s not make a big deal out of this.”

Sousuke rolls his eyes, silently cursing himself for not paying attention to his surroundings. He sighs deeply before he leans over and lightly pecks Haru’s shoulder before moving back and saying, “there.”

Nagisa, Ren, and Ran cheer happily as Makoto sighs in alleviation, hoping that Sousuke and Haru wouldn’t be stuck under the mistletoe later in the evening.

Nagisa kneels down, dangling the mistletoe between them and says, “guess what, Ren-Ren, Ran-Ran?”

Ren and Ran look at Nagi-nii with eager eyes. Ran balls her hands with enthusiasm and brings them up to her chest as she says, “what is it Nagi-nii!?” 

The blond giggles and says in a singsong voice, “we are under the mistletoe! It’s time for some Christmas kisses! Let’s share Eskimo kisses!”

Ren and Ran giggle as they stare at each other before rubbing their noses together.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 25th, Thursday, 10: 38 pm **

Sousuke enters the bathtub after Nagisa, sitting across from the blond who is leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. The raven-haired teen makes sure not to bump his leg against the pink-eyed teen as he gently rolls his neck, stretching his muscles.

Nagisa sighs deeply and says, “ne, ne, Sou-chan. Can I ask you something?” The blond brings his head down to stare at the teal-eyed teen sitting across from him with a smile on his face.

The raven-haired teen raises an eyebrow, “you have just one question for me? I find that hard to believe after all the stunts you pulled tonight trying to get me to kiss Rin, Rei, and Gou.”

Nagisa lifts his shoulders up and sticks out his tongue feeling slightly guilty for putting the mistletoe over the raven-haired teen, but at the same time it was fun watching the teal-eyed teen try to dodge him. In fact Sousuke had somehow convinced Ren to save him, which makes the blond pout, “mou…Ren-Ren saved you when I put the mistletoe over you and Rin-Rin. How did you manage to get Ren-Ren to do anything you want?”

Sousuke smirks as he listens to Nagisa’s whine and says, “that’s a secret I’m never going to divulge.”

Nagisa huffs lightly as he crosses his arms, “mou. So mean. I want to know how to get anyone to do anything for me.”

Sousuke snorts as he runs a hand through his hair, “I think you do plenty damage all on your own, Nagisa.” The raven-haired teen thinks, _‘somehow you find a way to get what you want as is. Just like how you pleaded with me to take a bath together.’_

The blond quickly sinks down into the bathwater, puffing out his cheeks as he blows bubbles with defiance.

Sousuke’s raises his eyebrows and laughs to himself at the silly sight of the blond blowing angry bubbles, "oi, oi…stop. What’s your question anyway?”

Nagisa stops as he blinks at the raven-haired teen before raising his face up above the water to speak, “ah! I was gonna ask you how you felt about Mako-chan moving in with you?”

Sousuke blinks, confused, “hah? What are you talking about? Makoto hasn’t mentioned anything about it.”

The blond tilts his head to the side and says with a questioning tone, “eh?” Nagisa places his index finger over his chin and continues, “I could have sworn he said that…oh.” The pink-eyed teen giggles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “well, it’s not final yet, but Rei-chan and I have talked about it a lot. And Rei-chan and I talked to Tada-chan too. He even gave us a video tour of his apartment, anyway, Rei-chan and I are gonna take Tada-chan’s apartment when we move to Tokyo and Tada-chan is planning to move into Mako-chan’s apartment. It’s like musical apartments!”

Sousuke scrunches up his face and holds out his hand interrupting the blond, “whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Slow down, Nagisa. Let’s start over. Are you saying that Makoto has made up his mind about moving in with me?”

Nagisa looks thoughtful for a moment, trying to recall their conversation on Skype several days ago. The pink-eyed teen says as he brings up his knees to his chest, “hmm…well now that you mention it, I’m not so sure. I don’t know if Tada-chan talked to Mako-chan recently. But I do know that Mako-chan said that if things didn’t work with Tada-chan and Rei-chan and I were ok with moving into his apartment, then he would move in with you. But, maybe Mako-chan was waiting to tell you about it? Did he not tell you?”

Sousuke listens to Nagisa’s words carefully, trying to piece together the whole picture of the situation and says, “no. He hasn’t said anything about to me, not yet anyway. Huh? He took my offer seriously…” He ponders, _‘huh? So Makoto moving in with me and living with me…this will change a lot of things.’_

The blond sighs dramatically, “ahhh. I shouldn’t have said anything. Mako-chan should tell you this himself. I probably spoiled the surprise.”

The teal-eyed teen watches the breaststroke swimmer hug his knees closer to his body as he throws his head on his knees. Sousuke quickly says, “hey, it’s ok. I won’t tell Makoto about this. Thanks for the heads up.” The raven-haired teen lightly smiles, _‘gives me something to look forward to. I’ll ask him if he’s thought about my offer to move in with me, but I’ll leave out the details Nagisa just told me.’_

Nagisa lifts his head to find Sousuke’s smiling, _‘ahh! Sou-chan! It’s nice seeing you smile like this. I can see why Mako-chan likes you. I wonder…’_ The blond returns the raven-haired teen’s smile and says, “ne, ne, Sou-chan…how close are you and Mako-chan? I have to admit, I was surprised to learn that you and Mako-chan were spending so much time together.”

Sousuke’s smile fades as he turns away, rubbing the back of his neck, “uh, we’re not that close. Well, I mean we have been spending more time together, but we’re not close.” Sousuke swallows feeling slightly uncomfortable with the path the conversation is taking, but at the same time he plays it coolly, not wanting to show his hesitation with the topic.

Nagisa tilts his head curiously, _‘hmm…maybe I should say something more embarrassing.’_ The blond hums a bit, stalling for more time as he finds the proper words to say, “oh, ok. That’s too bad. The way he talks about you…it’s cute. I think you two would be good for each other. Don’t you agree, Sou-chan?”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows as he continues rubbing his neck, refusing to meet the pink-eyed teen’s gaze, _‘oi! Isn’t that a little too much information to share with me? Cute? I’m not cute. Makoto, he’s cu…shit.’_ The raven-haired teen releases his hold on his neck, lifts up his other hand to rub his face, feeling the soothing warmth emitting through his fingers, hoping that there isn’t a faint blush on his face. Sousuke covers his eyes as he casts his eyes downwards, staring at the swaying waves of the bathwater, “I don’t understand what you mean? Like friends? Makoto is a good friend. He’s done a lot…”

The blond chuckles as he releases his hold on his legs, stretching them out all the way as he plunges his hands to the bottom of the bathtub, causing the bathwater to splash and ripple. He says with animation, “eeehhhh??? You’re avoiding the question, Sou-chan. Makes me think that you are more than friends.” Nagisa gently kicks the water up and down, small kicks just to watch the bathwater create waves as he waits for Sousuke’s reply.

The teal-eyed teen’s lips shift into a thin line, feeling slightly insecure in regards to how Nagisa can easily say such embarrassing things. Sousuke releases a breath he has been holding, and says in a detached tone, “we are just friends, Nagisa.”

The pink-eyed teen stops kicking the water as he listens to Sousuke’s words, feeling the coldness in his voice. Nagisa frowns as if he were slapped across the cheek, looking down at his thighs as he says unenthusiastically, “a-ah. Ok. Sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious.”

Sousuke releases his hold on his temples as he listens to the blond’s detached tone, _‘ah, shit. Just my luck. Nagisa…’_ The raven-haired teen lifts his head to find the breaststroke swimmer looking down on himself with affliction written all over his face. The teal-eyed teen sighs softly, keeping his eyes on the pink-eyed teen across from him, “I would like Makoto to move in with me. I didn’t realize how lonely I’ve been on my own. Somehow, he makes a lot of things more manageable, especially the appointments. He’s a good friend. I don’t want to ruin that.”

Nagisa blinks as he listens to Sousuke’s words, a small smile plastered on his features before he looks up to stare into those calm teal eyes. The blond senses sincerity in his words, and in his eyes and Nagisa’s smile grows wide. The breaststroke swimmer beams, “I’m glad. Mako-chan is special. And I’ve noticed that you have an impact on him too…when he talks about you, he smiles even more. But, don’t forget that you have more friends now, Sou-chan! Rin-Rin and Mako-chan aren’t the only friends you have! I’m your friend! Gou-chan, Rei-chan, Haru-chan, Ai-chan, and Momo-chan too! Just because we aren’t close by anymore, doesn’t mean you can’t call or message us. I would love to hear from you sometime. Ne, ne…would it be ok if I message you from time to time? That way you don’t always have to contact me first! And…”

Sousuke’s eyes widen as the blond continues to ramble breathlessly, _‘huh?'_ The raven-haired teen just listens to Nagisa’s words until he finally beams into a pleasant smile, his eyes mildly closing with a crinkle at the corners. The teal-eyed teen chuckles candidly, finding the atmosphere to be harmonious, amicable and the potential for their friendship to flourish even further if they spend more time together. The ex-butterfly swimmer opens his eyes to find shimmering pink orbs much closer to him than before and he just stares into those moved pink eyes, _‘damn…Rin. I think I finally understand it. Why you always spent time with this group of weirdos. I’ve been way too stubborn and I didn’t want to see it. They shaped you, Rin. I finally get it. I’ve always seen the charm they had over you, but it’s much deeper than I thought it was. I wonder if you impacted them somehow…I see the light you had within these crazy rascals. It’s bizarre…how come I didn’t see it before?’_

Nagisa blinks, finding the next set of words lost to him as he suddenly sees an uncommon sight, Sousuke’s serene smile. Without much thought, the pink-eyed teen moves, getting onto his knees and scooting closer to the ex-butterfly swimmer, listening to the joyous laugh that rumbles throughout the bathroom, his heart beaming in mirth, _‘wow! Sou-chan has a beautiful smile. Rei-chan is missing out on such a wonderful expression. I wish I had my phone…so I could capture this.’_ The blond marvels at the raven-haired teen as he sits in seiza, diagonally from Sousuke with his hands on his thighs, slightly leaning over just a bit. When Sousuke opens his eyes, the two teens stare at each other for a few moments until Nagisa’s lips upturns into a gleeful smile. The blond laughs as he raises his hands up in the air swiftly, bouncing on his knees before he leans forward embracing Sousuke and hanging over the raven-haired teen. The pink-eyed teen loudly says, “Sou-chan!!! Sooouuuuu-chan!!!”

The raven-haired teen quickly catches the blond with one arm, not wanting Nagisa to hurt himself, even though he just flung his arms around his neck so abruptly. He laughs, finding the whole situation between them to be hilarious before he flicks water over the blond’s face.

Nagisa whines playfully before he flicks water back at the teal-eyed teen. The two start fighting with each other, splashing water everywhere and making quite the ruckus.

After several minutes of splashing each other, Rin slides the door forcefully and chides, “oi! What is going on in here?”

The two teens turn their heads to find a grimacing redhead with his feet apart and a hand on his hip. Nagisa sinks into the water as he shuts one eye closed, sticking out his tongue. Sousuke raises an eyebrow at the crimson-eyed teen with a nonchalant air to him.

Rin’s eyebrow twitches as he continues to chide, “get out! You two are done. It’s my turn…and Makoto’s.” The redhead waits for the teens to get out of the tub.

Nagisa chuckles sheepishly and says, “awwww!! We were just having a little fun, Rin-Rin. No harm done. Oooohhhh! I didn’t expect you to be the party-pooper, Rin-Rin.” The pink-eyed teen climbs out of the bathtub, not bothering to cover himself with a towel as he carefully trots over to the redhead.

Rin face-palms, groaning quietly, forgetting that Nagisa has no care in the world when it comes to his nudity, and slides his palm down the rest of his face as he says, “Nagisa! Can’t you at least be a little modest about walking around in your birthday suit, geez. I can see everything you got.”

The blond quirks an eyebrow at the crimson-eyed teen, stopping right in front of Rin as he says teasingly, “oooooohhh!?!? Are you getting turned on, Rin-Rin??” Nagisa wiggles his eyebrows playfully.

Rin’s eyes widen as a furious blush stains his cheeks. The redhead huffs, before he sputters, “oi! What the…you little shit! Who said anything about getting turned on!? You don’t have that kind of hold on me!”

Nagisa winks at Rin and says with a seductive tone, “ah! That’s what they all say.” The blond passes the redhead sauntering out of the bathroom and into the changing room as he shakes his hips back and forth just for fun.

Rin’s eyes follow the blond, staring at the back of his head incredulously as he turns his body to continue gazing at the pink-eyed teen.

Sousuke walks up behind Rin with a towel firmly around his hips as he places a hand on the redhead’s shoulder, “might want to be careful, Rin. It’s hard to tell what that guy is gonna do sometimes.”

Rin gently bumps his forehead against the doorframe and sighs in defeat, “yeah…I need to be more careful around him.”

Sousuke half-smiles as he pats Rin’s shoulder a couple of times before passing the redhead into the changing room.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 25th, Thursday, 11: 20 pm **

****

After refilling some of the bathwater, Makoto turns the knobs of the faucet, ceasing the stream of water from falling into the bathtub. The brunette moves around the bathtub to climb into it, sinking into the nice hot liquid and hearing the comforting sound of the water sloshing around and over the edge of the bathtub as he sighs in relief, allowing the hot water to relax his tired muscles.

Rin finishes up rinsing the soap off his body and puts down the wooden bath bucket on the floor. He gets up off the wooden stool and walks over to the bathtub, smiling to himself when he finds Makoto against one side of the bathtub with his legs stretched out and leaning against the side of the tub. Rin slowly enters the bathtub, the water splashing over the edge as he settles himself next to the brunette.

Rin looks up at the ceiling of the bathroom and says, “ne, Makoto…thanks for inviting me. I’m having a lot of fun hanging out with all of you, and your family.”

The emerald-eyed teen turns his head to gaze at Rin’s profile. He can see that the redhead has closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the edge of the tub. Makoto smiles and says, “I’m glad you decided to accept my invitation.” The brunette chuckles before he continues, “you know, I was a little afraid…that I would notice all the differences between us, now that we no longer live close to each other, but somehow it feels so good to be together like this. It’s almost like there’s no distance between us.”

Rin smiles as he listens to the brunette, finding Makoto’s words to ring true for him as well. He huffs lightly, “you really know how to hit the bull’s-eye, Makoto. It would be nice if one day you guys came to visit me in Australia. I think you guys would like it a lot. I can show you all the awesome hang-outs I enjoy most, take you guys sightseeing…it would be so cool to share that with all of you.” The redhead shifts his eyes to the side to glance at the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto smiles sweetly at the redhead before he looks away as he says with uncertainty, “yeah…that would be amazing. You showed Haru some of the sights in Australia. Don’t you want to keep that between just the two of you?”

Rin knits his eyebrows, turning his head to the side to stare at the brunette, “oi, Makoto. I know Haru and I share…a bond, and I don’t want to keep that kind of thing just between Haru and I. I think you and the gang will understand why, why I left Iwatobi…and why things got rough for me too. I mean, it wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows, you know…but I did learn a lot in Australia.” Rin pauses for a moment, turning his head forward as he raises his hand out of the water to look at the palm of his hand, continuing, “I also lost a lot…in Australia. But most of all, I think deep down, I missed you guys too. I just didn’t know how to say it. I don’t know…sometimes when I think about stuff, it overwhelms me.”

Makoto watches the redhead go through the motions, noticing how Rin goes from conviction, to melancholy, to ambivalence. The brunette opens his mouth to say something, but closes it as he looks down at the steamy water. After a few moments, Makoto collects his thoughts and says softly, “you’re here now, Rin. Right now, I’m thankful that things worked out in the long run.” Makoto moves his legs, planting the soles of his feet onto the bottom of the tub as his knees break the surface of the water, feeling the cool air kiss his exposed knees, “you did what you had to do, Rin…and you came back. Don’t doubt now. You have a wonderful dream, and I always thought you had an amazing dream. And you showed Haru something special, unforgettable. Don’t forget, you showed us all a sight we’ve never seen, Rin, even when we were kids. I cherish those happy moments. So, don’t doubt, I believe in you. I know you will make your dream come true…and I know Haru will follow his as well.”

Rin sighs as the silence fills the room, he watches the small puddle of water in the palm of his hand, thinking, _‘I miss you guys. I didn’t want to make the same mistake, not keeping in contact. That was the worst thing…I felt so alone, and it was my own damn fault. Now that we’ve been keeping contact like this, I ache to see you guys. Particularly Haru.’_ Rin hears Makoto’s voice break through the silence, and he listens attentively. The redhead feels moved by the brunette’s words and feels tears form at the corners of his eyes. He moves his hand, allowing the little pool of water in his hand to slide down his wrist as he sniffles, turning his head away from Makoto as he rubs his eyes with his hand.

The brunette notices Rin’s movements, turning his head to find the redhead sniffle and do some rubbing motion with his hand. Makoto smiles knowingly but decides not to call attention to what Rin is doing. The brunette knows if he says anything about it, Rin will say something along the lines of ‘something being in his eye.’

Makoto shifts his gaze forward, giving Rin some privacy as he lifts his arms out of the water and places them on top of his knees, clasping his hands together, _‘awww, Rin. I’m glad you still get emotional about things, even though you try so hard to hide it.’_ Makoto allows the silence to drift between them, feeling the silence as something necessary and needed at this time. Words would ruin the fleeting feelings that the two teens are experiencing, and the brunette wants to allow these positive emotions to linger as long as possible. 

Rin finally collects himself taking in a deep breath as he turns, facing his legs, as he stretches his limbs out a bit and sinks into the water a little more, the water just barely below his chin as he says, “thanks, Makoto. You really are the glue that holds us all together.” The redhead chuckles teasingly.

The brunette gently places his hand on Rin’s shoulder as he says with a smile, “glue? Me?” Makoto joins Rin, laughing with him, “I don’t know about that. I doubt Sousuke views me that way, maybe the others, yeah. Sousuke does a lot in your honor, you know.”

The redhead takes in Makoto’s words and throws the brunette a confused stare, “hah? He’s still doing that? Geez. I swear…Sousuke needs to lighten up a bit. I know he says that and all, but sometimes I wonder if it’s totally true.”

Makoto tilts his head, bringing his hand down from Rin’s shoulder, leaning it against the bottom of the tub as he says, “hmm? Why do you say that?”

Rin sighs as he runs a hand through his hair, closing his eyes, “I don’t know. Sousuke’s protective…he’s always been that way. But, sometimes he doesn’t really state what’s on his mind, makes me worry. It’s hard for me to tell if he wants to do something because he wants to or he does things because I want to.” Rin knits his eyebrows and gives Makoto a confused gaze, “does that make any sense?” 

Makoto nods before he looks away from the redhead, moving his knees down into the warm water as he says, “you’re special to him, Rin. He told me that, in his own way. I get the feeling that he puts other peoples’ happiness before his own.” The brunette pauses as he ponders, _‘wait a minute…is that true? Is it other people’s happiness…or just, Rin? Hmm? I’m not so sure now. He’s never mentioned or even hinted at anyone else’s happiness…there’s distance between him and Yumiko. I don’t even know anything about his parents, or his family. It makes me wonder…how close he is to others? He’s said that no one has ever been to his apartment…’_ The brunette knits his eyebrows as he leans back against the tub and looks up continuing questioningly, “actually, I’m not so sure if it’s other people’s happiness. It might be just yours…you are the only one I can really confirm honestly at the moment.”

Rin stares at the brunette incredulously; surprised by the backstroke swimmer’s remark. The redhead clicks his tongue, frowning, “shit. You’re serious!?”

Makoto turns his head to gaze at the crimson-eyed teen and notices the panicked expression the redhead makes. The brunette says carefully, “yeah, I am. I don’t know much about Sousuke’s family, in fact, he hardly says anything about them. I know Yumiko and that’s about it. I get the sense that Yumiko tries her best to be a big sister, and that she has met some resistance from Sousuke. Sousuke said that he doesn’t make very many friends, but I haven’t heard him mention anyone from school really, or anyone that he likes to hang out with.”

Rin rubs his face, a bit frustrated, “man. I know Sousuke is hard to get to know and all that. But, you’re his friend, right?”

Makoto chuckles lightly, “of course. I like Sousuke a lot.” The brunette’s eyes widen momentarily before he breaks eye contact with the redhead, jolting forward as he sits up straight. He puts weight on the hand leaning against the bottom of the tub as he brings his other hand up and over his mouth, _‘oh my god! Did I just say that!? Crap! I didn’t…I…shit.’_ The backstroke swimmer laughs anxiously and pauses as he tries to collect himself before he says delicately, “I, um…I do like Sousuke. He’s a good friend and I…I enjoy his company a lot.”

Rin raises an eyebrow when Makoto mentions that ‘he likes Sousuke a lot,’ but when the brunette’s face changes from a smile to uneasiness, the redhead wonders, _‘eh? Did he just admit that he likes Sousuke a lot? Like…having a possible interest in him? Wait a minute…whoa. Did he just…he just shot up, didn’t he? Oh, man. Am I reading into this too much? Crap, he’s laughing nervously. Shit! Should I say something? I don’t know! I think, I better say something, I don’t want Makoto to feel embarrassed or anything, I mean…’_ The redhead pushes himself up, sitting up straight, and opens his mouth to smooth things over, but the emerald-eyed teen speaks authentically with a slight tenseness in his voice. Rin listens to the backstroke swimmer, calming his inner thoughts from sputtering rapidly. He takes in the meaning of Makoto’s words as he rubs the back of his neck and says, “oh. Well…I’m glad to hear that. I…I was a little worried there for a moment. I mean, with the way you reacted, I thought that maybe you like him as more than a friend.”

Rin groans as he realizes that he said the wrong thing, he didn’t mean to tack on that last sentence, it just sort of bumbled out of his mouth. He face-palms as he says apologetically, “sorry, Makoto. I shouldn’t have said that last part. It just sort of…”

Makoto looks over at the crimson-eye teen when he hears groaning and finds Rin closing his eyes, wincing at his blunder. Makoto swallows and watches the redhead smack his forehead before apologizing. The backstroke swimmer quickly interrupts, “Rin, Rin! It’s ok. You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” Makoto turns his head as he leans back against the tub, looks up at the ceiling, raising both hands up into his hair, gently tousling his hair back as he continues in a murmur, “I like Sousuke…a lot.”

The redhead brings his hand down slowly as Makoto interrupts him and looks up to stare at the brunette as he falls back down onto the tub. Rin blinks as he watches the backstroke swimmer and says hesitantly, “Ma-Makoto.” The crimson-eyed teen brings his hand down, leaning back onto the tub, propping his elbow on the edge of the tub and leaning his head against the palm of his hand. The redhead looks over towards the shower section of the bathroom as he sighs deeply, “I…I think I know what you mean. We don’t have to talk about this. Not right now, anyway.” Rin frowns feeling guilty.

Makoto gently brings his hands down, rubbing his face as he says, “Rin…I don’t think he would ever return my feelings. And…” The brunette pauses as he releases a shaky sigh, “I don’t know. You know, Haru was the first to realize that there could be something between him and I. I mean, I did admit then that Sousuke is hot…but the more I thought about it, the more I saw things in him that just makes me feels so…good. And then Nagisa, I didn’t realize I was so easy to read.” Makoto slides down into the bathtub, submerging his head into the water as his knees once again breaks the surface of the bathwater. He ponders as he listens to the quiet the warm water provides him. 

Rin listens to the brunette ramble freely and guilelessly. Rin turns his head after the brunette speaks and finds him sinking beneath the water. The redhead drops his hand into the water and waits for Makoto to resurface.

Makoto comes back up for air, gasping in breaths as he rubs his face and slicks his hair back.

The redhead gently wraps his hand around Makoto’s forearm causing the brunette to set his emerald gaze on him as he says, “you may be surprised, Makoto. You never know until you take a risk. And…I think you two would be really great together. Besides, it just means that your friends know you, I don’t think there is anything wrong with that, dude.” Rin smiles warmly at the backstroke swimmer hoping that he didn’t mess up this time.

Makoto’s eyes widen, not expecting the crimson-eyed teen to comfort him. The brunette returns Rin’s smile before he rubs the back of his head, _‘how? It’s not me he likes Rin, he…Sousuke, he likes you. I don’t know if I can make that kind of risk knowing he likes someone else. But, you’re right about my friends, Rin. That includes you too, Rin.’_ The redhead releases his hold on the backstroke swimmer, and Makoto chuckles lightly before replying, “I don’t know Rin, if all of you guys are able to figure me out, I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”

Rin knits his eyebrows, shifts his weight as he throws an arm over Makoto’s shoulder as he says, “oi, Makoto. It’s best to be direct with a guy like him. He may be observant, but he can be pretty dense. Seriously, take my word for it.” The redhead grins toothily.

The brunette gasps as Rin embraces him, pulling him closer to the redhead’s chest, face hidden from the crimson-eyed teen’s line of sight. Makoto moans, “mou! Ri~n~! Ok, ok! I hear you. I’ll…I’ll think about it more. I-I…I just have my doubts.”

Rin loosens his hold on Makoto and thinks about the brunette’s words, _‘huh. Makoto, you really have no idea. Sousuke likes you too, but…I’ll leave that for him to tell you himself. I gave him my two cents about it already and hopefully you guys do something about it.’_ The redhead throws his head back and sighs, “god, you guys! Alright, alright, I hear ya. C’mon. Let’s get out of here…unless you are having so much fun being naked with me.” The redhead chuckles, releasing the backstroke swimmer.

The brunette listens to the redhead, a little confused by his first statement, but as the crimson-eyed teen continues, Makoto feels relieved that Rin decides to let the topic go and accept his hesitation. When the all-around swimmer insinuates that he enjoys the redhead in the nude, Makoto gasps, suddenly being released. Makoto makes a face before he breaks into laughter, “Ri~~n~!! If you aren’t careful, I’ll tell Haru.”

The redhead pales slightly, face-palms, and stutters, “o-o-oi! Don’t tell Haru about that! He’ll probably kill me.”

Makoto chuckles, “I’m kidding, Rin! C’mon, let’s get out of here, get dressed and see the others before heading to bed.” The brunette gets out of the tub, grabbing a towel, wrapping it around his waist as he turns around, extending his hand out to Rin.

The redhead smiles as he takes the brunette’s hand, getting out of the tub and grabbing a towel before following the backstroke swimmer towards the changing room.

****

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 26th, Friday, 9:35 pm  **

****

Makoto helps Ren and Ran pick out their clothes for their plane ride back to Iwatobi, as well as packing away all their Christmas goodies in the suitcase. The brunette overhears how Ren and Ran reminiscence on the events that took place earlier in the day.

The emerald-eyed teen smiles to himself as he folds Ran’s clothes and recollects the events during the day. It started off with Nagisa, Ren, and Ran singing and shaking him to get up. Makoto decided to play with them by pretending to still be asleep before grabbing on to both Ren and Ran, blowing raspberries on their necks. Nagisa got revenge for the twins by blowing raspberries on the back of Makoto’s neck, causing the brunette to scold the blond. Makoto sighs softly remembering how grumpy Rin was being woken up by the sound of high-pitched laughing from the twins and Makoto’s reprimand. Sousuke woke up after Rin, chuckling at the crazy bedhead the crimson-eyed teen had. Both Haru and Rei left the scene with declarations of brushing their teeth together.

After waking up, getting ready, and having breakfast, they all went out into the city to take in the sights Nagoya has to offer. Makoto’s uncle told them all stories about the small shops in the city, and his adventures with certain landmarks and restaurants he enjoyed. They ate lunch at a crepe shop that had a delicious strawberry, banana crepe with chocolate gelato, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chopped candied pecans. Ran, his mother, his uncle, and Nagisa also ordered sweet crepes while the rest of the group ordered savory crepes. Ren saw a game center across the street and begged everyone that they had to go there after they were done eating.

Makoto places a set of clothes to the side for Ran and Ren as he continues recollecting. When they reached the game center, they looked around, checking out some of the gachapon and game machines until they passed by a large facility for laser tag in the game center. The brunette remembers the hearts that beamed in his eyes as he stared at the laser tag facility.

Somehow they ended up splitting into two groups, Makoto ended up on team one with Haru, Sousuke, Ren, his uncle, and his mother. Rin ended up being the team leader of the second group with Nagisa, Rei, Gou, Ran, and his father. They split up in pairs and started hunting the opposing team in the laser tag facility. Makoto tried to prevent Ren from moving from his spot and ended up getting hit by Nagisa. Ren pouted, with tears in his eyes and Makoto knew he had to hunt the blond down to get his revenge, and he did, taking the pink-eyed teen out in a shooting war with him. The brunette remembers yelping when his father took him out as he was stalking Rei.

Makoto didn’t see everything that happened, but he heard from his family and friends how Rei took down his uncle, Rin took down Sousuke as the teal-eyed teen protected Haru, his uncle took out his father, and his mother took out Gou, Ran, Rei, and Rin. Everyone was shocked to find Makoto’s mother to be quite the sharp shooter, especially when she hunted down Rin as he was focused on Haru. Ran pouted as she crossed her arms, saying the next time they play laser tag, she wants her mom to be on her team. It was fun, and they definitely worked up an appetite after all the running around.

They ended up having dinner at a monjyayaki restaurant, and of course Haru made his own monjyayaki containing his beloved mackerel. Rin shared it with Haru, even though the redhead complained about it, he enjoyed sharing with the navy-haired teen. Makoto was uncertain about making the dish and sharing it with anyone, and Sousuke seemed to pick up on that, saving him from cooking it since Ren and Ran wanted to share with him. The twins ended up sharing with his uncle while Makoto and Sousuke shared a beef curry monjyayaki.

The brunette turns around to find Ren and Ran reading a book together, taking turns back and forth between each sentence. Makoto says loud enough for the twins to hear, “Ren, Ran. After you read that story, it is time for you to go to bed, ok. Gou should be comin…”

Before the emerald-eyed teen could finish his sentence, Gou comes in wearing her pink and white dotted flannel pajamas with her clothes folded and held against her chest. Makoto smiles and says, “Gou-kun. Did you say goodnight to everyone downstairs already?”

Gou smiles as she walks over to her suitcase and says, “yes, I did. Makoto-senpai. I’ll make sure Ren and Ran get to bed soon. You better head down and take your bath before going to bed. Sousuke-kun’s waiting for you.”

Ren and Ran get out of their futons as they plead with Gou to tell them a story before they go to bed.

Makoto stares at the back of the crimson-eyed girl’s head in disbelief, _‘eh? Wait…what? I thought…I thought I was taking a bath with Rei tonight. Does that mean that Rei and Nagisa took a bath together? I know Haru wanted to take a shower as soon as we got back and Rin took it with him. That means…oh…oh…’_

Gou chortles and says, “Ren, Ran…get into your futons and I’ll tell you a special story, ok?”

The twins nod as they dash over to their futons, getting ready for bed. Gou turns around and smiles at the bewildered brunette before her features become more concerned, “Makoto-senpai?”

The brunette focuses his eyes on Gou and chuckles sheepishly, “ahh, sorry Gou-kun. I was just lost in my thoughts.”

The crimson-eyed girl moves, stopping right in front of the brunette, “nothing serious, is it?”

Makoto smiles reassuringly, “no, nothing serious. I better get back downstairs. Good-night Gou-kun.”

The redhead smiles sweetly, “have a good bath.”

Makoto says his goodnights to Ren and Ran, kissing them both on the forehead before slipping out of their shared bedroom. The brunette walks down the staircase and heads into living room. Nagisa, Rei, Haru, Rin, and Sousuke have already laid out the futons out on the living room floor, and are sitting around in a circle talking, hanging out with each other.

The brunette smiles as he slowly walks over to the frame of the living room arch, leaning against it as he listens to Nagisa and Rei talk about their concerns, and accomplishments with training their new recruits for the Iwatobi swimming club. Makoto finds himself longing to be back in high school with Nagisa, Rei, Haru, and Gou, trying to find new ways to improve their times, what kind of training regimens they should try. It was fun, even though they had obstacles to overcome, they did it together.

Rei notices the emerald-eyed teen leaning against the edge of the arch and says, “Makoto-senpai!” The indigo-haired teen gets up and continues, “I’m sorry, Makoto-senpai, I wanted to take a bath with you like we planned but…”

Makoto chuckles lightly, raising a hand to interrupt the purple-eyed teen as he says, “it’s ok, Rei. I’m sure Nagisa was very convincing.” The brunette looks over to the teal-eyed teen finding Sousuke staring at him and says with a bit of hesitation, “I guess Sousuke and I will be showering together?”

Rin looks over at the raven-haired teen with a small smile and says, “yup. This big lug hasn’t had his daily dose of cleanliness, yet.”

Nagisa and Haru look back to stare at the brunette, the blond falling back onto the futon and part of the carpeted floor as he whines, “mou! Mako-chan! You took so very long and Sou-chan and I already took a bath yesterday so I stole Rei for some alone time.” The pink-eyed teen winks at the backstroke swimmer.

Haru look to the side to stare at Nagisa with mild curiosity that only Makoto picks up.

Rei’s eyebrow twitches as he says darkly, “Na-Nagisa-kun! That sounds so…”

Nagisa closes his eyes as he pouts and says in a sing-song tone, “yeah, yeah, Rei-chan! So, un-beautiful, I know. But we did have a fun time, didn’t we.” The blond smiles sweetly as he pushes himself off the floor, looking up at the purple haired-teen.

Sousuke shifts his gaze over to Rin when he makes his comment and notices the redhead wiggling his eyebrows knowingly. The raven-haired teen throws the crimson-eyed teen a hard look, almost chastising the redhead.

Rei slouches forward, sighing in defeat as he red framed glasses slide down his nose a bit, “ugh. Nagisa-kun! Sometimes I regret making you vice-captain…you do this sort of thing all the time with the other team members. It’s…”

Nagisa gets up on his knees as he thrusts himself forward, hugging the indigo-haired teen’s waist as he says with cheer, “I know, so un-beautiful! But, you love me anyway, Rei-chan!”

Rin laughs at Rei and Nagisa’s antics, finding the pair to be quite theatric. Haru once again turns around to find Makoto chuckling and says blankly, “Makoto. I already left your pajamas and things in the changing room. Go take your bath.”

Sousuke gets up, ignoring the blond and the indigo-haired teen as he walks over to Makoto and says without looking at the emerald-eyed teen, “I have my things in the changing room already. C’mon, lets go.” The raven-haired teen walks past Makoto and down the hallway toward the shower room.

The brunette’s gaze goes from the navy-haired teen to the ex-butterfly swimmer next to him. He notices how Sousuke doesn’t look at him and quickly passes him. Makoto watches the raven-haired teen leave momentarily before he looks over at Haru.

Makoto notices concern in his sapphire gaze and gives the free-swimmer his trademark smile, tilting his head to the side, “thanks Haru. I better go. I’ll see you after I’m done.”

Rin chuckles as the brunette leaves the living room, which catches Haru’s ear. The navy-haired teen looks over at the redhead curiously and says, “what’s so funny?”

The crimson-eyed teen clears his throat, lifting his hand up over his mouth in a loose fist, “um, nothing. Just…Nagisa and Rei are still bickering.”

Haru tilts his head ever so slightly, curious if the redhead is telling the truth or not, and shifts his gaze over to Rei and Nagisa. The navy-haired teen catches a glimpse of the purple-eyed teen falling on his butt with the blond still attached to his waist while mentioning something about a Brazilian wax and slime.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 26th, Friday, 9:50 pm  **

****

Makoto takes a deep breath, feeling his ears burn as the only article of clothing left to strip out of are his boxer briefs. The brunette turns his head slightly to check on Sousuke who is changing behind him, but stops, turning his head back towards the cubbies in front of him. The brunette bites his lip, _‘here goes nothing. I mean…this is ok. It’s not like I’ve never seen a naked guy before. Nagisa is always prancing around in the nude whenever he can, and…and…oh god! But this isn’t just anyone. This is Sousuke! He won’t just be topless…he’ll be naked…and I’ll be naked. Ugh! This is stupid. It’s just a bath. It’s not like we’re gonna be doing…stuff. So…yeah. Time to take these briefs off an…’_

Sousuke throws a towel over his left shoulder as he carries a medium sized plastic container with a sponge and a long towel in it. He turns around and finds Makoto still in his dark green boxer briefs and says, “oi, Makoto? You ok?”

The brunette’s thoughts are interrupted and he looks over his shoulders to find the teal-eyed teen staring at him curiously. Makoto feels his cheeks start to flush as he stutters, “uh…n-n-no. I’m, uh…I’m ok. I-I was just lost in…my thoughts, that’s all. I’ll take off my briefs and meet you in the shower room. Why don’t you go on ahead.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow as Makoto turns his head back towards the cubbies swiftly. The raven-haired teen feels a slight blush on his face as he watches the brunette slowly bring his hands towards the top of his briefs. The ex-butterfly swimmer tears his eyes away from the emerald-eyed teen, heading towards the door as he says over his shoulder, “alright. Take your time, Makoto.”

The raven-haired teen slides the door open, closing it behind him as he walks over to one of the wooden stools in front of the showerhead. The raven-haired teen walks over to the closest one to him, placing the towel over his shoulder and the plastic container on the tile counter attached to the showerhead before he sits down on the stool. Sousuke turns on the showerhead, flipping the knob up to get the temperature he desires before picking up the handle of the showerhead and dousing himself in a stream of water, _‘maybe I should have taken a shower by myself earlier. Makoto could have taken a shower alone. We’ve never taken a shower or bath together, not alone like this anyway. Dammit. Now I’m getting all self-conscious. Maybe I should cover myself, at least place the towel over my lap. I don’t want things to get awkward between us. I better make sure to keep my eyes up and not…well…yeah.’_

Sousuke wets himself fully under the spray of water, turning it off before grabbing the bottle of orange vanilla scented shampoo and pouring it into his palm and lathering it into his hair.

Makoto places a towel around his waist, after taking off his boxer briefs and carefully folding them, placing it in one of the cubbies next to his clothes. The brunette grabs a pink plastic container placing a sponge and a couple towels in it. The backstroke swimmer grabs an extra towel just in case he needs it, throwing it over his shoulder. He walks over to the sliding door, his hand hovering over the door’s handle, _‘I just couldn’t go in…naked. It just doesn’t feel right, I mean, I like him. I like Sousuke…and I’m not sure what to do with these feelings yet. He just turned off the showerhead. Ok, I just have to…I just have to remember that he’s a friend, a good friend…an attractive friend…with hard musc…oh god!’_ The brunette face palms, taking another shaky breath, _‘I took a bath with everyone else, I can do this. I don’t want Sousuke thinking that I can’t take a bath with him when I’ve done so with everyone else.’_

The brunette opens the door, slipping into the bathroom, and closing the door behind him. Makoto notices Sousuke’s hands in his hair, working the shampoo into his scalp. The brunette swallows as he watches the raven-haired teen’s back muscles move as Sousuke continues lathering. The emerald-eyed teen shakes his head lightly, walking over to the teal-eyed teen, and taking a seat next to Sousuke as his trembling hands put the pink container on the titled counter, followed by the towel over his shoulder.

Sousuke hears the door open, and his hands slightly still, listening to Makoto slide the door closed. The raven-haired teen listens to the soft pitter-patter of flesh against the tiled floor, as Makoto walks over to him. The raven-haired teen watches the emerald-teen out of the corner of his eye. He notices Makoto’s wobbly hands and frowns, _‘shit. He’s nervous. I’m making him nervous.’_ The teal-eyed teen says suddenly, “hey, would it make you feel better if I place a towel over my lap?”

Makoto stills, his hand hovering over the knob of the showerhead in front of him. The brunette turns his head to gaze at the raven-haired teen’s face and says timidly, “we-well…I…I…yeah.”

Sousuke turns his head slightly, his teal eyes meeting a shifty green gaze. The raven-haired teen opens his mouth to say something, but Makoto blurts out quickly, “I-I don’t mean that you aren’t nice to look at, you are really nice to…oh god! I-I-I…I…I am totally embarrassing myself right now.” Makoto groans as he face palms, using both hands to cover his face as a deep red blush floods his cheeks.

Sousuke’s eyes widen, listening to Makoto’s outburst and watching the brunette try to cover himself. The raven-haired teen can’t help but smile, _‘cute. I like seeing you blush, Makoto. I like to see more of that. I wonder if you get like this with all your friends.’_ The teal-eyed teen looks away from the adorable sight next to him, flipping the showerhead on to rinse his hands and grabbing the showerhead to wash the shampoo out of his hair quickly and says after he’s done, “alright. I’ll put a towel over myself. This is the first time we are showering together, just the two of us. It’s ok to be self-conscious, Mako.” Sousuke turns off the showerhead, gets up, and covers himself with a towel.

The brunette internally curses himself for being so nervous around Sousuke, but then he hears the raven-haired teen wash his hair, and he tries to calm his nerves, moving his hands away from his eyes, just covering his nose and mouth. Makoto focuses his attention on the showerhead in front of him and listens to the raven-haired teen’s words, and his heart skips a beat when he calls him by his nickname, _‘Sou…Sousuke…’_ The brunette hears the stool scrape against the titled white floor and looks to the side to find Sousuke wrapping a towel around his waist.

Makoto quickly looks away, flipping the knob of the showerhead as he says, “thanks…Sou.” The brunette grabs the showerhead, placing it over his head to wet his hair.

Sousuke sits back down on the stool and says, “no problem.” The raven-haired teen looks over at the brunette as he grabs the bottle of shampoo to wash his hair one more time. He pours a dab on his palm and notices that Makoto turns off his showerhead and says, “need some shampoo?”

The brunette smiles and says, “yeah, I do.” Makoto extends his hand, palm up as Sousuke pours some of the viscous, slippery clear liquid onto his hand. Makoto looks up and his green gaze meets the raven-haired teen’s teal orbs and says, “thanks.”

Sousuke puts down the bottle, knitting his eyebrows, “Mako…am I still making you nervous?” The raven-haired teen rubs the shampoo between his palms before coating his hair. He glances over at the brunette next to him.

Makoto applies the shampoo over his locks, massaging his scalp with his fingertips. He turns his head and finds Sousuke frowning and says, “um…n-no. I mean, I am a little nervous, yes. But, I think it’s because…this is the first time we’re doing this together. I guess, I feel a little more exposed. A-are you not nervous?” The emerald-eyed teen thinks, _‘that’s not true. I kinda fibbed. I am nervous…because of you. But more because of my feelings for you, so it’s not a complete lie.’_

Sousuke notices a very small blush staining the brunette’s cheeks as he speaks. The raven-haired teen continues rubbing his scalp as he ponders, _‘huh, nervous…not really. Self-conscious, yeah.’_ The raven-haired teen smiles softly, “no, I’m not nervous. You’ve taken a bath with Nagisa, right? He really likes to get up close and personal, and even then, that didn’t bother me. Although, he did get a little too close. He tried to wash my ass when he offered to wash my back.”

Makoto’s stops his motions, bringing his hands down on his lap as he says with a gasp, “wha-what? Nagisa did that!?”

Sousuke is surprised to find the brunette shocked by his words and roars with laughter. The raven-haired teen nods, “yeah, he tried. I stopped him before it got too inappropriate. Nagisa is a sly one, I’ll tell you that.”

The brunette sighs and says, “Nagisa…sometimes he does things even I don’t understand. Sorry. I hope he didn’t make things too difficult during your bath with him.”

The raven-haired teen turns on the showerhead and says, “no need to apologize. The little brat apologized to me already. Besides, Nagisa is just being himself. Sometimes it gets annoying, and he seems like that kind of guy that likes to push a little too far, but he means well.” Sousuke grabs the showerhead and douses himself with water.

Makoto chuckles, finding himself becoming comfortable with Sousuke, and less nervous. He turns on the showerhead, rinsing the shampoo off his head. Afterwards, he turns off the showerhead and says, “would you like me to wash your back, Sou? I promise, I won’t pull a Nagisa.”

The raven-haired teen places the showerhead on its stand, listening to Makoto’s words, _‘oh. Actually…I would like that, and I would like to do the same for you.’_ Sousuke doesn’t look over at the brunette, feeling warmth fill his chest, “y-yeah. Only if I can do the same for you, Mako.”

The emerald-eyed teen blushes, watching Sousuke’s profile as he answers. Makoto says softly, “y-yeah. I would…like that. Um…just tell me when you’re ready and I can…”

Sousuke glances over at the brunette, _‘he’s blushing again.’_ The raven-haired teen interrupts, “how about now? I’m done with my hair.”

Makoto just stares at Sousuke, nodding slowly as the raven-haired teen breaks eye contact, leaning over to pull out a sponge from the plastic container. The brunette gets up from his stool, moving it behind the teal-eyed teen and sitting on the stool as he waits for the ex-butterfly swimmer.

Sousuke turns on the showerhead wetting the sponge in his hand before grabbing the body wash and squirting the citrus mint scented liquid over the sponge as he squeezes it into a lather. He turns off the showerhead, twists his body to peer at the brunette behind him extending his hand out with the sponge, “here.”

Makoto watches Sousuke lean over, his muscles rippling as he picks up the sponge, turn on the showerhead and grabbing the body wash. The emerald-eyed teen’s eyes travel the expanse of Sousuke’s broad back, noticing how flawless and defined his skin and muscles are. The backstroke swimmer can’t help but admire Sousuke’s sculpted shoulders. His eyes trail down the curve of his back, finding droplets of water moving, trailing down his spine until it disappears under the white and wet fluffy towel. The emerald-eyed teen swallows as he realizes just beneath that towel is Sousuke’s butt and wonders, _‘I wonder…what it looks like, actually I wonder how it would feel in the palm of my hand, squeezing it….wa-wait. What am I thinking!?’_

All of a sudden, without much warning, Sousuke twists his body around, causing the brunette to stiffen, as his head shoots up meeting the raven-haired teen’s stare. Makoto can feel his face burn, and he’s pretty sure that he looks ridiculous with a massive blush on his face. Scratch that, his whole body probably looks like a tomato.

Sousuke blinks a couple of times as he notices the brunette’s skin flush in a dusting of pinkish red as Makoto takes the sponge from him. He turns around, breaking eye contact with the brunette, giving him some space and wondering, _‘he’s blushing again. It’s cute, but…I wish I knew what made him blush like that. Maybe this is too awkward…actually it may be better if we talk about something else…’_

Makoto takes the sponge with one hand, staring at it for a moment. He exhales slowly as he pushes away dirty thoughts before he gazes at Sousuke. The brunette finds the teal-eyed teen had turned around, and the emerald-eyed teen smiles gently, _‘he must have noticed. I just have to keep this together...I can do this without getting all worked up over it. Sousuke just wants me to clean his back, and I’ve done this with everyone else…but…no more buts!’_

The emerald-eyed teen raises the sponge, hovering it over the base of Sousuke’s neck before he softly rubs it down the raven-haired teen’s back.

Sousuke feels the soft and slippery sponge trail down his back, inhaling sharply. The teal-eyed teen swallows and says evenly, “hey, have you given any thought to the offer of moving in…with me, Mako?”

The brunette looks up at the back of Sousuke’s head as he listens to the question. He continues to scrub Sousuke’s back with the sponge, using two hands as he answers, “um…I have thought about it. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about it, I just didn’t know when would be a good time.”

Sousuke smiles to himself, noticing how Makoto’s voice seemed to carry a bit of worry, but there is a sense of thoughtfulness as well. The teal-eyed teen says, “oh? I’m glad I mentioned it then. Tell me about it.”

A small smile graces the brunette’s lips as he replies, “oh, ok. Well…I wanted to check in with Nagisa and Rei. Since they will be going to university in Tokyo, I thought they may want my apartment. I talked to my landlord about it and I found out that someone in my building wants a one-bedroom apartment. So, I went to go visit this mystery person…and I was surprised to find out it was someone I went to high school with. Rei and Nagisa seem to be quite close to him…ah, his name is Tadanori Sera. Anyway, I invited him to my apartment, and he’s pretty sure he wants to move in to my place, and Rei and Nagisa talked to him about moving in to his place. It’s funny…Sera-kun and I never ran into each other, not even once. It would have been nice to know that he was so close to me, maybe we could have been friends, you know. Hmm, I think I went off topic.”

Makoto chuckles as he rubs the sponge over Sousuke’s right shoulder and continues, “sorry. Anyway, what I wanted to say…is that I would like to take you up on your offer. I would like to move in with you, if that’s still something you would like t…”

Sousuke enjoys the gentle movements, closing his eyes as he savors this friendly gesture from the brunette. The teal-eyed teen knits his eyebrows lightly as he listens to Makoto’s rambling, piecing together the circumstances the backstroke swimmer mentions. The raven-haired teen huffs silently, finding the circumstances serendipitous and auspicious. He thinks, _‘hmm…interesting. Those are some lucky circumstances. Something like that would never happen to me…running into someone I know.’_ Sousuke opens his eyes when he hears Makoto’s melodious laugh and it causes his heart to skip a beat. The raven-haired teen slowly brings his hand over his chest, gently pressing the palm of his hand into his flesh almost as if he was trying to prevent his heart from leaping out of his chest.

Sousuke listens to Makoto’s words, and warmth fills him as he interrupts quickly, “of course.” The raven-haired teen huffs out a small laugh, “yes…I would like that. A lot actually.” 

Makoto halts his movements, the sponge lingering on Sousuke’s left shoulder as the raven-haired teen speaks. The backstroke swimmer’s lips part as Sousuke chuckles, followed by his candid response. Makoto softly asks, “really? A lot?”

The raven-haired teen exhales as he turns his head slightly to the side as he says, “yeah.”

The emerald-eyed teen chuckles gingerly as he starts to rub Sousuke’s shoulder again and says airily, “I’m glad, Sou.”

The ex-butterfly swimmer smiles, catching Makoto’s soft tone, “I’ll talk to my dad when I get back to Tokyo. I promise.”

Makoto flushes and says delicately, “ok. Let me know when you do.” The brunette continues scrubbing Sousuke’s back, a gentle silence falling between the two teens until the brunette says, “ok. I think your back is clean, Sou.”

Sousuke says over his shoulder, “ok, I’ll rinse myself off.” The raven-haired teen pulls the showerhead off its handle as he turns the knobs.

The brunette says over Sousuke’s shoulder, “I can rinse you off.”

The raven-haired teen looks over his shoulder and smirks, “ok. Here, hand me the sponge.” They exchange items, Sousuke taking the sponge and placing it on the tiled counter as Makoto takes the showerhead from the teal-eyed teen.

Makoto moves the showerhead, directing the spray of warm water downwards towards their feet. The brunette raises up the nozzle, watching the water rinse away the soapy suds on Sousuke’s back. The brunette notices how the water creates a glossy gleam on the ex-butterfly swimmer’s back. Without much thought, Makoto reaches out, placing his hand over Sousuke’s left shoulder, running his fingertips down the raven-haired teen’s trapezius muscle, and then down his spine. The brunette gasps lightly as electricity courses through his hand as he continues to trail his fingertips down Sousuke’s back. Makoto releases a shaky breath before he slowly retracts his fingers when he gets to the bottom of Sousuke’s exposed skin and whispers, “sorry…”

Sousuke enjoys the warm spray of water gently washing over his back. The raven-haired teen suddenly notices that Makoto had somehow stopped moving the spray of water around his back as a constant stream is directly spraying the small of his back, and before the teal-eyed teen could ask about the change, the teal-eyed teen silently inhales as he unconsciously straightens his back as Makoto’s fingertips leave lingering tingles on his skin. Sousuke can feel a heat course through him as Makoto's feather light touch continue down his back casually before his soft fingertips abruptly stop out of the blue on the small of his back.

Sousuke hears Makoto’s faint murmur, knitting his eyebrows, he turns around facing the brunette. He observes how the brunette is looking away to the side, trying to hide from the raven-haired teen. The ex-butterfly swimmer suddenly grasps Makoto’s wrist, moving it to the side to keep the spray of water away from him.

Makoto notices movement and looks away from the teal-eyed teen, focusing his attention on the bathtub, _‘oh no…I shouldn’t have done that. Oh, god, what do I say? I don’t know what to say. Please, oh please don’t ask, Sousuke.’_ The emerald-eyed teen feels a gaze on him, but suddenly a light pressure surrounds his wrist, moving his hand away and Makoto looks up to find questioning teal eyes staring at him. The brunette bites the inside of his bottom lip as he continues to stare into those teal orbs, _‘Sou-Sousuke…’_ Makoto’s heart starts booming in his ears and he says without thinking in a breathless tone, “y-you have a beautiful back.”

Sousuke finds those emerald eyes gazing in his teal ones, and the question he was about to ask just disappears. The raven-haired teen opens his mouth slightly and realizes that the words he was about to say have somehow vanished from his mind. The teal-eyed teen takes in a shallow breath, feeling that heat within him start to sizzle, _‘Makoto…let me…’_ His thoughts are halted as he hears Makoto’s voice and his eyes wavers as the words sink into his mind, _‘me? Beautiful? I…I…’_ Sousuke looks down, sort of shaking his head back and forth before he turns his head to the side, feeling a blush burning his cheeks as he says in a flurry, “uh, I, I, I’m not so sure about that. I mean, I don’t really see myself as beautiful.” Sousuke closes his eyes, wincing at the terrible reply that just bursts out of his mouth.

The brunette notices the teal gaze staring back at him flickering and Makoto starts to feel panic fill him, _‘oh shit! I said that out loud! Shit, oh crap!’_ The backstroke swimmer opens his mouth to say something, only to find himself unable to form a sentence or any kind of coherent meaning. He ends up watching the raven-haired teen look down, side to side, and then off to the side as Makoto notices a blush on Sousuke’s cheek. Makoto realizes that the ex-butterfly swimmer is embarrassed and the words that follow solidify his thoughts, _‘oh…Sou…you have no idea what you do to me. I don’t know if I can tell you…but damn, you are so hot.’_

Makoto smiles and tries to chuckle silently as he says, “well, I don’t expect you to find yourself beautiful. Anyway, let’s get back to, um…well…um showering?” The brunette hears the water hitting the tiles and looks over to his hand still holding on to the showerhead and continues, “oh. I better turn this off.”

Sousuke hears something come from the brunette and sighs. The words that follow makes the raven-haired teen wince internally, _‘yeah…I kind of deserved that. Wait a minute, he thinks I’m beautiful?’_ Sousuke turns his head while Makoto is staring at the showerhead and Sousuke releases his hold on the brunette’s wrist. Sousuke observes the brunette momentarily, watching the backstroke swimmer get up off his stool and take a few steps towards the titled counter. The raven-haired teen looks down on himself and realizes that his towel had come undone, _‘oh shit!’_ Sousuke quickly gets up, picks up the soppy white towel and ties it around his hips again.

The brunette rotates the knobs to turn off the stream of water, placing the showerhead on the base that holds it up. Makoto turns around to find Sousuke tying his towel around his body and says with surprise, “huh? Did something…”

The raven-haired teen looks up and interrupts, “oh. I noticed that it was loose, I’m just tying it a bit tighter.” Sousuke looks down and says, “uh, why don’t you sit on that stool and I’ll get your sponge.” The teal-eyed teen points to the stool that he was sitting on, hoping that Makoto is watching before he walks over to the backstroke swimmer’s plastic bin with his sponge in it.

The brunette can still see a slight pink flush on Sousuke’s face and he smiles, liking the color on the teal-eyed teen’s cheeks. Makoto’s line of sight follows Sousuke’s hand and nods as he takes a seat on Sousuke’s stool. The brunette turns his head noticing the teal-eyed teen picking up the bottle of body wash and squirting it unto the sponge.

Makoto tears his gaze away from the raven-haired teen as he hears him turn the water on to get the sponge wet. The brunette places his hands on his thighs as he looks down at his feet planted on the cool tile floor. Makoto suddenly feels a spray of water hitting his back and he jolts a bit before he chuckles, “sorry…that surprised me.”

Sousuke squeezes the sponge in hands, getting a nice soapy lather as he walks behind the brunette. He looks over at the back of the emerald-eyed teen’s head as he brings up the showerhead onto Makoto’s back. The raven-haired teen notices the backstroke swimmer stiffen and jump a bit, _‘oh that’s right…he startles easily. One of these days, I’ll remember that.’_ The raven-haired teen sits down on the stool behind Makoto as he waves the showerhead over the emerald-eyed teen’s back, “that’s ok. I forgot you startle easily. You ok?”

Makoto turns his head to look at the teal-eyed teen and smiles sweetly, “yeah, I’m ok.” He turns his head back around as he lets the warm water relax him. Makoto rolls his shoulders, curving and straightening his back before rolling his neck side to side, “that feels really nice, Sou.”

Sousuke catches Makoto’s green gaze, looking up at him and his heart skips a beat with the smile the brunette flashes at him. The teal-eyed teen shifts his gaze onto Makoto’s back and observes how those muscles constrict and relax as he moves the showerhead in circular motions, _‘wow. Now that I look at your back more closely, I can see you have kept up some of your training from high school, maybe a little more defined in the shoulders. Very nice. I doubt my back looks like yours, Mako. Yours is like a work of art.’_

The raven-haired teen smiles when he hears Makoto’s voice and says, “don’t get too comfortable, Mako. Here, take this so I can scrub your back.” Sousuke leans forward, leaning in closer to Makoto’s ear, extending the showerhead towards the brunette’s side and says softly into his ear, “I’ll need it later.”

Makoto chuckles lightly, _‘eh? Aww. I was enjoying that, Sou.’_ Suddenly, the brunette feels Sousuke’s cool breath on his neck and he inhales sharply. He says a little more loudly than he intended, “o-ok…yeah. Yeah…later.” Makoto looks down to find Sousuke handing him the showerhead. The brunette takes it, turning off the water and placing it back on its perch.

Sousuke leans back and waits for the emerald-eyed teen to put the showerhead back before rubbing the sponge over Makoto’s back. He uses two hands as he gently scrubs the emerald-eyed teen’s back up and down, “your mom, she really is something. I’ve never seen anyone sneak up on Rin like that before. You should have been there, Mako.”

The brunette closes his eyes as he exhales slowly. He can feel his heart pound in his chest as Sousuke slowly brushes the sponge over the expanse of his back. Makoto hears Sousuke’s words and smiles, “I wish I was there to see it. I heard it was quite a sight to behold. I had no idea my mom would take out so many people…let’s see it was, Ran, Rei, Gou, and Rin. I did see her take out Rei though.” The brunette sighs softly, “I was only able to take out Nagisa before my dad got me.”

Sousuke chuckles, “well that’s better than me. I didn’t get anyone. I protected Haru from Rin’s attack.”

Makoto smiles and says, “I think the most important piece is that we all had fun. Did you?”

Sousuke rubs Makoto shoulder with the sponge, “yeah, I did. It would have been more fun if Haru just listened to me in the first place instead of arguing with me.”

The brunette nods and just before he’s able to reply, Sousuke brings the sponge down to his side, the raven-haired teen’s fingers lightly brushing against the side of his stomach. Makoto laughs as he jumps a bit, moving away from Sousuke’s fingers as he brings his hand over his side, grasping the teal-eyed teen’s hand. He says with a giggle, “ah! That tickles! So~u~!”

The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen momentarily, worried for a moment that he had done something wrong until he hears Makoto’s sweet melodious voice. He sighs in relief, but Makoto’s hand is over his, squeezing his hand gently, trying to stop him from moving. Sousuke stares at their connected hands and his heart skips a beat; the raven-haired teen swallows, _‘whoa…there it is again. This intensely warm feeling.’_ He chuckles, a little out of nervousness and amusement as he says, “should have known. How ticklish are you?”

Makoto feels a warm tingling sensation course through his body and he unintentionally squeezes Sousuke’s hand. The brunette gasps softly, hoping the teal-eyed teen didn’t hear him as he listens to the man behind him. The backstroke swimmer nods and says anxiously, “uh, I’m quite ticklish in certain spots. W-wait…why do you want to know? Don’t tell me you’re thinking of tickling me like the last time!?”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, _‘huh? Last ti…oh yeah! When I slept over at his apartment. He carried me over his back and tossed me on the bed, but I held on to him and tickled him. I watched him laugh…he was so…’_ Sousuke moves his hand and says quickly, “I won’t tickle you, Mako. I just wasn’t sure how ticklish you were. I’ll try to avoid your sides. I promise.” The raven-haired teen continues scrubbing Makoto’s back, _‘beautiful. He left me speechless and confused…but I’m certain…that only you could make me feel that way.’_

The brunette feels the raven-haired teen pull away from his grasp and just before he tries to look back at Sousuke, the teal-eyed teen speaks with a promise not to tickle him. Makoto sighs in relief, placing a hand over his heart, “oh thank goodness. I don’t want to be falling off the stool like a big laughing mess like last time. You really surprised me then. Anyway, thanks Sou. I know I can trust you.”

Sousuke stops moving momentarily when the brunette mentions trust before he starts rubbing Makoto’s back again. He smiles warmly, _‘trust. You trusted me the moment we met, Mako. But hearing you say it...makes me feel like I’ve earned it. Shit, I haven’t been fair to you in the past…but I trust you too.’_ The raven-haired teen feels his chest swell with warmth as he says confidently, “your welcome. The feeling is mutual, Mako. I trust you.”

The emerald-eyed teen balls his hand into a loose fist over his heart, listening to Sousuke’s words. Makoto holds his breath as he feels like time stands still. Something about the way Sousuke speaks, invokes a feeling of veracity and authenticity. The brunette finds the words to hit him strongly, resonating with his spirit, _‘he…trusts me. Sou…that means a lot to me.’_ Makoto smiles as Sousuke continues to rub his back, feeling that words are unnecessary at this time. The brunette let’s Sousuke’s words flood him, making his heart swell with kindness and loyalty.

Sousuke finishes up with Makoto’s back and says, “alright, let’s wash you off.” The raven-haired teen extends his hand near the backstroke swimmer’s side.

Makoto looks to his side, taking the sponge and placing it on the titled counter, picks up the showerhead and turns the knobs to the right temperature before handing it back to the teal-eyed teen behind him.

The ex-butterfly swimmer takes the showerhead, raising it up over Makoto’s back and watches the soapy suds slide off.

After Sousuke is done washing Makoto’s back, the two teens take their prospective sides, the brunette bringing the stool back to his side and wash their bodies in silence facing away from each other. The silence is comfortable and only the sounds of sponges against flesh could be heard before grabbing the showerheads to rinse off their bodies.

When the brunette is done cleaning himself, he continues spraying the showerhead over his chest as he says softly, “ready to get into the bath, Sou?”

Sousuke finishes rinsing his hair and says, “yeah. I’ll head in first.” The raven-haired teen turns off the showerhead, placing it on its perch before walking over to the bathtub, taking off his towel, and stepping in the large pool of water.

Makoto is about to turn the showerhead off, but remembers that he brought a couple extra towels, _‘oh. I should bring a hot towel with me. For Sousuke’s shoulder. Just in case the cold weather is still affecting his shoulder.’_ The brunette grabs a towel out of his plastic container, putting it on his lap as he faces the spray of water away from him, he readjusts the temperature of the water. Once he gets it hot enough, Makoto soaks the towel that he placed on his lap and turns off the showerhead. He gets off the stool, walks over to the bathtub to find Sousuke leaning back with his eyes closed.

The brunette smiles, relieved to find the ex-butterfly swimmer relaxed. Makoto takes this opportunity to take off his towel before getting into the tub. Makoto steps into the water carefully, seating himself on his knees as he faces Sousuke. The emerald-eyed teen gently says, “Sou, I have something for you.”

Sousuke hears the soft pitter-patter of flesh hitting the titled floor and takes a deep breath as he continues to listen. He opens his eyes slowly with Makoto’s request, turning his head to find tender green eyes staring at him with a towel in his hand.

Makoto smiles as he says, “I thought maybe this could help you. May I?”

Sousuke sits up and says, “yeah, go ahead.” The raven-haired teen watches Makoto lean over him, placing the hot towel over his right shoulder. The teal-eyed teen instantly feels the heat seep into his shoulder as the brunette holds the towel in place. Sousuke leans back down against the tub, “that feels really nice.”

Makoto keeps his hand on Sousuke’s shoulder as he descends down, leaning against the tub. He chuckles lightly, “I’m glad.”

Sousuke grabs Makoto’s wrist, and he feels the brunette’s hand lightly clench his shoulder as Sousuke asks looking up into those green orbs, “tell me something, Mako. Why…why do you care so much?”

The emerald-eyed teen feels Sousuke’s hand over his wrist and it makes his heart jump as he peers down at the ex-butterfly swimmer. Makoto hears the question, but he feels like the question isn’t quite clarified and finds himself at a loss for words. He stares down into those teal orbs, they seem a little clouded, almost as if he isn’t sure what he’s asking, but he seeks an answer, a truthful answer.

The brunette swallows and says delicately, “because…you mean a lot to me, Sou. I…I want you to feel better. I want you to be you.” Makoto feels too unguarded all of a sudden and pulls his hand away from Sousuke’s grasp as he places his hand on his cheek, rubbing the side of his face. He looks away from those teal eyes and continues gingerly, “you…you are special to me.” Makoto laughs nervously, “ah…I don’t know what I’m saying, but everything is true.”

Sousuke gazes into those green eyes, at first the brunette seems a bit surprised, uncertain about the question he asked, but then he sees some kind of resolve within those emerald orbs and Sousuke braces himself for the answer that follows. The teal-eyed teen takes in those soft words until Makoto pulls away from him. Sousuke watches the brunette timidly rub his cheek and before he can say anything, the emerald-eyed teen continues, and Sousuke feels his heart soften. For some reason a small part of him doubted the backstroke swimmer for a moment, almost as if Makoto would somehow abandon him. The raven-haired teen brings his hand over the warm towel, turning his head to the side as if he’s staring at his shoulder and says, “you don’t have to say anymore, Mako. Sorry for putting you on the spot like that. I guess I…felt unsure. You really are something, Mako. I’m just glad you’re here.”

The backstroke swimmer listens to Sousuke’s words and smiles. He moves away from the raven-haired teen, sitting across from him as he settles himself comfortably into the warm water and says, “I don’t mind, Sou. If you ever need me…I’ll be here.” Makoto looks over at the ex-butterfly swimmer, finding those teal eyes staring at him with wonderment and gives Sousuke his trademark smile.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 26th, Friday, 10:29 pm  **

****

After Makoto and Sousuke soaked in the bathtub for quite some time, the two teens got out of the tub without saying much to each other. They both grabbed their towels and their plastic containers before heading into the changing room, and facing away from each other.

Makoto dries off his body with a towel and puts on a pair of charcoal grey boxer briefs before he grabs a small spray bottle and sprays himself with it.

Sousuke hears the sound of spritzing as he puts on his navy blue sweatpants. As soon as he pulls his pants all the way up, the raven-haired teen turns around to find Makoto rubbing his torso. He quirks an eyebrow as he watches the brunette rub something over his abs and says, “what are you doing?”

The brunette looks up as he finishes up rubbing his torso, “huh? Oh. I’m spraying some body oil on myself. My skin gets a little dry during the winter. Why, you wanna try some?”

Sousuke blinks before he knits his eyebrows, “uh, I…I don’t know. What about your back? Do you need help with that?”

Makoto’s ears burn slightly as he breaks eye contact with the teal-eyed teen, picking up the bottle of oil and says, “uh, well…that would be nice. But, let me get my legs first.” The brunette faces the bench in-between them, lifting up his leg to spray one leg before putting the bottle down on the bench and rubbing it into his leg.

Sousuke watches with interest as Makoto rubs the oil over his thigh, shin, and calf before he switches legs and does it all over again. The raven-haired teen’s eyes follow Makoto’s hands as he slides them up and down his legs and he looks away, finding himself feeling quite heated. He rubs the back of his neck as the teal-eyed teen tries to calm his nerves, _‘shit…I was staring. Damn.’_

The brunette finishes up rubbing the oil into his leg, putting it down as he stands up straight and looks at Sousuke. He finds the raven-haired teen gazing to the side and says, “um, yo-you don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

The ex-butterfly swimmer shifts his eyes over to the emerald-eyed teen and says, “it’s fine.” Sousuke takes a large step over the bench, standing next to the brunette as he continues, “turn around and pass me the bottle.”

Makoto blinks as he watches the raven-haired teen approach him, keeping his eyes on him until he makes a request. The brunette stumbles with his words, “u-uh…ye-yeah. Sorry.” The emerald-eyed teen quickly turns around to grab the spray bottle of oil on the bench and hands it over to the raven-haired teen questioningly.

Sousuke takes the bottle into his hand and looks at the label. On the label the teal-eyed teen notices that it’s scented, stating that it’s citrus ginger. The raven-haired teen turns the bottle over in his hand to check the list of ingredients and realizes that the particular brand of moisturizing oil is a blend of different kinds of oils, “huh. I would have never guessed. Does this stuff really work?”

Makoto watches the raven-haired teen stare at the bottle wondering what Sousuke is thinking. When the ex-butterfly swimmer turns the bottle in his hand, Makoto tilts his head to the side until teal orbs meet his line of sight, asking him a question. The brunette chuckles lightly and replies, “I’ve been using it for about two years, mainly in the winter. It works for me. It moisturizes my skin without clogging my pores or anything. Would you like to try some? I don’t mind.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows as he listens to the brunette’s response, not sure exactly what to make of it, and shrugs, “I’ll think about it. Turn around. I’ll spray your back.”

The brunette shifts his eyes to the side and nods, “ok. You don’t have to use much. A little goes a long way, so just a few sprays should do it.” Makoto turns around, giving the raven-haired teen his back.

Sousuke makes sure that the spritz bottle is directed towards Makoto’s back before he sprays three shots of the body oil onto the expanse of the brunette’s back. He puts the bottle down on the bench and notices a shiny spot right in-between Makoto’s shoulder blades and places his hands over that spot, rubbing the oil into the emerald-eyed teen’s skin.

Makoto’s back feels warm under his touch, and the oil just glides between his hand, and the brunette’s muscular flesh as he moves his hands over the backstroke swimmer’s shoulders, down the middle of his back and sides, and the small of the Makoto’s back. Sousuke notices the sweet and spicy scent lightly assaulting his senses, the oil gently absorbing into Makoto’s skin as he continues rubbing his palms over the brunette’s back, “huh…this feels kinda nice.”

The brunette covers his mouth with his hand to prevent a gasp from escaping his lips as soon as he feels the cool spritz of oil fall onto his back. He can feel the burning of the blush on his ears growing darker as Sousuke’s strong hands press against his shoulders, kneading the oil into his skin. Makoto closes his eyes as he enjoys the sensual feeling of Sousuke’s hands on his skin, _‘ah…his hands feel so good on my back, I could just melt. He’s not just rubbing it in…he’s giving me a little massage…and it feels so good.’_ Makoto inhales sharply and knits his eyebrows as he continues to halt any kind of embarrassing sounds to escape though his lips.

Makoto hears Sousuke’s deep voice and it sends electric tingles down through his body as he replies without thinking, “it is nice.”

Sousuke halts his movements momentarily and stares at his hands pressed up against Makoto’s shoulder blades. The teal-eyed teen swallows as he gently removes his hands from Makoto’s back, taking a step backwards, “was that enough?” Sousuke looks down at his hands and rubs his fingertips over the palm of his hand, feeling a small amount of the oil on his skin, before bringing his hand up to take in the fragrance once more.

The brunette opens his eyes and licks his lips, bringing his hand down from his mouth. He turns around to find Sousuke sniffing his hand and asks curiously, “uh…does it smell bad?”

Sousuke takes in the light aroma of lemon, maybe yuzu, and orange sweet notes as well as the distinct spicy scent of ginger. He shifts his gaze over to the brunette and finds Makoto’s skin tone to be tinged with a pinkish-red over his cheeks and partly down his neck. He shakes his head, “no.” Sousuke brings his hand down and continues, “it smells really nice. I wasn’t expecting to find this scent to be…appealing, I guess. A nice surprise.”

Makoto smiles, feeling a sense of relief as he listens to Sousuke’s response, “ah, I’m relieved to hear that. For a moment, I thought you didn’t like it.” The brunette chuckles sheepishly.

Sousuke lightly smiles at the brunette before he picks up the bottle of oil from the bench, staring at it again. He says after a bit of contemplation, “maybe I’ll give this a try. Where should I spray it to get a better idea?”

Makoto takes the bottle from Sousuke and says, “here, I’ll spray your chest and rub it in.” The brunette gently sprays some oil in the middle of the raven-haired teen’s chest.

Sousuke takes the bottle from Makoto’s hand and before the teal-eyed teen could suggest that he should rub it in himself, the brunette places his hands on Sousuke’s chest, spreading the oil up to his collarbone and out towards his shoulders in a circular motion. The raven-haired teen just watches Makoto’s face become redder, his olive brown eyelashes gently flickering as he blinks and Sousuke takes in a sharp inhale causing his chest to rise as his grip on the bottle tightens. The ex-butterfly swimmer unconsciously wraps his other arm around Makoto’s waist, pulling him in close.

Makoto notices Sousuke take the spray bottle from him and decides to spread the oil that he sprayed over the raven-haired teen’s chest by pressing his hands into the ex-butterfly swimmer’s chest. As his hands spread over the expanse of his pectoral muscles, the brunette feels himself explode with heat, his face burning, his skin tingling as he caresses Sousuke’s hard, toned muscles, his smooth and warm skin having a more glossy sheen in the light as he continues to rub the citrus ginger oil in. The brunette becomes hypnotized by his own actions, observing his hands stroke over such a wonderfully delicious set of pecs as they rise and fall.

The brunette suddenly feels a strong arm around his waist, and when Makoto feels his hips clash into Sousuke’s, the spell the emerald-eyed teen was under breaks as he lifts his head up to meet teal orbs peering into him. The backstroke swimmer’s hands stop right on Sousuke’s collarbone as he continues to gaze into those hazy eyes. Makoto’s mouth parts as he feels his heart pound loudly in his chest and he finds himself lost in the hazy sea of Sousuke’s eyes. Something about the gaze seems so broad, so alluring that he finds himself sliding his hands up Sousuke’s neck. One hand cupping the back of the raven-haired teen neck, while the other caresses Sousuke’s jaw.

Sousuke holds his breath as those beautiful emerald eyes meet his gaze. He notices how those green orbs sparkle and sway under his heavy stare and he gently presses his fingertips into Makoto’s back, feeling heat brewing deep within him. The raven-haired teen exhales slowly as the brunette’s hands press into his collarbone, causing the ex-butterfly swimmer to loosen his grip on the body oil, allowing it drop from his grasp, not caring what happens to it as it falls to the floor somewhere. Sousuke places his hand around Makoto’s waist, with both hands pressing his fingertips into the brunette’s flesh as he barely hovers above him. Sousuke licks his lips as Makoto brings his hands up his neck, gently cradling the nape of his neck and grazing the side of his face.

Sousuke parts his lips as he leans down, his eyes becoming fuzzy as his other senses are overwhelmed with heat and desire. Slowly Sousuke brings his lips down toward Makoto’s parted ones, his lips gently whisper over the brunette’s as their breaths mingle together, causing the raven-haired teen to stop momentarily with this new sensation. Sousuke lightly grazes his upper lip against Makoto’s feeling tingles throughout his body until he hears Tetsuya’s muffled voice say, “ah, Rin! Is it your turn to take a bath? Who will you be showering with this time?”

Sousuke and Makoto’s eyes widen as they stretch the distance between them, staring at each other with shock. They hear Rin’s reply, “Tetsuya-san. Oh, no. I already took a bath with Haru earlier. I was just gonna check on Sousuke and Makoto. Nagisa found this funny _YouTube_ video and wanted them to see it, so I was gonna hound them for taking too long. I hope we haven’t disturbed you, Tetsuya-san. Are we making too much noise?”

Sousuke releases his hold on Makoto, moving away as the enchanting moment between them shattered by an unexpected and unintentional distraction just behind the door in the hallway. The raven-haired teen rubs his neck, feeling heedless of their surroundings, _‘shit…what the hell was I thinking? I, this isn’t the place for…well…yeah. Crap. I’m an idiot. So irresponsible.’_ The teal-eyed teen takes a large step over the bench, deciding to put on his shirt and finish changing.

Makoto watches the raven-haired teen move away from him, the ex-butterfly swimmer’s hands recede from him as the brunette drops his hands to the side, the enthralling moment ebbing away into reality. Makoto can’t help but feel dissatisfied by the interruption, not that his uncle or Rin is to blame as it was coincidental. The emerald-eyed teen observes Sousuke go back on the other side of the bench and the backstroke swimmer turns towards the cubbies, grabbing his heather grey sweatpants, _‘Sou…I, I’m sorry. What was I thinking? Of course…Rin. You still like him, don’t you. I’m such an idiot. Oh my gosh…I almost kissed him again.’_

The brunette puts on his sweatpants as he hears his uncle and Rin talk before the older man excuses himself from the redhead, wanting one more cup of tea before going to bed. Makoto quickly puts on his jade green t-shirt as Rin opens the door.

Both Sousuke and Makoto look over their shoulders to stare at the redhead. Rin smiles and says, “yo. Hope you two had fun bathing together. Anyway, Nagisa wants to show you two something.”

Sousuke sighs and says nonchalantly, “yeah, yeah.” He grabs his laundry and trots over to Rin as he says, “lead the way.”

Rin huffs lightly, “so bossy, bro. Fine, fine.” He looks over Sousuke’s shoulder, and says to the brunette, “Makoto, you coming?”

The emerald-eyed teen gives Rin his trademark smile and says, “I’ll be there in a minute. I have a few things to straighten up in here before I can join you. You two go on ahead, I’ll be there soon.” Makoto sits on the bench, putting on his socks. 

Rin nods and walks out of the changing room and back into the hallway.

Sousuke follows but stops as he’s about to turn the corner, moving his head to stare at the brunette sitting on the bench, _‘Makoto…’_ The raven-haired teen debates with himself momentarily before he hears Rin say, “oi, what’s up?”

Sousuke turns his head to find Rin staring at him strangely, “I thought I forgot something. Let’s go.” Without another glance, the teal-eyed teen follows the redhead.

Makoto waits a moment for Sousuke and Rin to leave after he heard Sousuke mention that he may have forgotten something. The brunette sees the bottle of oil on the floor and picks it up. He stares at the bottle as he places it on the bench. The brunette moves his hand up to touch his upper lip, and just as quickly as he grazes his finger over his lip, he stops. Makoto’s remembers Sousuke’s hands on his waist, that wide, hazy gaze in his eyes, his hot breath ghosting over his mouth, and Sousuke’s lip gently brushing against his.

Makoto releases a shaky breath as he rubs half his face with his hand, _‘I want you Sou. I like you…a lot. I can wait…I can wait for you Sou. You are…something to me too.’_ The brunette gets up as he grabs the bottle of body oil, and places the cap over the spray bottle before putting things away in the changing room so he can spend the rest of the evening with his friends.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 27th, Saturday, 2: 44 pm  **

****

Makoto walks down the staircase of his home in Iwatobi, glad that he finally got himself set up in his room after he re-familiarized himself with his bedroom surroundings. He finds it interesting how it feels like home, and he knew he missed everything that home means to him, but being in the environment first-hand really crystallizes those thoughts. The living room looks a little different, he can tell that some of the pictures on the wall have changed. He can hear his siblings upstairs with his mother trying to put away all their belongings.

The brunette chuckles to himself as he listens to the silly excuses Ren uses to get out of putting his clothes away. Makoto’s father walks into the living room from the dining room with a cup of tea in his hand as he says, “are you leaving, Makoto?”

The brunette turns his head to find his father taking a seat on an armchair and placing his cup of tea on a small circular wooden coffee table next to it. Makoto walks over to his father and says, “yeah. I told Haru that we could hang out for awhile.”

The older man chuckles and says, “well, you better get going before Ren and Ran find you. Those two will keep you here all day if you aren’t careful, son.”

Makoto scratches his cheek with his index finger, chuckling as he says, “alright. I’ll be back later tonight. Oh! Would it be ok if Haru stays over tonight? His parents aren’t home and I just don’t want him to be alone.”

The man with short brown hair smiles at his son and says, “of course. But, just to be safe, I’ll let mom know, ok? Now run along before it gets too late.”

The brunette smiles as he waves to his father, saying his good-byes before walking towards the entryway to put his shoes, coat, and scarf on. Makoto reflects back on earlier that day as he ties his shoes.

Earlier that morning, everyone was rushing around to get last minute things packed before breakfast. He helped his mom and uncle with the dishes, making sure the kitchen was nice and clean before leaving his uncle’s home. Makoto was glad there weren’t any delays at the airport and that they were able to arrive to Iwatobi on time. They all took the train home from the airport, Rin, Gou, and Sousuke getting off at their stop, Nagisa, Rei, and his uncle getting off together, and Haru and the Tachibanas getting off at their stop. Makoto carried his uncle large duffle bag back to their home so the older man could visit his friend in the hospital near Nagisa and Rei’s stop.

Makoto makes sure he has his keys and cellphone in his pocket before opening the door and feeling the chilly air prickle his uncovered cheeks. The brunette shivers as he closes and locks the door before descending down the staircase as he recalls Sousuke, Rin, and Gou leaving the train at their stop. The brunette looked out the window of the train to find Gou, Rin, and Sousuke stopped on the platform as Gou looks for something in her purse. Makoto stared at the raven-haired teen, noticing how he brings up his scarf over his mouth to shield himself from the cold.

The emerald-eyed teen clutches his suitcase a little tighter wishing he had the chance to talk to him after what happened in the changing room back at his uncle’s house. Just when Makoto was about to look away, Sousuke’s teal eyes meet his gaze and the two stare at each other before the train starts moving again, and the brunette continues staring out the same window even though he could no longer see those teal eyes.

The brunette reaches the end of the staircase and walks up a different set of staircases to get to Haru’s home. He clutches the handrail as he quickly trots up the stairs, thinking about those teal eyes gazing at him through the train window earlier. There was something about the way those teal orbs stared at him that made his heart flutter, made him want to jump off the train, and just be with him. Makoto sighs lightly, his thoughts starting to sound silly as he ascends the stairs. He brushes away his thoughts as he turns the corner of the top of the stairs, walks up to the third house, and rings the doorbell.

Makoto waits for a moment before he tries the door. He slides it open and sighs deeply, “Ha~ru~ Unlocked again.” The brunette suddenly chuckles to himself as he enters the house, closing the door behind him, “at least you are consistent, Haru-chan.”

The brunette locks the door as he speaks loudly, “Haru-chan! It’s me, Makoto. I’m coming in.” Makoto pulls off his scarf and jacket before untying his shoes and entering Haru’s home. Makoto looks in the kitchen and living room finding that the navy-haired teen is nowhere in sight. The brunette walks over to Haru’s bedroom and notices that the sapphire-eyed teen hasn’t even opened his suitcase, it’s just lying on the floor. Makoto leaves the bedroom, walking over to the bathroom, and opening the door.

Makoto finds Haru in the bathtub, sitting low with his legs spread apart. The brunette smiles, _‘no matter how many times I see this, it looks silly, but it is so Haru. Reminds me of all the times I would come over to pick him up in the morning only to find him soaking in the tub just like this.’_ The brunette walks over and extends his hand to the sapphire-eyed teen, “ne, Haru…it’s time to get out of the water.”

The navy-haired teen huffs through his nose and lowers his head underwater for a few moments before raising himself up and shaking his head back and forth. Haru looks over at Makoto and says, “I wasn’t in here that long, Makoto.”

Makoto tilts his head when he finds Haru submerged underwater, but after awhile, Haru pushes himself above the water’s surface, shaking his head. The brunette chuckles as he turns his head to the side slightly to prevent himself from getting too wet, “well, how long have you been in there?”

Haru reaches his hand forward, taking Makoto’s hand, and allowing the brunette to pull him out of the bathtub. He shrugs as he walks past the brunette grabbing a towel and puts it over his head, then takes the second towel to dry his body.

Makoto sighs and thinks, _‘yeah, right. You don’t know how long you’ve been in there. Hmm…maybe I’ll give Sasabe-coach a call tomorrow and ask if we can use the pool while we’re here. I’m sure you’re itching to get into a pool again, Haru.’_ Makoto turns around and says, “why don’t you go put some clothes on and I’ll go make some tea.”

The navy-haired teen straightens his back and nods before walking out of the bathroom and into the hallway heading into his bedroom. The brunette smiles as he decides to drain the bathtub of the cold water before going downstairs to make some tea. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The brunette sets down two blue teacups, a mesh tea ball, and a canister of loose-leaf barley tea down on the white counters of the kitchen as he waits for the liquid in the water heater to boil. Makoto leans against the counter, listening to the water sizzle in the water heater as he looks over at the small rectangular wooden table in the kitchen. The brunette turns around, crosses one leg over the other, putting all his weight on the stationary leg and the counter behind him as he places his hands on the edge of the counter, allowing his mind to wander. He closes his eyes thinking about all the wonderful things he’s done over the Christmas break so far. Makoto smiles as he remembers the games they played together, Ren and Ran enjoying themselves with his friends, and it pulls his heartstrings.

Makoto’s mind focuses on the memory of Sousuke’s deep voice, chuckling as he joined in on the festivities with everyone. Makoto places a hand over his chest, _‘Sou…Sousuke. I, I want to talk to you. Just to make sure that we are ok. I can’t deny my feelings anymore, but I don’t think I can tell you, that I like you. You have your own feelings to work through…and I don’t want to pry. I can wait, I think.’_ Makoto balls his hand into a fist, scrunching up the green, black, and white flannel shirt and cream-colored undershirt he is wearing.

Haru puts on a pair of white socks, light grey jeans, a black tank top undershirt, and a dark blue V-neck sweater. He grabs his wet jammers, going back to the bathroom to hang them over a towel rack to dry. The navy-haired teen quietly descends down the staircase, turning the corner and finding Makoto with his hand over his chest and his eyes closed. Haru tilts his head, wondering, _‘hmmm…he’s thinking about something. Maybe someone…yeah…it’s someone.’_ Haru hears the beep of the water heater, indicating that the water has boiled and is now ready to dispense. The sapphire-eyed teen saunters over towards the brunette, grabs the mesh tea strainer filled with barley tea, and places it in the teacup as he lightly drags it along the countertop, and under the water heater.

Makoto releases his grip on his shirt, jumping in place as he didn’t realize that Haru is now in the kitchen. The brunette looks to the side to find Haru calmly dispensing the water into the teacup and says, “Ha~ru~! You scared me.”

Haru smiles with his eyes and says blankly, “who were you thinking about?”

Makoto sighs, pushing himself off the kitchen counter, walks over to the wooden table, pulling a chair out and plopping himself on it as he says hesitantly, “I can’t lie to you. I was thinking about Sousuke.”

Haru moves the first teacup to the side as he places the second one under the water heater, “ah. That time when you two were in Suzuki’s bedroom?”

The brunette stills in his seat, turning his gaze to stare at the back of Haru’s head, “huh? What do you mean?”

Haru remains silent, grabbing a small round blue tray and placing the teacups and a small bowl on it. He turns around, walking towards the table as he puts the tray down on it. He pulls out the chair closest to the brunette and says, “I saw what you did. You hugged him, leaned into him. It seemed intimate.”

Makoto looks away as Haru speaks, feeling ashamed that Haru had seen what happened between them. He sighs softly, leaning back into his chair and looking down at his lap, “oh. I, I um…was kissing his shoulder. I guess it was kinda intimate.”

Haru stares at the emerald-eyed teen noticing the uneasiness gracing Makoto’s features and says more delicately, “whatever you decide to do, I will support you. Just like you have done for me, Makoto. I know I can be possessive. You’re the one that showed me that. I just, don’t want to see you hurt again, not after…” Haru looks away, knitting his eyebrows lightly, and his eyes wavering darkly as he thinks about Ito, _‘I never want to see you cry like that.’_

The brunette sneaks a glance at Haru wondering if he’s going to finish his sentence, but finds the navy-haired teen looking away with a scowl on his face. Makoto instantly picks up what is on Haru’s mind easily, reading his facial features, and body language. The brunette bites his lip as he reaches over the table, taking off the teacups from the tray, _‘Haru…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about all of it. I should have told you about him and I from the beginning. I knew I was digging myself into a hole. I just…wasn’t sure…it was all so new to me.’_

The emerald-eyed teen takes out the mesh tea ball from one teacup and carefully places it into the second teacup. He picks up the brewed barley tea and places it in front of Haru and says, “you’re thinking about Takeshi, aren’t you?”

Haru notices the movements from the brunette, but keeps his gaze on the kitchen cabinet instead. The navy-haired teen knows that Makoto can read his posture, his face, and figure out what is on his mind. He hears ceramic gently clank unto the wooden table near him and he knows that Makoto has just served him his teacup of barely tea. The question that follows makes Haru stiffen slightly in his seat and he frowns lightly.

Makoto watches Haru closely, making sure he understands what Haru is trying to say to him, without the use of words. The brunette sighs softly and says, “I’m so sorry, Haru. I know I’ve apologized many times before, and I know you don’t blame me, but I did not do right by you, Haru. Takeshi…he didn’t just hurt me, he hurt you too. Are you afraid…are you afraid for me, Haru?”

Haru looks down on his lap, folding his hands together as he sighs deeply.

The brunette gets up from his seat, walks behind Haru, places his hands on the navy-haired teen’s shoulders, and squeezes lightly, “I’m sorry, Haru. For making you worry. I promise…I promise to be more honest and forward about things that are happening to me…or concerns I have about anything.” Makoto leans forward, wrapping his arms around Haru and asks gently against the sapphire-eyed teen’s ear, “but that’s not the only thing that’s bothering you, is it?”

Haru sighs in relief, glad that he was able to express the meaning through his actions and places a hand on Makoto’s forearm and says, “can I hold you to that, Makoto?”

The brunette smiles softly as he tightens his hold slightly, not wanting to put too much pressure like he usually does, “yeah. Please hold me to that. If you find me breaking this promise…just let me know. I don’t want to break this promise to you.”

Haru nods once as he squeezes Makoto’s forearm, “ok. I will. I hate fighting…”

Makoto faces forward, tilting his head to the side, bumping the side of his head with Haru’s as he says, “me too. I will try my best, Haru. I want you to know something. No matter what we go through, I will be here for you, Haru…no matter what happens.” Makoto pauses as he allows those truthful words to linger in the atmosphere between them, to let those words settle into his mind and hopefully Haru understands just how much weight those words ring true. The brunette closes his eyes as he says delicately, “is there anything else you want to say about that, Haru?”

Haru breathes through his nose slowly, feeling a sense of comfort fill him as Makoto speaks, holding on to each and every word. This confession of truth is something he has known for many years, but it was something that was unsaid and just known between them. They never needed to hear the words, it was felt between their bond, but for some reason Haru has been feeling a semblance of doubt form and it started when he figured out Makoto had a boyfriend months before. He waited for Makoto to tell him about Ito, but in the end, the brunette never told him until Ito decided to visit him. Hearing Makoto having the same intent on finding a way to move forward with their friendship, and addressing his concerns feels validating, liberating in a way. He can feel their bond becoming stronger, and knowing that Makoto is still Makoto makes him feel at ease.

The sapphire-eyed teen says in a bare whisper, “not about that. Makoto…thank you.” Haru takes in a deep breath, feeling more at ease, like a weight has been lifted.

Makoto squeezes Haru and says, “thank you, Haru…for always being there for me. Now…tell me what else is bothering you.” The brunette releases Haru and returns to his seat, taking out the tea ball from his teacup and placing it in the small bowl that Haru placed on the blue tray carefully.

Haru watches Makoto move, taking his seat and bobbing the tea ball in the teacup before taking it out. The navy-haired teen can sense that something is different about the emerald-eyed teen, and his eyes smile as he realizes that Makoto aura doesn’t seem burdened by Ito, his ex-boyfriend. Haru can’t help but sigh in relief as he rests his elbows on the table, grasping the teacup in front of him with both hands. The free-swimmer pulls the cup closer to him, looking into the amber colored tea as he says nonchalantly, “you seem more like yourself…I’ve missed this.”

The brunette looks up to stare at the navy-haired teen and a sense of awe strikes him, _‘huh? Oh…Haru. Did I change? Hmm…seems like I have. I’m glad to be back, Haru. I have worried you for far too long. I’m glad, in fact, I’ve been feeling so much better…much more like myself.’_ Makoto picks up the cup of tea in front of him and takes a moderate sip. He puts the cup down and says, “I think I’ve over brewed this.” Makoto chuckles a little bit, _‘over brewed, just like this talk…it has been long over due. We needed this, and I’m glad, Haru. I can now tell that the talks we had after you and Rin got together, after you went to Australia, they have had an impact on you. You used to keep your thoughts and feelings all to yourself until you couldn’t handle it anymore, but now, you aren’t waiting as long.’_

Haru looks up to stare at the brunette and watches Makoto take a sip from his teacup. He can see the emerald-eyed teen pondering as he looks down at his cup, reading his facial features. Haru smiles with his eyes, understanding Makoto’s line of thought, thinking, _‘you’re right. Things have changed…we both have a little.’_ The navy-haired teen says, “do you like him? Sousuke?” Haru keeps his eyes on the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto looks up at Haru to find a sapphire gaze on him. The brunette feels his ears burn lightly as he scratches his cheek, “of course I like Sousuke, he’s my frien…”

Haru interrupts with a knowing look, “Makoto. You know what I mean.” Haru’s sapphire stare goes from a mild reprimand, to one of curiosity, _‘you know what I mean, Makoto. Do you like him…like him as in you want him the way I want Rin.’_

The brunette smiles sheepishly as he wraps his hands around the teacup, taking comfort in the warmth it emits as he continues to stare at Haru, “yeah…I do, Haru.” Makoto breaks eye contact, looking down at the dark amber liquid in his cup and continues, “I really like him…but I don’t want to ruin the friendship we have. Besides, he likes someone…” Makoto stops himself, fear and shock filling him as he covers his mouth, looking up to find Haru’s gaze still on him.

Haru takes a sip from his teacup, finding it just right before putting it down, “you mean, he likes Rin.”

Makoto’s eyes bug out as he sputters, “h-huh? Wa-wait…yo-you knew?”

The navy-haired teen sighs as he shifts his gaze back up to Makoto with a blank stare, “yeah. I knew. It was pretty obvious to me. I think Rin is still oblivious to it.”

The brunette’s mouth hangs open, shocked that Haru has known about Sousuke’s crush. The emerald-eyed teen puts his hands on the table as he asks in a flurry, “ho-how long have you known?”

Haru shrugs, taking another sip of tea, “hmm, I’m not sure. It was before we graduated high school.”

Makoto face-palms as he releases an exhale, “seriously? You knew all this time?”

Haru looks down at his half drunken tea and says, “yeah. Does he still like him?”

The brunette leans back in his chair as he stares at the navy-haired teen, “w-well…yeah.” Makoto’s face falls, feeling somber as he crosses his arms over his chest, _‘yeah…he does. I’m nothing like Rin…I doubt he’d ever like me.’_

Haru watches Makoto, noticing how his tone changes to one of pessimism. The free-swimmer leans forward, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he says seriously, “Sousuke can’t have Rin. He’ll have to find someone else.”

Makoto looks up to find Haru’s assertive gaze, he smiles with a light chuckle, “ah. You are possessive, Haru-chan. I wonder if Rin knows.”

The navy-haired teen barely frowns, deciding not to chastise the brunette about using ‘chan’ at the end of his name, and says, “it doesn’t matter. I trust Rin.” Haru stares at the brunette, knowing that Makoto is still a bit down due to the fact that the backstroke swimmer still doesn’t believe Sousuke would return his feelings and continues, “whatever you decide to do, Makoto, I support you. Just…don’t get hurt.”

Makoto notices that Haru doesn’t scold him for his use of ‘chan,’ and he realizes that the navy-haired teen picked up on his sullen feelings, _‘Haru.’_ He looks down at his crossed arms as the free-swimmer mentions that he trust Rin, _‘you and Rin…it makes me a bit jealous. You two are lucky…I see you guys together and I just can’t help but smile. He makes you happy, Haru. That means so much to me. And you make him happy too. I wish I knew what it is like…to love someone romantically like that.’_

The brunette’s head shoots up as he listens to Haru’s words and says, “what do you…oh. Oh.” Makoto looks down, leaning forward as he wraps his hands around the teacup. He didn’t understand Haru’s line of thinking because he was still thinking about Haru and Rin’s relationship, but as he was talking he grasps what the free-swimmer was trying to imply, _‘I see. You’re worried for me. Sousuke likes Rin…and I like Sousuke. You’re worried that if I share my feelings with Sousuke, I’ll end up getting hurt.’_

The two teens remain quiet. Makoto deep in thought about the predicament he’s in and Haru watches the brunette curiously. The navy-haired teen takes his teacup, sipping on his tea as he continues to watch the emerald-eyed teen.

Makoto sighs, taking a long sip of tea, lightly knitting his eyebrows due to the bitterness. He puts the teacup down, looking down at the empty cup and says, “I don’t think I’m ready to tell him, anyway. I don’t want to confess my feelings when he has feelings for someone else. I’ll wait. I think I can wait.”

Haru tilts his head slightly watching the backstroke swimmer down the rest of his tea. The navy-haired teen wonders if his implications held too much influence over the brunette, but he is worried that Makoto would get hurt again. The sapphire-eyed teen looks down at his tea, contemplating to himself, uncertain if he has said too much. When Makoto speaks, Haru listens intently, _‘hmm. Makoto, you didn’t see what I saw in Suzuki’s room. Sousuke was enjoying that…intimate moment you two shared. And that is what I was worried about. But, this isn’t my choice to make, I just don’t want to see you get hurt.’_

Makoto shifts his gaze over to Haru and notices that the navy-haired teen is in deep thought. The brunette gets up, placing his teacup and the small bowl on the blue tray as he says, “don’t worry, Haru. I’ll try to be careful. C’mon, let’s play _Deep Sea Crossing: New Reef_. But, finish your tea, and I’ll clean up in here.”

Haru’s thoughts are broken with the mention of _Deep Sea Crossing: New Reef_. His eyes waver with desire as he hasn’t played the game in such a long time, forgetting to pack his Playstation 3 when he moved to Tokyo. The navy-haired teen downs the rest of his barley tea, gets up, and places his teacup on the counter next to the sink as Makoto has just placed his teacup and bowl in the sink to wash.

Makoto chuckles as he notices Haru’s excitement and says, “I’ll be there in a minute. Why don’t you go start the game.”

Haru nods at the brunette, disappearing up the staircase into his bedroom to start the Playstation 3. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 27th, Saturday, 4:03 pm  **

A teen wearing black combat boots, navy blue jeans, and a white puffy jacket climbs the staircase with a his phone in his hand, looking down at the directions listed. He stops at the top of the staircase, noticing that the little blue dot on his GPS hasn’t moved in awhile, and fiddles with his phone as he inputs the directions again.

An elderly woman in her seventies comes out of her home, locking the door behind her. She notices a tall young man wearing a black beanie staring at his phone with frustration and muttering foreign angry words under his breath. The older woman descends down the staircase, getting a better look at the young man and says, “excuse me sir, are you ok?”

The coffee-eyed teen looks up from his phone, shifting his gaze around until he looks down at an elderly woman, probably just shy of 5’0” and says, “uh, sorry, ma’am. I think I lost cell reception and I’m just trying to find my way to a friend’s house.”

The older woman nods and says, “tell me the address, young man. Maybe I can help you.” The older woman walks closer to the tall blond teen.

The coffee-eyed teen smiles and tells her the address that he is looking for. The older woman responds, “oh. You’re looking for the Tachibana household. The family is one of my neighbors. If I recall correctly, they should be home now from their trip. Who are you looking for particularly?”

The blond sighs in relief, hearing that the older woman knows the address and replies, “Makoto. I’m looking for Makoto. I’m one of his friends from Tokyo, and well…I just needed to see him.”

The older woman smiles as she shivers slightly due to the cold, “ah. Makoto-san. He’s such a sweet young man. I’m glad that he’s making new friends in Tokyo. Oh, where are my manners, I’m Tamura. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The coffee-eyed teen extends his hand to shake her hand as he bows slightly, “it’s a pleasure to meet you Tamura-san. I’m Ito.”

Someone climbs the stairs behind the blond and when he comes up to the top, Tamura looks over and smiles, “ah, Suzuki-san! Long time no see! I’m glad to see you are doing well.”

The older man readjusts his glasses and returns Tamura’s smile, bowing in greeting, “Tamura-san. You are looking quite lovely today. Is this young man a visitor of yours?” The older man’s green eyes shift over to the tall blond in front of Tamura.

The older woman chuckles, covering her mouth with her gloved hand, “ah, Suzuki-san…you’ve always been such a charmer. No, Ito-san isn’t a visitor of mine. He’s come to visit your nephew, Makoto-san.”

Tetsuya raises his eyebrows and says, “oh. Well, thank you Tamura-san for helping a friend of Makoto’s.” The older man bows once more.

Tamura smiles and bows in return, “oh, it’s no problem, Suzuki-san. Well, it’s quite cold out here, I better get going. Will you help Ito-san find his way, Suzuki-san?”

Testuya nods, “yes, please do not worry, Tamura-san. Do you need assistance coming down the stairs? My arm is always available.”

Tamura laughs, flushing lightly, “oh, Suzuki-san! You make me feel like such a young lady. Thank you for the offer. Unfortunately I’m not going very far. I’m just going to visit Kagome-san to watch one of our favorite dramas. Please do not worry, Suzuki-san.”

Tetsuya smiles and says, “alright, Tamura-san. Happy holidays and take care.”

Tamura chuckles as she bows to Tetsuya and Ito, saying her goodbyes before descending down the staircase to visit her neighbor.

Takeshi just watches Suzuki and Tamura talk amongst themselves, waiting for them to finish with their conversation.

Tetsuya watches Tamura descend down the staircase before he says, “so, you’re one of Makoto’s friends from Tokyo?”

Takeshi turns his head and says, “yes, yes I am. Oh, sorry. Ito, Ito Takeshi. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He extends his hand for a handshake.

Tetsuya takes the hand in his and says, “Ah, Ito-san. The pleasure is mine. I’m Suzuki, Suzuki Tetsuya. Makoto’s uncle. Follow me. I’ll take you to the house.”

Tetsuya turns and walks up another staircase towards the Tachibana’s home.

Takeshi follows after the older man, putting his phone in his back jean pocket, carefully ascending the stairs as he looks around, taking in the scenery. It’s very different from Tokyo, a lot more staircases than he’s used to, and a lot more quiet too. The blond stops in front of a house, watching the older man pull out keys from his breast pocket and opening the door.

Tetsuya looks over his shoulder as he opens the door, “please come in, Ito-san. If you don’t mind, please stay here while I talk to Makoto’s parents.” The older man quickly closes the door.

Takeshi nods as he says, “sure. I don’t mind waiting here. Oh, please excuse the intrusion.”

Tetsuya smiles at the blond before he bends down, untying his shoes, not even bothering to take off his jacket as he heads into the hallway, turning the corner and heading into the kitchen.

Takeshi looks around and finds a family picture hanging in the hallway, recognizing the people in the pictures easily as Makoto had showed him many pictures of his family. Before the blond could really get a good look at anything, two kids walk up to him, staring up at him with questioning stares.

Ran tilts her head and asks, “ne, ne, are you a friend of onii-chan’s?”

The coffee-eyed teen frowns, _‘shit…kids. I’m not good with kids.’_ Takeshi looks between the little girl and the little boy before answering, “yeah. I’m a very good friend of Makoto’s. Uh…Ren and Ran, right?”

Ren’s eyes widen as he gasps. The little boy asks, “eh? How do you know our names? Did onii-chan tell you about us?”

Takeshi pulls off his black beanie, ruffling his blond locks as he replies, “yeah, Makoto told me lots of things about you two. Anyway, is your brother home?”

Ran shakes her head before crossing her arms over her chest, “no. Onii-chan left a while ago. He went to visit Haru-nii. I don’t know if I believe you. How do we know you aren’t some weirdo saying you are a friend of onii-chan’s. Onii-chan never mentioned you, not even a picture.”

Ren looks over at his sister, grabbing the sleeve of her red long-sleeved shirt as he pulls on it lightly, “Ran! That’s mean! He has no reason to lie to us! Why would he lie to us!? Ra~n~!! Don’t be mean to onii-chan’s friends!”

Takeshi frowns at the mention of Haru, _‘god-dammit! Fuckin’ Haru! Seriously! I missed him because of him?!’_ The blond clicks his tongue as he listens to the little kids bicker in front of him, his frown deepening.

Ran throws her hands down as she raises her voice, “fine, fine, Ren! Stop it!” She looks over to the tall blond and says, “if you really are onii-chan’s friend, prove it! You must have some kind of proof that would make us believe that you are truly a friend of onii-chan’s.”

Takeshi’s eyebrow twitches as the little girl’s green eyes bore into his brown stare, _‘god! How annoying! This is so stupid! Ugh…I hate kids.’_ The blond puts his beanie in his jacket pocket and brings his hand over to the back of his jeans to pull out his cellphone, “you want proof that we are friends, right? Well, I have pictures. Will that do?”

Ren looks between the tall blond and Ran, feeling a little scared of the coffee-eyed teen as he wears a frown on his face. Ren moves behind Ran, hiding behind his older sister and clutching the fabric of Ran’s arm.

Ran notices Ren grasping her shirt and feels protective all of a sudden, she looks up at the tall coffee-eyed teen, noticing his scary face. She swallows as she listens to the serious tone from the blond and says, “yeah. They better show how close you and onii-chan are.” 

Tetsuya comes back from around the corner and catches Ren and Ran standing in front of Ito, and just before he was able to interrupt, Ito says, “of course. Makoto is my boyfriend. Here, take a look.”

Takeshi hands his phone over to the little girl to look at. Ren and Ran stare at a picture of the blond smiling, his arms around Makoto as they look up at the camera. Ren’s eyes widen as he stares from behind Ran’s shoulder, Ran holds onto the device tightly as she says, “you’re onii-chan’s boyfriend!? I don’t believe you! Onii-chan promised to marry me! Not you!”

Ren pouts as he whines, “Ra~~n~~! Onii-chan promised to marry me! Onii-chan will be my husband!”

Takeshi makes a face, utterly confused about what the hell is happening with the two children in front of him, _‘what? What the fuck!?’_ The blond stands there not sure what to do to diffuse the situation and just watches the two kids bicker amongst themselves about who will marry Makoto.

Tetsuya’s eyes widen, the impact of Ito’s words settling into his mind. The bickering between the twins shakes him from his trance and walks over to Ren and Ran, kneeling down behind the twins and placing a hand on each of their shoulders as he says, “Ren, Ran, stop fighting. Makoto loves both of you with all his heart. There is no need to get jealous. You two have a special bond, remember you share something that most people do not. You two are twins. And that is amazing. There aren’t that many people in the world that can say they have a twin. It would break my heart, and your brother’s heart if you continue fighting. Ok.”

The twins look back at the older man, feeling guilty for making their uncle pout with sadness. Ren hugs Tetsuya and says, “I’m sorry, oji-chan. Please don’t be sad.”

Ran sighs, looking away as she feels ashamed for making her uncle sad and says, “I-I’m sorry…oji-chan.”

Tetsuya smiles as he wraps his other arm around Ran, “ah, you are my little niece and nephew…I can’t stay sad or mad at either of you!” He squeezes the two twins in his arms and releases them, “you two reminded me that I gotta leave for awhile to run an errand. I can’t believe I forgot! You think you can tell your mom and dad that I’ll be back in a couple of hours?”

Ren huffs lightly as he says, “o~ji~chan! You’re leaving! But you just got here!”

Ran pouts at her uncle, expressing her thoughts with her puppy eyes.

Tetsuya tilts his head, feeling guilty for lying, but continues, “I know, I know. Oji-chan is getting old and can’t remember everything. I have to do this, Ren, Ran. I promise I’ll be back and I’ll read you a special story. Please, tell your mom and dad.”

Ren and Ran sigh in unison. Ran hands Tetsuya Ito’s phone as she says, “ok, oji-chan. But I want some candy for this special favor.”

Ren’s eyes widen with excitement, “me too, me too! Please!”

Tetsuya chuckles as he takes the phone from Ran, “alright. I’ll see what I can do. Some special candy for my special niece and nephew.”

Ren and Ran run off towards the kitchen to tell their mom and dad about Tetsuya’s errand.

Tetsuya gets up from his kneeling position, looking down at the phone that was given to him. He slides his fingers over the buttons to look at the picture that Ren and Ran saw. Tetsuya studies the picture quickly before handing it over to Ito, “nice picture. I see that you and Makoto are close. Say, why don’t you come with me since Makoto isn’t here. I’ll send him a text to let him know where we go. I think we need to have a talk, you and I.” The older man tilts his head to the side with a mysterious smile. 

Takeshi takes the phone back from the older man, but he frowns, looking to the side as Suzuki talks. He balls his hand into a fist, feeling like he made a huge mistake as realization hits him, _‘shit. I shouldn’t have said anything about being Makoto’s boyfriend. Crap!’_ The blond can’t seem to find any kind of words to say to the older man and just stands there feeling irritated with himself.

Tetsuya doesn’t wait for Ito’s response, reading his body language quite clearly, _‘hmm, he just realized what he’s done. Well, now that I have this little bit of information Ito…I need to know more. I sense there is something that you are hiding.’_ The older man puts his shoes back on, tying his laces quickly and opening the door, “please, Ito-san. After you.”

Takeshi stares into those green eyes momentarily before he walks out of the house, refusing to say anything to the older man. Tetsuya follows the blond, locking the door him. The green-eyed man walks past the coffee-eyed teen a few steps and says, “there’s a coffee shop that a friend of a friend of mine owns. It’s a nice little place where we can talk with a bit of privacy.” The older man looks over his shoulder to stare into those brown eyes, “just a warning, Ito-san. Please do not say such things in front of Makoto’s family in the future. Some things are not meant to be known so casually. I hope you understand. Now, follow me.”

Takeshi huffs, noticing the reprimand in those green eyes, anger bubbling up within him as he doesn’t like being lectured, _‘che. I get it. My mistake…but it’s not a lie. I won’t feel bad about that.’_ The blond takes a step forward showing the green-eyed man that he’s listening.

As they walk down the staircases, Tetsuya texts Makoto.

[ To: Makoto

From: Uncle

Makoto. Your friend, Ito Takeshi is in town. I ran into him while I was returning to your parents’ home. I can tell he is more than just a friend, Makoto. Seems that you have found yourself a boyfriend in Tokyo. I am taking him to the _Sunrise Café_ for a little chat. When you get this, please come see us. I will text you again if I don’t hear from you. ]

Tetsuya puts his phone back in his jacket pocket as he continues to lead Ito down the boardwalk towards _Sunrise Café._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this chapter came out so late! Thank you all so much for your support and comments! They really cheered me up and helped me to finish this chapter. I know this chapter was a little different since I had a few daily recaps, but I needed to do something to push the days forward a little. Hopefully it flowed okay.
> 
> Also, hehe, I chose Mario Party 8 for them to play since I figured the uncle didn't have the Wii U and because Mario Party 8 is more fun than Mario Party 9 or 10 for me ^////^ Also Haru now has a Playstation 3 since I don't think he would be up to date on video game systems. Although Animal Crossing games are all Nintendo...I think their controllers look more similar to Playstation? Maybe? Hehe well it's their own underwater adventure game so I just picked a system ^.^||
> 
> And yes...I did it again. ^^|| Another almost kiss. Whoops...tee-hee. XP 
> 
> And welp...Takeshi is back. Some drama may ensue in the next chapter.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. ^___^


	16. Chapter 16

** December 27th, Saturday, 4:49 pm  **

Makoto places down the sleek, black controller on the floor, raising his arms above his head to stretch his stiffened muscles. He rolls his neck back and forth before getting up off the floor, “I think I need a break Haru. We’ve been playing _Deep Sea Adventures_ for quite a while now. I’m just gonna check in with my mom real quick, ok?”

Haru’s eyes are transfixed on the T.V. screen, moving his avatar, but he listens to Makoto’s words and nods as he continues playing the game.

The brunette looks over his shoulder and catches the simple nod from the sapphire-eyed teen, chuckling to himself. He walks over to Haru’s desk, where he is charging his phone with Haru’s charger, and presses the ‘home’ button. Makoto knits his eyebrows as he sees that he has two messages from his uncle. He opens the first message.

[To: Makoto

From: Uncle

Makoto. Your friend, Ito Takeshi, is in town. I ran into him while I was returning to your parents’ home. I can tell he is more than just a friend, Makoto. Seems that you have found yourself a boyfriend in Tokyo. I am taking him to the _Sunrise Café_ for a little chat. When you get this, please come see us. I will text you again if I don’t hear from you. ]

Makoto’s eyes widen, his breath hitches as he reads the first message, holding his breath. His blood runs cold as a chill runs through his body, dread sitting like a rock in his gut, _‘what? Takeshi!? He’s here!? What!? How does he know where I live? Don’t tell me, he came here without any information about my whereabouts and just asked the locals...oh god! Crap! My uncle knows! What the hell has Takeshi been saying about me!?!’_

The brunette’s hand shakes slightly as he scrolls past the first message and reads the second message.

[To: Makoto

From: Uncle

Ito-san and I have been talking for quite some time. He seems to have travelled to many places during his youth. I believe he’s quite taken by you. He says that he’s in dire need to see you; quite determined. Might want to choose your actions wisely. I don’t think he will take any other actions than to see you. We will be staying at the _Sunrise Café_ until closing...7:00pm. If you choose to ignore this then I will make sure he gets to his lodgings safely. ]

Makoto puts the phone down, back on Haru’s desk as trepidation grips his heart. The thought of his uncle knowing his relationship, no, previous relationship with Takeshi feels tremendously heavy on his shoulders, like the whole world crushing him with its weight. He inhales sharply, feeling the panic starting to set in his body, his heart beats quickly, and he can feel a cold sweat coming as his mind reels with images of Takeshi and his uncle talking at the café by the boardwalk, the possible words that are being exchanged between the two, and the most horrifying situation of Takeshi being a loudmouth and telling everyone about the dirty things they’ve done. 

The brunette starts to breathe shallowly as he feels like his body is revving up in an anxious frenzy. He runs a hand through his hair, grasping a handful of his brown locks as he tightly shuts his eyes wanting nothing more than to deny this terrible reality of his ex in his hometown, talking to his family. How could this happen? Why did he come? Was he so unclear about their break-up that Takeshi believed he could win him back? Suddenly a dark bubbling feeling of abhorrence strikes him, piercing his heart with an ugly gash. Makoto feels his knees go weak and he places his palms on the desk, head bowed down as he leans against it. His emotions rampage through his body and the brunette can’t seem to make heads or tails of what he’s feeling anymore or who they are directed towards, all he knows is that he feels extremely uncomfortable in his own skin. 

Haru hears Makoto put his phone down on his desk and glances at him before focusing his attention back on the T.V. The stillness from the brunette perturbs the navy-haired teen as he notices Makoto’s posture from the corner of his eye.

Haru turns his head and pauses the game, gazing at the brunette’s back. He knits his eyebrows paying very close attention to Makoto’s body language, _‘something is wrong. Som...’_ Haru’s eyes widen as he drops the controller on the floor noticing Makoto’s wobbling knees and leaning against the desk with his head slouched forward. The free-swimmer suddenly feels his hair stand on end as he gets up and walks over to the brunette.

As the sapphire-eyed teen approaches Makoto, a whizzing uneasiness starts to gnaw in Haru’s gut. The navy-haired teen swallows slowly as he takes the last few steps toward the backstroke swimmer, deciding to stand next to the brunette as he leans over and says in a soft uncertain tone, “Makoto?”

The brunette hears the question and his heart sinks like an anchor. He can hear the worry in the navy-haired teen’s voice and it scares him. He opens his eyes and dubiously turns his head to the side. The emerald-eyed teen takes one quick glance into those distressed blue eyes before he looks down as this icky, prickly, dark feeling of shame starts to from in his chest. He opens his mouth to say something, but his throat feels dry, and he slowly shakes his head swallowing. Makoto tries to speak again, and this time he’s able to form words, words that feel hefty, “he’s here Haru. He’s talking to my uncle. My uncle...knows.”

Hearing his own strained voice, hearing the words aloud sparks the anxiety he’s been feeling to spiral downwards and without much thought, he clutches the navy-haired teen shoulders, burying his forehead in the crook of Haru’s neck as a strangled exhale escapes his parted lips. Makoto’s head throbs and he couldn’t help but hold on to Haru, the ever-consistent navy-haired teen, someone he knows he can trust, someone that loves and protects him. Even though the sapphire-eyed teen tenses in his hold, it’s something the brunette expects, and that gives him just a smidgen of comfort. Makoto shuts his eyes and continues, “I’m scared, Haru. I haven’t told my family, any of them about my preferences. And now...he just told my uncle!”

Haru catches a glimpse of those green eyes and even though it was just for a moment, the free-swimmer quickly notices the feeling as fright. Makoto looks away, starting down at the desk but Haru keeps his gaze on the brunette’s face as his eyes glimmer grimly with consternation. He hears the thick words roll off the brunette’s mouth and he frowns, _‘he? Who is ‘he?’ Makoto...who are you talkin...’_ Haru’s eyes widen as he figures out who ‘he’ is, but a part of him doesn’t believe it, _‘it can’t be. Ito? Ito can’t be here! He can’t be!’_

Lost in confusion, Haru fails to realize that Makoto clings to him, not the usual comforting kind of hold, but a desperate need for stability. The navy-haired teen stills, his body reacts without thought and he curses himself for responding that way, _‘he needs me. He needs comfort.’_ Haru raises his hands to pat Makoto’s back or try to at least do something comforting, but Makoto’s panicked words fill his ears and his arms stop, standing still. He listens and it suddenly dawns on him, the core meaning of Makoto’s fear. The free-swimmer frowns deeply, feeling anger rise from the pit of his belly, _‘Ito...that’s a wretched thing to do! That’s it!’_

Haru lifts his arms and hugs Makoto as he says gently, “Makoto. I’m here. I’m here.” The navy-haired teen grasps the backstroke swimmer’s sweater, balling his hands into fists as he continues, but his anger seeps into his voice, “I won’t let him hurt you again. I’ll deal with him. You stay here.”

Hearing Haru’s words with such a delicate tone, it makes the brunette feel cared for, wanted, and supported. It calms the emerald-eyed teen’s heart. He exhales slowly, holding onto Haru’s words. When the navy-haired teen speaks again, Makoto opens his eyes as he clearly can hear how enraged Haru is, but more importantly, he doesn’t want his best friend dealing with his ex-boyfriend. The image of Haru’s bruised jaw comes to mind and he cringes at the memory, _‘no! No, not again! I won’t let that happen again!’_

The brunette lifts his head and sputters, “H-Haru! Please, please don’t! I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt again. I...I can do this. I’m just...freaking out. I need to see him, Haru. I need to be the one to tell him. Just...” The emerald-eyed sighs as hurt fills his eyes before shutting them close.

The sapphire-eyed teen watches Makoto, tilting his head ever so slightly, but it’s enough for the brunette to pick up on the fact that Haru is listening, considering the tall teen’s words. The free-swimmer sees the flash of pain in his glittering eyes and his lips form a thin line as he ponders about the situation. The sapphire-eyed teen huffs lightly and says truthfully, “I believe you, Makoto. If you say you can do this...then I won’t stop you. But, I’m coming with you. To support you. And...if you need me, just glance my way.” The navy-haired teen looks to the side, feeling that he may have said too much.

Makoto listens to Haru’s words and a small, relieved smile forms on his lips. He knows that the free-swimmer isn’t one to show his emotions easily, and it always took some careful digging to figure out what possibly could be going on with the navy-haired teen. The brunette can tell that Haru is trying so hard not to be possessive or overprotective, to allow Makoto some leeway in their friendship, or allow some flexibility with Haru’s own perception of their friendship. The brunette pulls him into a bear hug squeezing the navy-haired teen, “Ha~ru~! Haru! Thank you...thank you.”

The brunette quickly releases the free-swimmer, resting his hands on Haru’s shoulders. The anxiety he felt earlier, filling his chest as he stares at the sapphire-eyed teen, “ok. Ok. I can do this.”

Haru feels a tight squeeze around his shoulders and he smiles a teensy bit, glad that the brunette appreciates his efforts even though Makoto’s embrace is too restricting, but at this point in time, it’s welcoming. Before the sapphire-eyed teen could complain about Makoto’s strong hold on him, the backstroke swimmer releases him and Haru blinks startled by the action. Usually Makoto holds on for a period of time that’s just a little too much for the navy-haired teen, but this time, the brunette seems to have noticed.

The free-swimmer softly places his hands on Makoto’s wrists, squeezing gently as he stares at the brunette with silent words, ‘I’m always here for you, Makoto.’

Makoto’s heart lessens with uneasiness and uncertainty, feeling those unsaid words from the navy-haired teen fill him with supportive warmth. The brunette smiles tilting his head to the side and says, “thanks. I needed that. Ok. We better go then. I don’t want my uncle to continue staying with him.”

Haru nods firmly with a determined blue gaze as he releases Makoto’s wrists and walks over to his paused game, shutting it off without saving and follows the brunette downstairs.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 27th, Saturday, 5:21 pm  **

Makoto stops a few feet away from their destination, the _Sunrise Café._ His green eyes look up at the sign written in black letters with a white backdrop and a gradient sun of yellows, oranges, and reds.

Haru notices the brunette’s footsteps have ceased and turns around to find the backstroke swimmer looking up at the sign with hesitation. The sapphire-eyed teen feels himself become apprehensive as he continues to watch the brunette, and he can clearly see the questions Makoto asks himself about his feelings around the situation.

Distress, aversion, guilt, doubt.

Haru sees emotions on Makoto’s features that are reminiscent of watching the small ripples of pool water ebb and flow, dancing with the wind, intermingling with swimmers as they stir in the water’s depths.

The sapphire-eyed teen’s lips part ever so slightly as he almost missed the semblance of perseverance and hope before those emerald orbs move down to gaze in his blue stare. Haru senses that quiet strength that he has always known the brunette to have deep down in Makoto’s core, a rare occurrence to witness. Haru waits for Makoto to come to terms with his own doubts, although honestly the navy-haired teen would have preferred the backstroke swimmer to avoid this confrontation completely.

The brunette takes in a deep breath, the crisp, chilly air filling his lungs before he exhales slowly. Makoto face becomes seriously profound as he nods in Haru’s direction, taking one step at a time towards the front door of _Sunrise Café._

Makoto opens the door slowly, opening the door fully before glancing at his sapphire-eyed friend. Haru glances up at the brunette, his eyes reflecting pensiveness, durability, peevishness, and gloom. The navy-haired teen turns his head and walks into the café. Makoto follows suit taking a deep breath.

The bell rings as the door closes and Makoto’s senses are assaulted with a blast of radiating heat and the smell of robust roasted coffee as well as the lingering scent of fragrant sweet pastries. The man behind the counter wiping down the surface looks over at the two new customers, bowing, and says, “good evening and...Makoto, Haruka. Welcome. Please come in.”

The older man, with soft amethyst eyes behind his white bottom rimmed glasses, leans against the antique pine countertop and motions with his hand for the teens to come over to him.

Makoto looks over at Haru and finds the navy-haired teen walking over to counter, the brunette following suit.

The man with short baby blue hair says in a hushed tone, “Makoto, Tetsuya, your uncle, is sitting in the last table, next to the window. If you all need more time, you know, after hours let me know...I can stick around until you are all done.”

The brunette smiles gently with apology, “ah, thank you Akiyama-san. Sorry, about all this.”

The bespeckled man shakes his head, “no need, son. I owe your uncle a couple of favors, I don’t mind finally repaying him back in some way. Besides, this will help me too.” The amethyst-eyed man takes a look around noticing a couple sharing a slice of passion fruit mousse cake, and an elderly woman reading the newspaper, “it’s slow tonight...hope this is enough privacy for you guys. Speaking of which...” The man rolls up his long-sleeved v-neck shirt, his eyes shifting over to a table, “they seem to have noticed that you’ve arrived. Go on...no need to continue our little chat. We can catch up another time.”

Both Makoto and Haru look over their shoulders at the same time finding Tetsuya staring intently with his calm green gaze on them and a sore, embittered coffee-eyed stare.

Haru sapphire eyes become ice cold with callousness as he stares at the blond with his arm propped on the back of the chair gazing at them. He can feel his blood blister angrily just staring at the idiot and it crystalizes his thoughts of the situation firmly. The navy-haired teen shows nothing but apathy on his face, the only indication of what’s brewing within him is the balled hand by his side.

The brunette’s eyes waver as he stares between those familiar coffee eyes and his uncle’s green orbs. Fear squashes his heart and Makoto holds his breath as he swallows slowly trying to calm his tense body. His thoughts flutter through his mind and he can’t hold on to the fleeting babbles in his mind, only the sheer terror in his body remained. Not only will he have to talk to his ex, but his uncle.

Makoto bites the inside of his bottom lip and pushes down the lump forming in his throat as he takes a shaky step towards his uncle and Takeshi.

Haru follows behind the brunette as he keeps his frigid gaze on the blond in the white puffy jacket. As they get closer to their destination, Takeshi’s eyes switch from the brunette to the sapphire-eyed teen. He keeps his blue eyes on the blond and notices how Takeshi’s face bunches up into a deep scowl, like a wolf growling and baring his teeth to his foe.

Once Makoto stands in front of the table, his gaze rests on his uncle’s face. The brunette notices that the older man’s expression is like a poker face, no smile, no indication of what’s hidden behind his green eyes and it’s unnerving. Makoto can only remember a handful of times when his uncle would wear this kind of face, and it was with other adults around his age, acquaintances, strangers, or individuals that he has claimed he wasn’t particularly fond of. Seeing it now, with this situation makes his hair stand on end and he can’t help but think that he has done something terribly wrong.

Tetsuya notices Makoto’s eyes moving between him and Takeshi and he wonders what the brunette’s take is on this situation. The emerald-eyed teen stands before the olivine-haired man and he realizes Makoto’s body language exhibiting tension, and fear. Tetsuya slowly gets up from his seat, takes a step towards the brunette, squeezing his nephew in a reassuring embrace.

The taller man instantly notices the tautness within the backstroke swimmer’s body and tightens his hold in a solidly crushing hug as he whispers next to Makoto’s ear, “you are like a son to me, Makoto. I can only hope that when things get tough, that you will think of me as one of many pillars of support. I…am sorry to put you through this, and this is not your fault. You will get through this, Makoto.”

The brunette’s eyes widen when his uncle suddenly envelops him. Makoto is about to return the embrace, but the older man squeezes him tighter, a strong sense of warmth overwhelms him as his body relaxes in the strong pressure he receives. Makoto doesn’t care if the hug is barely comfortable as his uncle says something in his ear, only for him to hear. The brunette listens to the older man’s words, taking in each and every meaning to heart. It’s not very often that his uncle gives him this kind of pep talk, well, more like he hasn’t received this kind of talk since he was a young teenager. Since the emerald-eyed teen has proven how reliable, understanding, and responsible he is with family members and others in general, his uncle hasn’t given him this kind of guidance regularly. Makoto doesn’t really take note of this tidbit until now, and his heart swells with a familial kind of compassion.

Makoto leaves his hands to his side, closing his eyes for a few seconds, just reveling in the sturdy, warm support from his uncle. The strong pressure of the embrace starts to slacken, and the brunette feels disappointment in his chest, knowing that the hug is coming to an end. Makoto is released from the hug and before he could say anything to his uncle, he notices Haru and Takeshi standing right in front of each other, glaring.

The navy-haired teen watches Ito get up at the same time as Suzuki, and Haru moves in front of the blond preventing him from disturbing Makoto and his uncle. Haru’s deep blue eyes turn dark as the two just glower at each other. The free-swimmer notices how Ito takes a step towards him and Haru’s lips form a thin line as anger continues to bubble furiously within him. Now that the sapphire-eyed teen is standing in front of this threatening idiot, his chest surges with the desire and need to protect his best friend. Haru refuses to back down, not caring about the malice that bores into him through the blond’s stare, the sapphire-eyed teen’s frigid stare becoming bitterly gelid.

Haru loses focus on what’s happening between Makoto and Suzuki, his whole being concentrated on the jerk in front of him, not wanting the douchebag to interrupt Makoto. The navy-haired teen doesn’t even notice Makoto moving until the brunette stands in front of him blocking his view of Ito. The navy-haired teen’s eyes shift downwards, shaking his head subtly as realization hits him, _‘Ma-Makoto? No, Makoto. Don’t talk to him. You shouldn’t talk to him.’_

Tetsuya notices Haru’s harshly knitted eyebrows and places a gentle hand on the navy-haired teen’s shoulder, leaning down to whisper, “Haruka. Let them resolve this. We’ll just sit at another table and you can keep an eye on Makoto.”

The free-swimmer frowns even deeper as he listens to Suzuki but when the older man mentions that he can keep an eye on Makoto, he sighs as a sign of compromise, even though a part of him wants to shelter the tall brunette before him. Haru turns his head to the side and nods slowly in agreement.

Tetsuya squeezes Haru’s shoulder, his green eyes softening with understanding before he says just loud enough for his nephew to hear, “Makoto. Haruka and I will sit at another table while you talk with your friend.”

Makoto swallows hard as he gets in between Haru and his ex. The brunette’s heart sinks as he lays his eyes on the blond before him. Those coffee colored eyes look so resentful, and filled with venom it makes the backstroke swimmer hold his breath. He’s seen anger and disgust upon the blond’s features in the past, but instead of that familiar presence that he got used to from Takeshi, the coffee-eyed teen seems imperious. Makoto frowns as Takeshi’s eyes change, becoming less venomous, and more concerned. Some muddily rare feelings bubble up in Makoto’s core, aversion and peevishness.

The brunette hears his uncle’s voice and nods, his eyes averting from the blond before him. He listens to the retreating footsteps, turning his head to the other side, noticing Haru staring at him with an afflicted worry within those sapphire eyes. Makoto gives his best friend a small smile, a sign of reassurance that he will be fine and says with his eyes, ‘Please don’t worry Haru. I will take care of this.’ 

Takeshi turns his gaze towards the wall, huffs as he crosses his arms over his chest and says in an infuriating whisper, “che. I swear you guys are joined at the hip.” 

Makoto turns his head to gaze at the coffee-eyed teen with a glare, “we are childhood friends, Takeshi. Nothing has changed since the last time I’ve told you about my relationship with Haru. And, it shouldn’t bother you anymore. I just don’t...” The brunette knits his eyebrows as his eyes glimmer with perplexity, “I don’t understand…why are you here, and how did you find me?”

The coffee-eyed teen listens to the brunette’s gentle reprimanding tone, and he notices how Makoto’s voice transitions a few octaves higher towards the end, questioning him about his sudden appearance. Takeshi shifts his gaze to meet Makoto’s concerned eyes, and what lies beneath, doubt. The blond takes a breath, sighing as he exhales, unfurling his arms over his chest, motioning with his hands and says with a soft determination, “please...sit down Makoto. Let’s talk and I’ll tell you.”

The brunette stiffens slightly when their eyes meet, those dark brown eyes peering into him, and he can sense an uncompromising conviction radiating from him as his frustration subsides. The tone the blond uses surprises Makoto, it’s courteous and unequivocal. Makoto stares with uncertainty, swallowing slowly before sighing, making the quick decision to sit down and talk. He moves, taking a couple steps away from Takeshi and plopping down on the chair across from his ex.

Takeshi watches the emerald-eyed teen move away from him, noticing the slight shake in his hands as Makoto moves the chair across the table before sliding into his own chair. The blond leans over the round cherry-stained table, resting his elbows on the solid, scratched surface staring at the brunette.

Makoto scoots his chair, the sound of the leg of the chair scrapping against the wooden floor makes the brunette lightly wince, finding the sound embarrassing as he continues to find the right angle. He sighs, deciding that he’s made too much clatter as he sits back in his chair, feeling the need to have the support of something stable. The emerald-eyed teen bites the inside of his lower lip as he looks up to find a pair of brown eyes studying him carefully. Makoto quickly looks away, placing his hands in his lap and staring at the palms of one of his hands.

The silence continues, and Makoto finds himself following the lines in his hands with his eyes, noticing most of the creases that make him unique. His mind suddenly recalls a few times when he would go to the festivals in his hometown and there would be a palm reader with a huge line of customers. He remembers Nagisa pushing him towards the line of customers, telling him that it would be so cool if they all got their palms read, to see what the future holds. Makoto smiles weakly, for some reason he was afraid to get his palm read, to be an open book to a total stranger just seemed weird and it freaked him out a bit, but now that he thinks about it, maybe it’s not as scary as it seemed. If anything, maybe the lines are like lighthouses, guideposts that are just introspective glimpses of the future, not a solid, inflexible path with a finish line that must be crossed.

Makoto swallows slowly and sighs heavily, breaking the unbearable lengthy silence as he asks warily, “so...um...how did you find me? What are you doi...”

Takeshi sees a small flash of green before Makoto’s eyes are casted downwards. The blond frowns, his lips forming a thin line as he continues to watch the brunette staring down on himself. He’s always known Makoto to be self-conscious, sometimes downright shy, but the emerald-eyed teen always found a way to deal with things even when the cards were stacked against him. The blond opens his mouth to say something, but he looks away as his mind suddenly draws a blank. He knows what he wants to say, he knows what he wants in general, but this is Makoto. This is the man he told things to, personal things, things he’s never told anyone about, and he’ll be damned to lose him again. 

Makoto had been avoiding him, even though he tried his damn hardest to gain the brunette’s attention, any kind of reaction from him, but Makoto just treated him kindly, like any foolish customer when he was working, like a damn classmate with no strings attached, and it pissed him off. He wanted to see that he meant something to the brunette, not just some normal bystander. That night he saw Makoto with his friends, he stewed with anger, how Makoto smiled with them, so light, so free, just like he used to with him.

Takeshi balls his hand tightly as he recalls that night with his senpai, Ogata-buchou, and how the tall silver-haired man would block his view from time to time to get him to pay attention to the basketball practices coming up. He didn’t care about the damn practices, he wanted to see ‘his’ boyfriend. The coffee-eyed teen frowns, but then he hears Makoto’s cautious voice. Takeshi’s frown deepens, not liking how careful the brunette sounds. He wants the ‘old’ Makoto back, the carefree one, the sunny one, the sweet laughing one, not this one.

Takeshi huffs, banging his fist on the table, interrupting the brunette, “I found your address in my notebook. The one we did practice equations and math problems on. The pen skipped, but I was able to figure it out.” The blond turns his head to look at Makoto’s visage, and he inhales slowly realizing that Makoto wears a scared expression.

The coffee-eyed teen casts his eyes downwards, looking at the dark wood grain of the table. He shakes his head to himself, feeling bad that he scared Makoto, that wasn’t his intention, just pent up anger. He brings up his hand and rubs his forehead. He inhales as he murmurs apologetically, “sorry...I didn’t mean to sound so harsh. I was going through my stuff, and found it. When I saw it...I knew what I had to do.”

Makoto jumps in his seat when Takeshi slams his fist down on the table, his head snapping up to find the blond looking out the window and his tone hit him like a slap in the face. He holds his breath, his mind reeling with the words lashed out at him, trying to make sense of them.

Suddenly those dark brown eyes turn to him, and the brunette can tell in that instant that his eyes reflect the fright within him. In a moment, those coffee-colored eyes look down. Makoto releases the breath he holds, quickly looking around to see if they had grabbed someone’s attention and finding kind green eyes and concerned blue ones staring at him, or them, _‘uncle...Haru. They look so worried. I have to let them know...that things will be ok. I was just a little shocked, that’s all.’_

Makoto looks between his uncle and Haru, tilting his head to the side slightly and giving them a small reassuring smile. The brunette says with his eyes, ‘it’s ok, Haru. I’ll be ok.’ 

The brunette’s attention is snatched away when Takeshi speaks, this time his tone is low containing words of atonement and justification. Makoto observes the blond rubbing his temples slowly, almost as if he has a headache. He knits his eyebrows with worry as he leans forward, resting his elbows on the round table and threading his fingers together, clasping his hands, “a-ah. I...I did send a couple of care packages to Ren and Ran when...when I was at your place. Sorry. I didn’t mean to use your notebook as scratch paper.”

Takeshi lifts his head from his hand and says, “it’s fine.” The blond shifts his coffee gaze toward Makoto’s green stare and for a moment the two just peer at each other. Takeshi curves his lips into a weak smile, “I’m glad I got to see you today.”

The brunette shifts his eyes down at his clasped hands, his fingers gripped tightly as he says hastily, “well...you didn’t give me much choice, Takeshi. I wasn’t expecting you...to be here and...I can’t believe you got my family involved in all of this.”

The blond straightens in his chair, his eyebrows scrunching up together as he listens to Makoto, “I had to see you, Makoto. I wasn’t gonna leave things between us...”

The brunette’s eyes shoot up as soon as Takeshi brings up a fragment of their relationship, meeting a hard coffee gaze. He huffs, “there is no ‘us.’ I’m pretty sure I was clear about the conditions of...” Makoto sighs as he looks away, not wanting to make a scene in front of Haru, his uncle, or anyone in the café at the moment. Makoto frowns, biting the inside of his bottom lip as he gazes out the window, now observing that it’s snowing lightly outside. He can feel anger coursing through him, and oddly hearing that Takeshi needed to see him somehow makes him feel good, but not as good as it would if the circumstances between them were different.

Takeshi runs a hand through his blond locks, noticing the scowl on Makoto’s face. The coffee-eyed teen looks down at the brunette’s hands clasped together on the wooden table and his first reaction is to reach out and place his hand over Makoto’s, but with the way the brunette is frowning, he knows better than to piss off the emerald-eyed teen further. Instead he licks his lips as he brings his hand down from his neck, resting his forearm on the table, “Makoto...I...sorry. I didn’t come all the way down here just to piss you off. Look, I came down here because I had to. You are so important to me, Makoto. I can’t...I don’t want...the thing we...agh! Goddammit! You know what I mean right? The ‘thing.’”

The blond gestures with his hand, directing his palm towards Makoto and then moving it to himself a couple of times before he continues, “this. I don’t want this to be over. I can’t let this die. Look, I made mistakes, ok. I admit that. No one is perfect, Makoto. I’m not perfect...let’s try this again. Please, Makoto.”

The brunette knits his eyebrows when he hears Takeshi stumble over his words and he turns his head to stare at the blond. The hand gesture distracts him from Takeshi’s face and his green eyes widen as the covert message said beyond his ex’s words sinks into his mind, _‘why are you doing this, Takeshi? You can’t even accept my relationship with my friends. After all the times you came after me...you refused to answer my question. I told you what I needed if we were to give our relationship another shot, and you continued giving me nothing. And now you want to try again? Just like that? Takeshi...I...I’m not in love with you. I can’t do this.’_

Makoto casts his eyes down toward the cherry wood table, glistening with tearfulness, threatening to fall at any moment. He doesn’t want to hurt the blond before him, he knows Takeshi loves him, but the constant questioning, the constant hassling at his workplace, has been eating at the brunette. Takeshi can be pushy, demanding, and sometimes overpowering with his approach, but he confessed to him, and that is something Makoto can’t just overlook.

The emerald-eyed teen sighs heavily, knowing the words that will fall from his lips will not be well received. Makoto unravels his clasped hands, placing one hand in the other as he says morosely, yet steadily, “Takeshi. I wish things were different. But, they aren’t. I can’t return your...feelings. I don’t feel the same way. You have refused to answer my question about my friends, leaving me with the assumption that you don’t approve of my choice. You made your choice, and I made mine. It won’t work. I can’t give it another try.”

Makoto closes his eyes, his voice becoming more shaky and hushed, “please...go home Takeshi. Spend what’s left of the holidays with your family.”

The blond gazes at the brunette, listening to Makoto’s words with disbelief. No, this isn’t the answer he wanted, this isn’t the reason why he flew all the way down to this unknown small town only to get the same answer he received back in Tokyo. Why? Why can’t Makoto see how important he is to him?

Takeshi places his hand over Makoto’s hands and says swiftly, “whoa, whoa, Makoto. Wait a minute. Just...” The blond squeezes the brunette’s hand, “let me say something before you toss me aside.”

Makoto’s opens his eyes, looking up with apprehension, “toss you aside? Is that what you think I’ve done?” The brunette frowns as he pries his hands out of Takeshi’s hand, continuing to keep his elbows on the table as he holds his forearms with his hands, “I...I didn’t...”

The emerald-eyed teen can tell that he’s starting to raise his voice and looks away, huffing, and says in a hushed tone, “I haven’t tossed you aside. I gave you several opportunities to give me your answer, and you refused to say anything. What am I supposed to do with that? Nothing? Just leave everything in limbo? Fine...I’ll ask you one last time, Takeshi.”

Makoto takes a deep breath, his fingers clenching his jacket as he turns his head to stare into those coffee eyes, “can you accept the kind of friendship I have with my friends? And this time...I’m not just asking about Haru. I’m talking about all my friends. Not just the close friends I have now, but also possible future friendships too.”

Takeshi blinks when Makoto’s stares at him with skepticism and dismay. He just watches the emerald-eyed teen’s flicker of anger, finding himself at a loss of words. He doesn’t want to get into an argument with the brunette, but it seems that he said something that just irked Makoto. But what was he supposed to say? What was he supposed to do?

Suddenly Makoto pulls his hands away from his grasp, causing the blond to look down at his empty hand before his eyes shift over to stare at the brunette’s arms, noticing how he quickly grapples onto himself. He keeps his gaze on Makoto’s hunter green jacket as he continues listening to the brunette’s words. Makoto scrapes his fingertips and nails against the fabric of the green material of his jacket, and the coffee-eyed teen scowls, raising his head to meet Makoto’s green gaze.

Takeshi can see Makoto’s umbrage in his emerald stare and it just stirs bitterness and ire in his gut. His lips form a thin line, as he clenches his hand into a fist and says conservatively, “alright. I hear you. I hear you Makoto. God, you don’t let anything go. I didn’t come here to have an argument. I came here to win you back. I want you back, Makoto. You have no idea, how miserable I’ve been without you around.”

Makoto looks away, his heart clenched tightly in his chest as he hears the blond speak. His emotions swirls with confusion, almost like a painter’s canvas with several colors splattered all over the place and then someone just placing their hands over the paint and smooshing the colors around until the colors blend into a muddy concoction, leaving the brunette with no clue which colors are there, hidden beneath the strangely blended mess. He frowns deeply, his teeth clamped on his bottom lip as he clenches his jacket even tighter, _‘do you really? How can you say that so easily? Again, you don’t answer my question and instead tell me how I’ve hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you, Takeshi. I...I don’t. But you...you’re making this difficult for me too.’_

The blond notices Makoto’s expression change to one of heartache and presses on, “I don’t want to upset you. The last thing I want is to make you cry, Makoto. And...I just couldn’t tell you how absolutely miserable I was without you. I hate feeling weak, you know that. I really hate that. But, I’d do anything to have you back, Makoto...even feeling weak in front of you.”

Takeshi sighs and takes the risk of reaching out to Makoto, leaning over the table and placing his hand over the brunette’s wrist. He gently squeezes as Makoto’s eyes shift to him and continues, “you said you could fall for...well, me. I can wait Makoto. I’ll do whatever you want. You want me to accept your friends, I can do that. I **will** do that. Just...I’m not perfect, I can’t help it if I get jealous or angry or just downright upset about it. I’ll work on that, so please. Give me...no give us another chance...Makoto.” 

The brunette listens to Takeshi’s honest, dauntless revelation, but when he reaches for him, his body stiffens and his gaze moves from the window to those coffee eyes, an unimpeded stare. It commands and anchors his attention captive. Makoto unconsciously holds his breath, as his emerald eyes search those coffee ones, the words float for a moment before they submerge and become a deluge within his body. He swallows slowly, feeling lost, disoriented with the sudden candidness, it just smothers his senses as his heart lurches with so many fleeting feelings, he can’t make heads or tails of them.

As soon as the words come to a halt, his name falling from the blond’s lips, Makoto exhales, taking in a few shallow breaths, almost as if he were underwater for a long period of time and needing the air that surrounds him. He looks away from that coffee gaze, requiring some kind of distance from the whirlpool of emotions, trying to collect his thoughts, _‘wh-wha? What just happened!? Did he just...he did, didn’t he. I...I am so confused. I was so certain...but now I’m so confused. Wh-why is this happening? I want to believe him...I really do, but, I just don’t know. How can I not know? Has he really changed? It sounds like it. Or is it...that I have somehow made myself believe that? Why? Why do I doubt? Am I doubting him? Or is it me? But, he finally answered my question. Is it true? Will he really accept my friends? That is what I want, isn’t it? He’s giving me what I want. He told me why he couldn’t tell me before...and he was miserable without me? But...what about his actions? When he gets upset, he explodes sometimes. Can I really give him another chance?’_

Takeshi swallows waiting for some kind of response, he squeezes Makoto’s wrist again as a sign that he’s waiting for the brunette. The blond can hear the ticking of an old clock counting down the seconds as he continues to wait for the emerald-eyed teen. He swallows as he releases Makoto’s wrist, staring at the brunette’s profile. He can sense a heavy air surrounding the brunette and says, “I can wait. I will wait for you. No matter how painful, I will wait. Just, take your time, Makoto.”

Makoto inhales sharply as he hears Takeshi’s voice once again and suddenly he hears the blond shift in his chair. The brunette hears the chair scrape against the floor and he suddenly bolts out of his chair, his fingers pressed against the smooth surface of the table, staring at the coffee-eyed teen with uneasiness, “wa-wait! I just...I don’t...I’m...” The backstroke swimmer sighs thickly.

Takeshi releases the bill between his fingers, allowing the money to fall onto the table as he puts his wallet back into the back pocket of his dark wash blue jeans. He looks up to see the frantic gaze in Makoto’s eyes. He takes a moment to just stare into those green eyes, hating the dark tones the brunette’s eyes have taken. The blond prefers those eyes gleaming with happiness, not with frenzy and hesitation. Takeshi takes a deep breath and says as calmly as he can, “I’ll wait. Just...think about it, ok? I know I’ve put you through a lot and I was unfair in many ways. I, I want an answer, but I can tell you’re not ready to give me a proper one. I’ll see you around.”

Makoto blinks in consternation, his eyes swaying with incredulity and uncertainty. Takeshi looks different to him all of a sudden, like somehow he has grown up or seems so mature. The brunette finds himself grazing his fingertips over the surface of the table until his hands balls into fists as he watches the blond turn around, walking towards the front door of the café, leaving. Departing from him, from the conversation and the emerald-eyed teen lets it happen as he finds himself continually lost within his own thoughts and feelings, unable to form any kind of words to the retreating coffee-eyed teen.

Just as Haru was about to take a sip from his teacup, he hears Makoto’s panicked voice, and turns his gaze to stare at the two teens standing in front of each other on opposite sides of the table. The sapphire-eyed teen narrows his eyes trying to read the atmosphere between the two teens.

Tetsuya puts down his cup of decaf coffee gently as he looks between Haruka, Makoto, and the blond fellow. The green-eyed man has been quiet, noticing how Haruka had been lost in his own thoughts, and at the same time curious about the discussion between Makoto and his friend. He looks over at his nephew, seeing the distress in his eyes and then tension in his body, _‘hmmm...strong feelings. Not just from Makoto...Haruka as well. Such intensity...I can only surmise that the relationship has soured during your time in Tokyo. And with the way Ito-san was so adamant of seeing you, Makoto, I can only guess that he is trying to maintain the relationship. So many mistakes...that is part of youth. What will you do Makoto? Will Haruka continue to stay by your side? He’s quite affected by all this, ah...he’s leaving.’_

Takeshi places his hands into his white puffy jacket pockets and as he continues to walk towards the door, his gaze meets dark blue eyes peering at him. The blond knits his eyebrows, scowling at Haru, after all, this whole mess started with this ‘so-called friend’ of Makoto’s. If it weren’t for Haru, Makoto would still be with him. Instead he takes the side of his friends, saying they are more like family. It doesn’t matter, he will accept their friendship, but he can still be angry about it, as long as he doesn’t show Makoto, everything will be fine. Haru will never have Makoto the way he has had him, and once Makoto gives him an answer, he will show the brunette how much he missed him.

Tetsuya internally frowns as he watches Haruka and Ito stare at each other as the blond walks out of the café, _‘something happened between those two. Ito, your eyes harbor such hate, disgust...and it’s dismissive.’_ Tetsuya’s green eyes harden as he continues to keep his gaze on the blond, _‘I know those kind of eyes...brazen vainglory, and narcissistically righteous. How deceiving. Earlier you seemed to harbor a raw anger, and sadness, touching on my sensibility. Have I misjudged you? He’s young. People can change, if only they grasp their deeply genuine emotions underneath the massive walls built around them. However, that change he will have to embrace. I don’t see that...not in this moment.’_

Takeshi doesn’t even acknowledge Suzuki’s presence, keeping his gaze on Haru until he turns towards the door and exiting the warm confines of the café, heading to his lodgings.

Makoto watches Takeshi leave, not so much as looking back at him. Once the bell rings when the door shuts closed, the brunette slowly sits back down in his chair, looking down.

Haru quickly gets up out of his seat, not caring about his now abandoned barley tea and trots over to Makoto. As soon as he stands next to the brunette, he sees confusion and defeat plastered on his face and the navy-haired teen’s eyes swirl with worry, _‘Ma-Makoto.’_ He collects himself quickly, placing a hand on Makoto’s shoulder, lightly squeezing and says with disquiet, “Makoto.”

The brunette feels the free-swimmer’s touch and instantly feels familiar comfort. Makoto closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath and hearing his name linger in the air and the deep meaning his best friend conveys with just three syllables, _‘Haru. I’ve worried you...I’m sorry. I really am sorry. I can tell, you’re angry...but that’s just one layer. You’re relieved, feeling the need to shelter me, and...sad. You’re sad, Haru.’_

Makoto opens his eyes, looking up at Haru and giving his best friend his trademark smile.

Haru is taken aback, his hand stills on Makoto’s shoulder as he stares at the brunette’s smiling face. He can tell Makoto is trying too hard to bring things back to normal when things aren’t. The emerald-eyed teen’s smile is strained, rived. Haru sighs, taking the seat Ito had previously occupied, “Makoto...tell me what happened.”

The brunette sighs sadly, “ah. I don’t think you will like the outcome of our conversation.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 27th, Saturday, 6:23 pm  **

Tetsuya eats the last bite of his chocolate pot de crème, savoring the sinfully delicious and creamy texture. The older man readjusts his glasses after he places the spoon on the saucer provided to him. His eyes become cloudy as he recalls the last hour or so watching Makoto and Haruka interact with each other, intermittently talking to each other while the other moments were filled with silence. The older man had noticed over the years how the two boys would wordlessly talk to each other, like telepathy, that’s what he called their non-verbal communication. 

The olivine brown-haired man decided to leave the two boys alone, with the way Ito was staring at Haruka, it seemed that the sapphire-eyed teen needed to have a private talk with his nephew. Instead the older man ordered a medium sized platter of boiled edamame, a pot of green tea, and the last slice of double chocolate flourless cake for Makoto and Haruka to talk over.

Tetsuya uncrosses his legs, switching legs as he re-crosses them. A bag is placed on his table, startling him from his musing as he looks up to find the amethyst-eyed owner staring down at him with an eyebrow raised. He chuckles lightly, “ah, Jirou. You know better than to startle a man out of his thoughts.”

The owner shrugs, his purple eyes shifting over to the young boys in the corner of the café, “you were the one that asked for taffy for your niece and nephew. You’re lucky I visited Fukui-sensei yesterday. Had to get some for my nieces too, since they are visiting from Nagasaki, I couldn’t let the angels down now, could I?”

Tetsuya follows Jirou’s line of sight, his green eyes resting on Makoto picking up his cup of green tea, “thanks...kouhai-chibi-chan. You really are a lifesaver since I promised my adorable niece and nephew some special candy.”

Jirou’s eyebrow twitches at the mention of a forgotten nickname from another lifetime. He knits his eyebrows as he takes a seat across from the green-eyed man, “oi. No need to bring up old nicknames, senpai.” He crosses his arms as he leans back in the chair, “have you seen him?”

Tetsuya’s eyes shift to stare at the blue-haired man as his green gaze becomes dull and nods his head, “yes, I have. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have come. Nor visited for that matter.” The green-eyed man sighs, closing his eyes, “let’s not talk about that now. I need to talk to my nephew. Can you spare me some time...Jirou?”

The baby blue-haired man huffs, “yare, yare, demanding as usual.” He gets up out of his chair, “don’t push yourself too hard, Tetsu. I know how you get sometimes. I don’t want to be picking up the pieces when you...”

Tetsuya frowns, looking up to meet Jirou’s amethyst gaze and says in a gentle reprimand, “Jirou.” The bespeckled man’s green eyes soften, “you worry too much. I didn’t come here just to dawdle with past events, if it’s possible, I’d like some resolution.” 

The purple-eyed man holds Tetsuya’s gaze before looking away, “alright, alright. I hear ya, senpa...”

Tetsuya interrupts the owner, “I thought you wanted to drop nicknames from the past, chibi-chan.”

Jirou huffs as he glares at the green-eyed man before sighing and picking up the empty dishes on the table, “take all the time you need, Tetsu.”

Tetsuya smiles at the owner, watching him leave with his dishes. He picks up the small fabric cream colored bag from the table and walks over toward Haruka and Makoto.

The emerald-eyed teen notices his uncle walking towards them and sits up in his chair ready to get up when he hears his uncle say, “don’t get up just yet Makoto. I’d like to talk with you before we head home...”

Haru looks up to meet Tetsuya’s green eyes. They stare at each other for a moment before the navy-haired teen says, “I can go, Suzuki. If you...”

The older man gives the free-swimmer a small smile before he interrupts, “can you do me a favor, Haruka?”

Haru blinks once at the olivine brown-haired man and nods.

Tetsuya chuckles, “ah, thank you Haruka.” He lifts up his hand that is loosely clasped around a medium sized burlap bag, “I promised Ren and Ran some special candy. Unfortunately, I don’t think I will be able to return home before their bedtime. Could you bring this to them?”

Haru tilts his head slightly to the side before he shifts his sapphire gaze towards Makoto. He notices a sad smile on his face before Makoto’s emerald eyes meet his stare.

Makoto says with his eyes, ‘it’s ok, Haru. I need to talk with my uncle too. Just go on and head to my house, and stay over tonight...please.’

Haru eyes waver slightly, ‘alright, Makoto.’ He looks over to Suzuki and nods, “yes, Suzuki.” Just as the navy-haired teen is about to get up, Makoto leans over the table, gently grasping Haru’s hand. The brunette turns Haru’s hand palm up and places his keys, “you’ll need these too.”

Haru claps his hand around the metal keys, “nn. I’ll return them to you when you get home.” His hand is released and his eyes shift over to Makoto’s face, relief washing over him as the brunette’s trademark smile appears more like his usual one. 

The sapphire-eyed teen looks over to the tall older man, extending his hand to take the bag from Suzuki. The green-eyed man gently places the straps of the burlap bag into Haru’s hands, “I’m sure Ren and Ran will pester you as soon as you get there. Seems that I won’t be able to keep my promise of reading a bedtime story tonight...tell them I will tell them one tomorrow night.”

Haru nods, “I’ll let them know Suzuki. I can read them a story tonight. Thank you for the tea and snacks, Suzuki. Please return home safely.”

Tetsuya smiles at the navy-haired teen, “my pleasure, Haruka. I won’t keep Makoto out too long.”

Haru nods as he wraps the scarf around his neck. He glances back at Makoto and notices the brunette waving at him. The sapphire-eyed teen bows his head slightly before turning on his heel and heading to the door. He slows down as the older woman also heads towards the door. Haru holds the door open for her before he disappears into the cold winter boardwalk.

Tetsuya looks around the café and notices the couple has also gotten up, preparing to leave. He moves to take Haruka’s seat and says, “how are you, Makoto? A lot of unexpected things happened today.”

The brunette watches his uncle carefully sit down in Haru chair, tentatively leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table as he threads his fingers together, staring at him. Makoto laughs nervously as he wraps his hands around the white and black ceramic teacup, “ye-yeah. I...don’t know how I am to be honest. I feel bad about all of this.”

The older man hears a bag drop, his eyes shift over to the young woman bending down to pick up her white backpack. He shifts his eye back to the brunette in front of him, delicately observing him. The green-eyed man quickly notices a dim twinkle in Makoto’s eyes as the younger teen looks to the side, peering out the window. He can see Makoto’s fingers tighten around the teacup and he says softly, “there’s nothing wrong with that. You’ll figure it out when the time comes. Sounds like things have gotten complicated.”

Makoto hesitantly shifts his gaze to his uncle, his emerald gaze meeting his uncle’s blank green stare, “um...how did you figure it out? Did he tell you?”

Tetsuya holds Makoto’s gaze, listening to trembling query, _‘ah. I was wondering when you were going to bring this up.’_ The older man looks out the window waiting for the couple to leave the café before he answers the sensitive question. As he blinks, he hears the bell ring as the couple open the door and the olivine-haired man continues to wait to hear the front door close, followed by the jingle of keys and a click of the deadbolt being propelled into it’s cavity.

The owner turns the sign over and says loudly, “Tetsu...take your time. I’ll be in the back if you don’t see me.”

The green-eyed man smiles and replies, “ah. Thank you, Jirou.” Slowly he raises his hand, pulling off his black, top-rimmed glasses off his face and placing it gingerly on the table as he says, “I apologize, Makoto. I was waiting for the young couple to leave in order to answer your question. Sensitive information must be handled with care.”

Makoto swallows audibly as concern starts to gnaw on his insides, _‘oh. Takeshi...what did you do?’_

The brunette hears his uncle’s voice, his eyes moving to set his gaze on the olivine-haired man looking down at his glasses. His stable words are compassionate and considerate, his tone mellow and easy to listen to, but as he comes to the end, there is a weight on those words and it settles into Makoto’s mind like a rock thrown into a pool of water.

Tetsuya’s green eyes shift to meet Makoto’s emerald ones as he continues, “Ito explained his relationship with you to Ren and Ran in the simplest of terms. I just happened to overhear the conversation. He was kind enough to provide a picture of you two smiling, his arm around you possessively. I don’t think he meant to expose you, Makoto. Fortunately Ren and Ran squabble so much about marrying you, Ito’s words didn’t hold much power over them.”

Makoto’s lips part as he listens to his uncle’s answer and he inhale’s sharply.

The older man can clearly see the shock on Makoto’s face and he sympathizes with the younger teen. He decides to continue, “I have warned him...that such information is not taken lightly in certain circumstances and he needs to be more vigilant about his audience and environment. I don’t think I need to give you the same admonishment.”

The brunette quickly shakes his head and says, “no, no, uncle.” Makoto’s eyes take on a gleam of sadness and shame as he bows his head down, “I know. I...I am so sorry.”

Tetsuya raises an eyebrow and says delicately, yet unyielding, “if you are apologizing about your preferences, then I will not accept. That is not something you should be ashamed of, Makoto.”

Makoto’s eyes widen in horror at first, feeling a sense of rejection as he lifts his head, meeting his uncle’s calm green eyes. The words that follow shock the brunette and his eyes waver with emotion, _‘huh? I thought...for a moment, I thought he was gonna...uncle. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?’_

Tetsuya’s green eyes soften and a smile tugs at his lips, “ah, Makoto. You are like a son to me. I accept you just the way you are.” The green-eyed man stops abruptly, _‘hmm.’_ The older man leans back in his chair, crossing his legs as he folds his arm over his torso, propping his elbow over the back of his hand as he clasps his chin between his forefinger and thumb.

The brunette’s heart flutters with warmth, and a big smile adorns his visage, “uncle.”

Tetsuya eyes shine with delight as he watches Makoto’s beaming face. It’s the first happy smile he’s seen from his nephew this evening, and it’s a beautiful sight. He sighs with contentment, _‘ah. Makoto. My precious nephew. I could never reject you. Never.’_ His eyes become more concerned as he says, “you can rely on me to keep this a secret. There are individuals who aren’t as accommodating with such sensitive information. Please be cautious, Makoto.”

The older man lightly frowns, _‘Kyoko, my dear sister. I’m afraid I’m going to have to break my promise to you. I’m so sorry.’_ He sighs heavily, casting his eyes downward. 

The brunette’s smile fades slowly, something about the tone in his uncle’s voice carries a hint of strain, of accountability for something, and he knits his eyebrows slightly. He looks at his uncle and those smiling green eyes look more afflicted until his uncle looks down.

Makoto hears the clank of ceramic pieces hitting each other and he looks to the side to find Akiyama with his back to them with a large, black bin collecting dishes from the other tables.

Tetsuya hears Jirou collecting cups from the other side of the café and for some reason it makes him smile lightly. He lifts his head to find Makoto staring at Jirou, “Makoto.”

The brunette’s ears perk up at the mention of his name and he turns his head to look over at his uncle, opens his mouth and gets distracted again. His emerald eyes shifting over to Akiyama, “um...is it really ok to be talking abo...”

Tetsuya chuckles, “don’t worry, Makoto. Jirou is someone I can trust. He knows better than to step on my toes.”

Akiyama clicks his tongue as he walks away carrying the bin of dirty dishware.

Makoto sighs, chuckling hesitantly and sheepishly, “ah. Well...ok. I just...get this feeling that you were about to say something.”

Tetsuya nods slowly, bringing down his hand from his chin to rest on his forearm, “ah.” He thinks, _‘forgive me, Kyoko. Makoto...you need an ally.’_ The older man meets Makoto’s gaze gently and continues, “I have a confession, Makoto. A secret I have carried most of my life. My preferences...are also different. I am gay.”

The brunette stares at his uncle, confused at first, but then it hits him and he stutters, “e-e-eh? Wha-what do you mean? What about auntie? If you’re gay, what does that mean?”

Tetsuya watches Makoto’s reaction, a part of him was expecting the shock, the cluelessness, but the questions that follow, the questions about Kaoru, he wasn’t really prepared for that. He takes a deep breath and says discreetly, “I loved your auntie, please don’t disregard that. She knew...a long time ago, years before we got together. She overlooked that part of me, and we decided to date each other. As you know, the lifestyle I truly wanted is not something that society will embrace without heavy consequences. At the time, it was a convenient arrangement for me, and I fulfilled a need for her. We became friends, and we trusted each other. As time passed, we got comfortable in our relationship, and she didn’t want anyone else to be the father of her children...besides me. So we married. I never met a woman with such passion and love like she had...and even though I could never love her the way she wanted me to, she still stuck by me. I just couldn’t give her everything she wanted, but I did the best I could.”

Makoto listens intently, holding on to each and every word, making sure he understood. He never knew, not even a hint that his uncle was gay, just like him. The brunette stares at his uncle and the vision of what he’s always believed to be a heterosexual man literally breaks into a million little pieces. His uncle, looks like a different person, but the same all at the same time. The emerald-eyed teen suddenly realizes that he’s not alone, his uncle is just like him in a sense. Something about that makes the knot in his stomach slacken, instead of being taut with tension. However, the relationship that his uncle had with his auntie, it seems so complicated and that there is so much more about their relationship. It makes the emerald-eyed teen a bit sad because the happy picture of his uncle and auntie isn’t as pigmented as he always envisioned it to be. But one thing stands out clearly in his mind when he thinks about them as a couple, that they loved each other. 

The backstroke swimmer closes his eyes momentarily as he says in a hushed tone, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have questioned you like that, uncle. I was just...so surprised and I was confused. “ 

Makoto opens his eyes and holds his uncle’s gaze, “thank you...for telling me. I...I’m gay too.”

Tetsuya smiles, uncrosses his legs and leans over the table, taking one of Makoto’s hand loosely surrounding his teacup and places the brunette’s hand in his. The older man pats the back of the emerald-eyed teen’s hand and says, “I know. I accept you for who you are, Makoto. I just want you to know that someone is on your side. I am here to support you when it comes to this kind of situation. Please, do not hesitate to talk to me if you need me.”

Makoto nods as he squeezes his uncle’s hand, “thanks.”

The older man squeezes the brunette’s hand back, glad that he was able to give his nephew guidance.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 28th, Sunday, 4:19 pm  **

****

Rin walks over to the kitchen counter, picking up two water bottles. He notices that the kitchen is completely spotless before his phone vibrates twice, distracting him from his surroundings. He puts down the water bottles back on the cream colored countertop digging out his cellphone from his plaid blue and white pants from his back pocket.

[ To: Rin

From: Kisumi

Isn’t it cute, Rin? My little bro scored a basket! ^_^ Aaannnddd~~not just any ol’ basket either. He got one out of Mako-sensei! Look at the video, Rin! I won’t...Oh! Mako-sensei wants me to tell you that he talked to Coach Sasabe (?) today and he got permission to use the facility tomorrow around 4-ish? He says you have to come. Hahaha~~guess who already said yes? ]

[ To: Kisumi

From: Rin

O.o Eh? What are you talking about? Who is Mako-sensei? ]

[ To: Rin

From: Kisumi

((´д｀)) So mean! You didn’t even watch the video! Tachibana Makoto. Who else? Do we know another Tachibana Makoto that I don’t remember? He says you have to go to the swim club tomorrow! Mako-sensei already asked his other classmates from Iwatobi. ]

[ To: Kisumi

From: Rin

Wth? (´−｀) ﾝｰ Since when have you been calling Makoto, Mako-sensei anyway? So, Haru is going? ]

[ To: Rin

From: Kisumi

(*´ω｀)o I can’t believe you even had to ask, Rin. Who else would I mean! Mako-sensei asked Haru first after all. And since I’m texting you anyway, he asked me if I can relay the message. ]

[ To: Kisumi

From: Rin

Great! I’ll be there! You think I can ask to bring some other friends too? It would make things more interesting, ne? I can tell Sousuke. I’m at his house after all. ]

[ To: Rin

From: Kisumi

Mako-sensei says yes! He thinks that would be fun. And he thanks you for asking Sousuke. ]

Rin knits his eyebrows for a moment as he suddenly realizes that Kisumi is with Makoto.

[ To: Kisumi

From: Rin

Oi, what are you doing with Makoto? ]

[ To: Rin

From: Kisumi

(*≧▽≦) We had lunch together, had ice cream together, and we went to the community center to play some basketball. I’ll be having dinner with Mako-sensei too. Huh...sounds like a date, ne? (¬‿¬) ]

[ To: Kisumi

From: Rin

Eh? ∑(ﾟﾛﾟ〃) Eh? Wth, Kisumi!? （ノ♯｀△´）ノ~’┻━┻ Are you having a date with Makoto!?!? Why you little... You can’t date him! I forbid it! ]

[ To: Rin

From: Kisumi

(´⊙ω⊙`)！ Oh! Rin...are you angry with me? You can’t possibly be angry with me...and why would you forbid it? Mako-sensei is so sexy! How can I pass up such a hottie! Just so you know, he’s rubbed me in all the right places. ^_~ ]

[ To: Kisumi

From: Rin

(ﾉ`Д´)ﾉ.:･┻┻)｀з゜)･:ﾞ; KI~SU~MIIII!!!! You leave him alone this instant! Otherwise I will hunt you down and smack you with a real table! (＃｀д´)ﾉ ]

Rin glares at his phone after typing the message, huffing to himself as his hold on his phone continues to tighten. The redhead looks to the side, glaring at the floor instead, _‘ che, baka! Kisu-bakayaro! I swear, I will smack you so hard...’_

Rin’s phone vibrates again and he’s ready to tear the pink-haired teen a new one, but the message isn’t from the idiot.

[ To: Rin

From: Makoto

What’s going on? Kisumi is laughing so hard, he’s on his knees holding his stomach. O.O ]

[ To: Makoto

From: Rin

How the hell should I know. >.> The bastard deserves it for telling me that you two are on a date. ]

[ To: Rin

From: Makoto

Eeeeehhhhh? O.o He said that!?!? We aren’t on a date! I’m just out with Kisumi and his little brother Hayato. I promised Hayato that I would go with him to the ice cream shop to claim his winnings from a win stick he received a couple months ago. Why would he tell you that? ] 

[ To: Makoto

From: Rin

¯\\_(⌣̯̀⌣́)_/¯ I have no idea. Kisumi is an idiot! Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow around 4pm at ITSC Returns. You better bring your game on, Makoto! I’m gonna beat Haru, just you wait and see! ]

[ To: Rin

From: Makoto

LOL! I’ll bring it! I can’t wait to see Haru beat your butt in a race! ♡ॢ₍⸍⸌̣ʷ̣̫⸍̣⸌₎ ]

Rin grins at the message Makoto sends, feeling a sense of rivalry and completion growing in his belly, _‘damn...I’m getting excited already! Tomorrow is gonna be awesome! Oh, I better ask Sousuke too.’_ He puts his phone back into his plaid pant back pocket, grabs the water bottles with a smile plastered on his lips as he quickly walks out of the kitchen, passing the dining area and hallway and walking into the living room.

The redhead places the water bottles on the round wooden countertop, “oi, Sousuke. Makoto has invited us to swim tomorrow. Wanna come?”

The raven-haired teen looks up from his sports magazine on the round wooden kotatsu top, leaning back into the plush white kotatsu couch, “huh? Swimming? Tomorrow?”

Rin raises an eyebrow and says, “yeah. Swimming. At the Iwatobi Swim Club. 4pm. You wanna join us? I’m gonna ask Ai and Momo if they’d like to come too.”

Sousuke grasps the pages of the magazine as he looks down at the quilted mocha kotatsu blanket, _‘swimming, huh?’_

Rin notices Sousuke silence and wonders what’s on the teal-eyed teen’s mind. The redhead sits down on the other side of the white curved kotatsu coach, adjusting the mocha blanket over his lap, smiling at the toasty heat that welcomes him. He pulls out his phone texting Ai and Momo as he ponders, _‘I bet he’s thinking about what happened during lunch. What was Yamazaki-san’s fiancé’s name again? Ummm...Taka...that’s right, Takahashi Daichi. He seems ok to me. But...why didn’t Sousuke tell me about this? Don’t tell me he’s...’_

Rin hits the send button, asking Ai if he is free tomorrow before opening up a new text window for Momo as he says, “oi. Sousuke. Why didn’t you tell me about your mom’s fiancé? How long have they been together?”

Sousuke takes a deep breath, _‘Rin doesn’t know that I went to see the doctor this morning. I just texted him the address, and met him at the restaurant for lunch with...Fuck. I wouldn’t have gone to the doctor if it weren’t for my father, it would have been better if Rin and I went to the restaurant together. I really didn’t like what Ishii-sensei had to say. Che...that it would be in my best interest to ‘give up’ competitive swimming and pursue something else...to keep my shoulder as it is and swim ‘recreationally.’ He says that my shoulder looks good considering what I’ve been through already. But...’_

The raven-haired teen’s thoughts are interrupted when he hears the crimson-eyed teen’s voice. The question pulls his eyebrows together, frowning. He shifts his eyes over to Rin, slightly glaring, “how would you like it if your mom starting dating someone? And then tell you that she’s going to marry the guy!”

Rin’s fingers still at the mention of his mother, _‘hah? My...mom? Sou-Sou-su-ke...don’t you dare!’_ The redhead’s head turns sharply to glare at the ex-butterfly swimmer as anger takes hold of the all-around swimmer, “oi! Don’t change the subject! This has nothing to do with my mother!” Rin slams down his fist on the hard surface of the kotatsu.

Sousuke huffs, “well now you know why I haven’t said anything about it!” The teal-eyed teen slams the magazine shut on the table, pushing it to the side as he leans over the wooden countertop to rest his elbows on the hard surface, running his hands in his hair as he sighs.

The redhead watches Sousuke rub his scalp and it suddenly hits him. Rin looks down with dismay, his anger subsiding, _‘shit. Shit, Sousuke.’_ Rin’s eyes waver with emotion. If his mother, Rin knits his eyebrows, clenching his teeth just thinking about his mother with another man besides his father creates a torrid tidal wave brewing in his core. Rin shakes his head, dismissing the ill thoughts out of his mind as he says carefully, “dammit, Sousuke. Why didn’t you tell me?”

The raven-haired teen brings down one of his hands, resting it on the kotatsu, shifting his weight slightly as he rubs his temples with his other hand, “I didn’t know what to say. I only found out about this recently...like a month or so. You think I wanted to believe any of this?”

Rin sighs, dropping his phone on the kotatsu and leaning back into the couch. He crosses his arms over his chest and says, “did you tell Makoto about this?”

Sousuke ceases rubbing his temples and says quietly, “no. I haven’t told anyone. I don’t think he would understand anyway. Besides...my dad isn’t going to the wedding. I told my mom last night...during dinner. She wasn’t pleased. She left the house...staying over at his place instead.”

Rin’s eyes widen, his breath held in place as he processes that information. The redhead shifts his eyes over to Sousuke, but all he can see is the back of his hand covering his eyes, and his mouth is pulled thin, into a frown. The redhead finds himself gradually holding onto his bicep tightly, uncrossing his arms and resting them on the wooden surface, “this is all kinds of messed up. You should have told me. You could have come over, instead of staying here by yourself.”

The raven-haired teen laughs with defeat and resentment, “it doesn’t matter, Rin. Besides, you haven’t seen your mother in a while. You and Gou...you both needed the time together and I’ll be damned to take that away from you.”

Rin knits his eyebrows, “ok, yeah...fine. But dammit Sousuke! You think I like learning all this after the fact!? I can’t do anything about it now, but dammit! I could have done something last night! I could have kicked your sorry ass out of this house and into mine, for crying out loud! That’s it! You’re coming home with me tonight!”

Sousuke’s eyes widen, lifting his head from the perch of his fingers as he looks at Rin’s angry crimson stare. His eyes sway under such a determined gaze.

Rin bores his wholehearted decisiveness into Sousuke’s teal gaze, letting the raven-haired teen know that he was serious and there is no way Sousuke will be able to argue with him. The redhead says firmly, “I don’t care if I have to force you out of this house kicking and screaming, either way, you are coming home with me. Go get your stuff, Sousuke. And bring your jammers and swimming gear. I’m not leaving you behind tomorrow. I’ll leave it up to you, if you want to swim with us or not, but you will come and spend time with us, and that’s final!”

The raven-haired teen just listens before he finds the courage to break eye contact with the heavy crimson stare. Sousuke can’t help but chuckle, _‘I hate it when you do this to me Rin. I can never argue with you.’_ Sousuke sighs, “you really are a good captain, Rin. The next time you doubt yourself, I’ll be the one kicking your ass.”

Sousuke gets up, grabbing the discarded magazine, turning his back to the redhead as he says over his shoulder, “I’ll pack a bag. Wait here.”

Rin watches the raven-haired teen carefully, confusion stirs within him when he hears the ex-butterfly swimmer laugh, it sounded bittersweet, yet compliant. The words that burst out of Sousuke’s mouth comes out of left field and stuns the redhead. Rin watches Sousuke pick up the sports magazine, getting up without so much as a glance in his direction.

Rin doesn’t respond to Sousuke, instead he watches the raven-haired teen leave the living room and continues starting until he hears Sousuke’s footsteps going up the staircase.

The redhead sighs, “yare, yare...you really are a handful Sousuke.” Rin turns back towards the kotatsu, picking up his phone to continue his text to Momo, _‘I’m worried about you. It can’t be easy dealing with all this.’_ Rin recalls the lunch Sousuke had invited him to. At the time he didn’t really pay close attention to the broody raven next to him during lunch, but now that he reflects back on the event, Sousuke didn’t say much of anything, kept his answers short and clipped and of course Rin just brushed it off as Sousuke being a grump. That was partly true, but behind that grump-like attitude, Sousuke must have been deeply hurt to be sharing a table with his possible stepfather.

Rin hits the send button and rubs his face, “shit. This fuckin’ sucks!” The redhead picks up his phone again, calling his sister, Gou.

The redheaded female picks up the phone, “onii-chan? It’s rare for you to call me, what’s going on?”

Rin sighs deeply, “yo, Gou. Are you free after dinner?”

Gou says thoughtfully, “yeah, I’m free. Funny you should ask, Hana-chan just texted me. She wanted to know if I can help her with picking out some fabrics she bought for her new desig...”

Rin interrupts, “Gou. I need you stay home with me tonight. We can watch a movie together. I invited Sousuke to stay over. Can you tell mom?”

Gou thinks for a moment before responding, “ok. I’ll tell Hana-chan I can’t make it tonight, but I’ll pick the movie. Ohhh...something with action...and muscles...” The crimson-eyed girl starts fawning over the phone.

Rin smacks his head with the palm of his hand as he says with annoyance, “fine, fine. But there better be action, Gou! None of that muscle competition stuff...I don’t think I can handle that tonight.”

Gou says enthusiastically, “you got it, onii-chan! I’ll let mom know. When are you coming home?”

Rin smiles, “soon. Sousuke is packing a bag. Oh, that reminds me. Makoto got permission to use the Iwatobi Swim Club tomorrow, wanna come cheer us on?”

Gou gently squeals with delight, “really? Oh! I get to see how much you all have progressed with your training!? Oh, I can’t wait! I will be there to assess your muscly progress!”

Rin let’s out a small laugh, half out of embarrassment, and half out of amusement, “alright. I’ll tell you more when I get home.”

Gou giggles, “alright, onii-chan. I’ll see you soon.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 29th, Monday, 6:21 pm  **

****

Sousuke had gotten changed with everyone else in the changing room, but he hadn’t participated in any of the swimming activities. Instead, he has been watching everyone’s practices and forms in the water. He noticed that Rei’s butterfly form looks much better than it had in the past, and Nagisa’s frog kick looks stronger and his timing with the glide is much better. Momo’s seems to hold his concentration much better than he had before.

What impressed him the most is Ai’s improvement. He can tell the moment the group of guys got into the water that Ai’s presence has changed. He’s not as shy or timid when it comes to leading and the way, he pushes Momo to do his best, and he can’t help but be proud of the little silver-haired teen. Sousuke has been keeping contact with Ai, giving him book recommendations, advice and some tips on how to gain more confidence, since he is the swim captain of Samezuka. The raven-haired teen had reminded Ai to create the best team he could envision, just like Rin did the previous year. Every time Sousuke mentions Rin’s words, he noticed that Ai’s motivation would be renewed. In a sense it’s cute how the little guy admires Rin so much.

Ai has been improving in his breaststroke and freestyle. When he was helping the silver-haired teen with his breaststroke, he didn’t really pay much attention when Ai would practice his freestyle. He had overheard from the other swimmers, including Rin that his freestyle is much better than his breaststroke and after seeing him practice it today, Sousuke notices that he has potential, but he needs more practice. He had asked the silver-haired teen which stroke he’s been focused on for the competitions, and it seems that Ai is sticking with breaststroke for the relay and freestyle for individuals; a ballsy move, but one that will build character.

Momo and Makoto had a friendly competition and Makoto still holds a strong start, and a stronger dolphin kick when flipping over to the other side, something the orange-haired teen is going to have to work on. Momo’s brother, Seijuurou was yelling at the younger Mikoshiba, and Sousuke can sense that Momo would get distracted trying to listen to his brother’s voice.

Sousuke’s eyes wander to find Sasabe and Gou talking about something across the poolroom and he can’t help but wonder how close the blond man is to Gou. The two seems to be talking about something with Gou holding a notebook with a pen in her other hand, taking notes or some sort. He can only guess that it as something to do with a training or food regimen for Iwatobi.

Ai trots over to Sousuke with a black and white towel hanging around his neck, “ne, Sousuke-senpai. Are you planning to swim with us?”

The raven-haired teen’s hand balls into a fist as he says, “I was going to, but I think you guys need all the training you can get, Ai.” Sousuke’s teal eyes shift over from the pool into the silver-haired teen’s light blue eyes, “you need to be more careful when you turn. Your arms are not consistently in the proper form. Is there something you’re hiding?”

The captain of Samezuka blinks as he laughs nervously, “ah...no, not really. I was hoping to get more practice in today, but I think I’ll call it quits after another round or so.”

Sousuke stares at Ai more carefully, he checks each part of his body to see if there is anything that seems out of the ordinary at first glance before he says, “are you sure? If something’s wrong, it’s better to say something than to hold it inside.”

Ai lifts his hands out in defense, shaking them as he shakes his head, “ah, no, no. It’s nothing like that, Sousuke-senpai. Sorry, I didn’t mean to give you that impression. I just couldn’t get enough sleep last night. I was so happy to get a text from Rin-senpai last night that I couldn’t sleep well.” Ai slouches forward, sighing in defeat, “I’m just tired...because I got overexcited.”

Sousuke lips curve in a lopsided smile, before coughing into his hand, removing the smile on his lips, “ah.”

The teal-eyed teen’s attention is averted when he hears, “Aaaaahhhhhh!! Nagisa-kun!! Yo-you-you’re swimming attire!!! It’s floating!!! ”

Ai turns his head, staring at the other side of the pool to find Rei on his knees with his hands in his hair as he screams up towards the heavens.

Rin is about to push himself out of the pool, until he hears Rei’s screech. He knits his eyebrows as he turns around and says, “Rei. What the hell are you talking about?”

Nagisa stops his stroke, planting his feet on the floor of the pool, turning around to find his white swimming briefs that were tied in bows on the sides with little brown beads floating on the surface of the pool. The blond rubs the back of his neck, laughing, “ahahahaha! That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me. Whoops.”

Seijuurou breaks into a roar of laughter as Rei face-palms yelling, “Nagisa-kun! I told you not to wear th-that!” The indigo-haired teen points to the offending white swimming briefs.

Nagisa sticks out his tongue at the purple-haired teen, “well, I’m not wearing them anymore, Rei-chan!”

Momo falls on the floor holding his stomach, “ahahaha!! Nagisachhi! Ahahahaha!!! That’s sooo funny! I-I-I’ve never seen...haha...that happen!!”

Sasabe breaks into a fit of laughs as Gou’s cheeks warm up into a full flush, covering her cheeks with the palm of her hands as she turns around fully knowing the state in Nagisa’s undress.

Haru floats in the water ignoring everyone’s voices as he is connected with his beloved water.

Makoto squats down by the pools edge, closest to Nagisa with a towel in one hand and motioning for the blond to come over, “Nagisa. Come here. Let’s get you changed into something else.” The brunette smiles at the pink-eyed teen trying his best not to make a big fuss about it.

Nagisa puffs out his cheeks as he mumbles, “mou! I was just trying to prove that this pair of briefs is totally suitable for swimming. Humph!” The blond walks over to Makoto, grabbing his white briefs before taking Makoto’s hand.

Sousuke sighs, before he watches Makoto quickly and gingerly place the white towel over the blond’s waist, protecting Nagisa from prying eyes. The raven-haired teen can see that the brunette’s ears and cheeks burn with a pink flush, _‘hmm. Is because he saw Nagisa’s stuff or is it just the mere idea. Makoto...you certainly blush a lot, don’t you?’_ The teal-eyed teen smiles at the thought as he continues to stare at the brunette gently scolding the blond.

His teal-eyes follow Makoto, how he dotes on his shorter friend, like a mother fussing over a child. The ex-butterfly swimmer watches how he smiles and chuckles with a tinge of embarrassment, rubbing the back of his neck or scratching his cheek. Makoto’s hands don’t leave the blond’s shoulders unless he fidgets, regardless, the brunette slightly sways his hips as he hurries to get the blond back into the locker room and his back muscles tense with urgency. He notices how Makoto’s wet jammers fit the brunette like a glove, accentuating his toned calves, sculpted thighs, and finally his eyes fall on Makoto’s ass. The raven-haired teen swallows as his eyes just follows the sway of the emerald-eyed teen’s bum, finding himself taking a deep breath as he continues observing, not really caring if he’s being obvious to the others in the poolroom. The two teens suddenly vanish behind the tile walls of the locker room and the raven-haired teen releases a long exhale.

The raven-haired teen feels his phone vibrate in his windbreaker jacket, deciding to ignore it for now. While he was walking with Gou and Rin to the swim club, he was texting his mother about a possible dinner tonight. Sousuke had told his mother that he didn’t know what time he would be done with his friends and that he would text her after. The teal-eyed teen places his hand in his pocket, grasping his phone as he gives another thought to checking his the message, deciding once again to just leave it be, checking it later.

Sousuke looks over to his side to find Ai eyeing him for a moment before the silver-haired teen watches Momo and Seijuurou argue and laugh with each other. The raven-haired teen looks back at the light blue-eyed teen, “curious about something, Ai?”

Ai looks up at the raven-haired teen, “huh? Oh. Well...kinda. I just noticed that you...”

The silver-haired teen is interrupted by a roar from the Seijuurou, “let’s have a relay race!”

Momo’s eyes beam with enthusiasm, “we can be on the same team, nii-chan!”

Rin pulls himself out of the pool, smiling at the idea of a relay. He looks back down in the pool to find Haru with his eyes closed and floating in the water. Rin grins as he says, “oi! Haru!”

The navy-haired teen opens his eyes, planting his feet to the floor, looking around until his eyes meet a crimson stare.

Rin eyes shine as he says, “let’s have a relay race, Haru. I’m gonna beat your ass!”

The free swimmer’s eyes shimmer with delight before a small smile graces his lips, “no. I’m gonna win, Rin.”

Rin’s eyes widen before he knits his eyebrows playfully, “oi! I’m gonna win, Haru!”

Haru small smile becomes more obvious, “no, I will win!”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow at the development of a relay race, his eyes looking back and forth between Rin and Haru. He sighs before he smirks with amusement, “Ai you better get ready for a relay race. I’ll time you guys. Go check in with Makoto and Nagisa. Let them know.”

Ai looks up at Sousuke, noticing that the teal-eyed teen is gazing at Rin and Haru playfully bickering, but as the two teens continue arguing, they seem to be getting more and more serious. The silver-haired teen chuckles, “ok. I’ll let them know.” The light blue-eyed teen nods as he trots over to the locker rooms with a spring in his step.

Sousuke glances over at the Samezuka captain and smiles, _‘seems those two aren’t the only ones excited. Ai...’_ The teal-eyed teen walks over to Sasabe and Gou.

The redhead female smiles as she watches Haru and Rin argue before she notices the raven-haired teen’s presence in her peripheral vision. She turns her head and smiles, “Sousuke-kun.”

Sousuke nods at the crimson-eyed girl and says, “you think you can time one of the teams?”

Sasabe turns his head and says, “I can time one of them.”

Sousuke looks up at the blond man and says, “thanks, Sasabe-san. I’ll time Rin’s team.”

Gou claps her hands together and says, “oh! I can call out the start of the race! Oh this is gonna be so much fun, watching all of those muscles in action!”

The redheaded girl walks over to Rei, Momo, and Seijuurou telling them to get ready for a legitimate race.

Sasabe excuses himself from Sousuke, walking over to the locker room to get a couple of stopwatches for the race.

The raven-haired teen looks over towards the pool and sees Haru pulling himself out. He feels this sudden anticipation, this thrilling feeling when he used to prepare himself for races. Sousuke feels it in his core and it blossoms in his chest, this excitement and expectancy, but it soon fades as he balls his hands into fists, _‘damn...I want to swim. I want to swim with all of you. But...I...’_

Sousuke’s thoughts are interrupted when he hears his name being called. He looks over to his left side to find Rin standing a few feet from him.

The redhead tilts his head slightly, his crimson eyes searching Sousuke’s teal ones. Rin doesn’t say anything, but his eyebrows knit together and there is a probing gleam to his red eyes. Rin sighs, looks away, rubbing the back of his neck, ”you gonna join us?”

Sousuke swallows a lump in his throat. He wants to say yes so badly, but it’s not the right answer. His whole body buzzes with a dull anticipation, slightly reignited due to the redhead’s question. The teal-eyed teen sighs deeply, his mind winning this battle over his heart, “no. Not today. Maybe another time.”

Rin side-glances over at Sousuke to find the raven-haired teen sporting a blank expression on his face, _‘not today, huh? Ok. I’ll accept that, Sousuke.’_ The redhead smiles, “well, time us then.”

The raven-haired teen feels his heart sink, but he ignores this feeling, returning the smile to his best friend, “yeah. I’ll time you. You better beat Haru. Show me how your training in Australia is going, bro.”

Rin chuckles, his eyes breaming with lively stimulation, “you got it, bro! Haru and his team won’t know what hit them!”

Sousuke smirks, “bring it, Rin. Otherwise you aren’t training hard enough.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow, “oi, oi, Sousuke. Don’t get all cocky with me. I’ve been training my ass off. There’s no way I would slack off!”

The raven-haired teen chuckles, “we’ll see about that.”

Sasabe comes over and hands Sousuke a stopwatch. The teal-eyed teen takes it in his hand and makes sure that the device works properly.

Rin and Sasabe walk towards the starting blocks, where Momo, Seijuurou, Rei, and Gou are talking amongst each other as Haru stands with the boys listening to their chatter.

Just as Sousuke has the appropriate functions down for the stopwatch, he hears Ai, Nagisa, and Makoto approach him.

Nagisa pushes Ai over to the starting blocks, “come on Ai-chan! This is gonna be so much fun! Aren’t you excited, Ai-chan? A relay? It will be like old times since we have two previous Samezuka captains here!”

Ai tries to look back as he protests Nagisa’s pushing, but allows him to continue dragging him forward.

Makoto looks at Sousuke with concern and just when he’s about to call out to the raven-haired teen, teal eyes shift over to him. The brunette stands there in a bit of shock before he smiles, looking away.

The ex-butterfly swimmer noticed the worry in the brunette’s face before his features looked more surprised. Sousuke opens his mouth to say something, his throat feeling dry all of a sudden, clears his windpipe, “you worry too much, Makoto. I’m not swimming.” Sousuke frowns at his own words, they didn’t sound as smooth as he wanted them too.

The brunette’s emerald gaze falls on the raven-haired teen. Sousuke’s voice sounded scratchy, and a bit uneven. Makoto glances at Sousuke’s right shoulder for a moment before meeting his gaze once again, “o-oh. Ok. Um...I don’t mind staying a little longer if you want to swim after...”

Sousuke interrupts, “I can’t. I have to leave after this.” The raven-haired teen looks away realizing that his words sounded clipped, harsh, and cantankerous. He looks over to the group in front of the starting blocks and sighs, “I didn’t mean to snap at you. Do your best out there, Makoto. Come on.”

The emerald-eyed teen is taken aback when he is interrupted and the words that fall from Sousuke’s lips make him question what happened the last couple of days. He watches Sousuke start to walk away from him, taking a few steps towards the starting blocks before he looks over his shoulder.

Makoko nods, trying his best not to look worried as he catches up with Sousuke and taking a step past the raven-haired teen.

Sousuke knits his eyebrows as Makoto just nods at him and when the brunette tries to get past him, the teal-eyed teen quickly grasps the backstroke swimmer’s wrist, “Mako...”

The brunette hastily interrupts, “we better hurry. Everyone is waiting for us.” Makoto turns his head to smile at the raven-haired teen. 

The ex-butterfly swimmer hears an undertone of annoyance from the emerald-eyed teen and the smile that follows hits the teal-eyed teen like a slap in the face. Something feels off and before he could apologize again, Makoto easily slips out of Sousuke’s grasp as the raven-haired teen’s grip slackened.

He watches Makoto walk away wondering if he has somehow stepped past some kind of line with the brunette. Sousuke sighs as he walks over to the group, feeling a little disheartened.

Sousuke stands next to Rin taking notice of who is on whose team. The boys line up in order: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle as they put on their goggles and headcaps on. The teal-eyed teen smirks to himself as he notices that it’s the classic Samezuka vs. Iwatobi line-up. Momo going up against Makoto, Ai battling it out with Nagisa, Seijuurou taking on Rei, and of course, Rin and Haru taking the last leg of the race to see who places first as a group effort.

The raven-haired teen stays silent as Gou and Sasabe tell the young men to prepare for the race. Sousuke doesn’t pay any attention to the words that fly out of everyone’s mouths, instead he focuses his attention on Makoto.

Sousuke knits his eyebrows as he watches the brunette smile at his teammates and say some kind of remark towards Momo and Rin. He tilts his head slightly noticing that Makoto seems a little more tense in his movements, snapping back just a little more than usual, not as fluid, soft, or thoughtful, almost as if a part of him is afraid of something. Before Sousuke could ponder further he hears Rin’s voice pull him out of his thoughts.

The redhead quirks an eyebrow at the raven-haired teen, “oi...Sousuke? You ready?”

The ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes shift towards the crimson-eyed teen and nods, “I’ve been ready. Win, Rin.”

The redhead smirks a toothy shark-like grin, “heh! I wouldn’t have it any other way! Watch me blow everyone away.”

Sousuke half-smirks, “che. Prove it. Get ready, Rin. Focus.”

Gou giggles before she calls everyone’s attention, “alright, everyone. Let’s get this started.”

The teens cease their chatter as Makoto and Momo get into the pool. The brunette and the orange-haired teen grab onto the metal bar getting into position, waiting for Gou to call out the start of the race.

Makoto takes a deep breath, trying his best to calm his nerves. He can feel Momo’s presence next to him, excited, slightly impatient, and much more sharpened for competitive swimming than in the past. The brunette takes another breath, focusing his attention on his goal, swimming.

Gou waits until the teens seem honed on the task ahead of them, swimming as a team. The redheaded girl takes a breath, “on your marks. Get ready. Go!”

Both Momo and Makoto zone in on Gou’s sweet, commanding voice, their bodies tense as the words echo off the walls. As soon as Gou says, “go,” both backstroke swimmers release the metal bar, pushing off the wall as their backs arch until they hit the cool water.

Sousuke and Sasabe start their timers as soon as the redheaded girl said, “go,” the other teens in the room stare at the backstroke swimmers with anticipation, Nagisa and Ai stand on the starting blocks getting ready for their turn as they watch Momo and Makoto.

The cheers of boisterous voices mingle as each team scream for their prospective backstroke swimmer.

Sousuke watches closely, he notices that Momo was just a moment late on his start and during the underwater phase, the orange-haired teen catches up to the Makoto, and they are practically neck and neck. When the two teens make their turn, Momo takes the lead by half an arm’s length and keeps his lead as he approaches the other end of the pool.

The raven-haired teen glances over to Nagisa and Ai, taking note of the serious expression the silver-haired teen wears, paying very close attention to Momo’s movements. Both breaststroke swimmers get into position with a substantial sense of premeditation. Sousuke watches intently as Momo reaches for the wall, calling out for Ai to take his turn, but as soon as Momo’s hand makes contact with the wall, the light blue-eyed teen moves fluidly. 

The teal-eyed teen’s eyes glimmer as he watches the two practically interact with an almost perfect connection exchange. Ai’s form as he dives into the water holds more confidence and drive than his earlier practices this evening. The silver-haired teen swims with dedication as he continues pushing through the water.

As the two breaststroke swimmers make their turn to come back, Sousuke looks over to check on Nagisa, the blond has made up the difference during the underwater phase and when they come back to the surface of the water the two teens are neck and neck. The teal-eyed teen can sense the pink-eyed teen has improved his stroke, extending himself forward right at the end before starting the stroke all over again.

Seijuurou prepares himself for his leg of the race, grinning as he watches Ai with calculating ferocity. Sousuke glances over at the older Mikoshiba, realizing that the prior Samezuka captain bears an assertive presence, almost magisterial with a remarkable sense of propensity. The raven-haired teen has seen the vermilion-haired man swim in the past, but he didn’t really pay close attention to the small details of how Seijuurou carries himself. He used to think that the golden-eyed man was pompous, undaunted, and strangely extravagant. Sousuke still believes that Seijuurou is undaunted and extravagant, but the older Mikoshiba is also nurturing, disciplined, and versatile. 

Sousuke hears Momo’s voice, “Ai-senpai! Come on!! You can do it, Ai-senpai! You can beat him!”

Sousuke focuses on Ai, catching just a couple of rounds of the breaststroke before the silver-haired teen touches the wall. The raven-haired teen notices that Nagisa had touched the wall before Ai, giving Rei a lead for his part of the race.

Seijuurou cuts through the water and the raven-haired teen is amazed that the golden-eyed man has maintained his training regimen so well, as his butterfly stroke is robust and precise. Even as the vermilion-haired man makes his turn to swim back towards the starting block, Seijuurou holds his own in the water, slicing his way back to his teammates.

Sousuke is impressed that the older Mikoshiba is such a capable swimmer that he was able to make up for the lead the indigo-haired teen had from the beginning of his leg. The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen as Rin starts to thrust himself forward in a dive before Seijuurou hits the wall, however as Rin is in the air, Seijuurou hits the wall before Rin plunges into the water.

Sousuke’s eyes never leave Rin’s form, the redhead’s freestyle is forceful, compelling, even more so than the race he witnessed back in Tokyo when they visited Haru’s university sports center. He glances over at Haru and he can sense the rivalry, the tenacious aptitude the navy-haired teen has with the competitive sport. Watching the two jet through the flowing water is magical, and the cheers that had previously filled the room silenced, all of the observers awed by their prowess.

Sousuke knew that Rin and Haru were serious before, but now, that level of seriousness has risen to a whole new plane of existence, and for a moment the raven-haired teen envisions golden medals hanging from each of their necks, a glorious sight.

Sousuke notices Rin incoming towards his goal, to connect with the wall of the pool, the teal-eyed teen tightens his hold on the stopwatch, his heart pounding in his chest so hard, he can feel it flow to his fingertips. The raven-haired teen readies himself to hit the button to stop the timer, and as soon as he sees Rin’s tawny-peach hand touch the wall, Sousuke stops the timer, _‘3:41.27...wow.’_

Rin and Haru pull off their swimming caps and goggles as they stand in the water panting heavily. Rin stares at his hand firmly pressed up against the wall of the pool before he glances over at the navy-haired teen, a smile gracing his features, _‘damn. Damn! This is the best! I feel so alive! Haru, you are the best!’_

Sousuke hears cheers from all the teens in the poolroom as he walks over to Sasabe to see the difference in time. The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen in absolute shock. Rin and Haru’s times were close, but there is a clear winner just based on numbers. Sousuke takes the stopwatch from Sasabe’s hands, _‘shit. You’ve got to be kidding me!? 3:40.93!’_ Sousuke looks up into Sasabe’s chocolate colored eyes with disbelief before he sighs, looking away, “looks like Haru’s team wins.”

Sasabe is the first to gaze over at Nagisa, Rei, and Makoto and says with excitement, “you won! You guys won! That was amazing!” The blond man throws his arms around Nagisa and Makoto, dragging Rei into a crushing embrace.

Gou jumps up and down, trotting over to Makoto, Nagisa, Rei, and Sasabe as she pats the winners on the back impressed with the teens’ win.

Sousuke walks over at Ai, Momo, and Seijuurou and shakes his head, “they won. Not by much. It was close.” He shows the difference to the group and Momo is the first to moan in defeat.

The orange-haired teen whines, “mo~~u~~. Ahhhhh!!!” He runs his hands through his hair, “Nagisachii got us good! I’m sorry Ai-senpai! Ahhh!!! So embarrassing! And in front of Gou-san too!”

The silver-haired teen looks down at the stopwatches with disappointment but when he hears his name on Momo’s lips, he lifts his head to stare at the bemoaning golden-eyed teen, “you did your best, Momo-kun. That’s all I can ask of you.” The light blue-eyed teen looks up at Seijuurou-buchou and bows, “buchou, I’m sorry we didn’t win. And...thank you for swimming with us.”

The vermilion-haired man wraps his arms around Nitori and Momo, laughing boisterously, “it was my pleasure, Ai-kun! Don’t let this get you down, either of you! You swam with determination!” He looks over at Momo, “Momo! Don’t make your captain cry now! Hold your head up high!” The golden-eyed man tightens his embrace around the orange-haired teen’s neck.

Momo grasps his older brother’s wrist, trying to pry him off, “mo~~u~~! Nii-chan!! Ah! Get...get off of me! I’m not making Ai-senpai cry! Ge...get off!!”

The silver-haired teen can’t help but smile and laugh at the Mikoshiba brothers. Even though he is disappointed about the results, he finds the atmosphere to be light and fun.

Rin huffs under his breath as soon as he hears Sasabe call out the winners, his eyes never leaving the sapphire-eyed teen. Just when he’s about to call to the free-swimmer, those beautiful blue orbs turn to him, gleaming with delight.

The crimson-eyed teen is blown away, not only is there an ardent smile plastered on Haru’s face, he can see his eyes literally shine, like his spirit is dazzling. Rin’s mouth parts in absolute awe and it reminds him of the first time they competed together so many years ago. Only then Haru never smiled, but Rin could see that spirit so clearly, the raw ability, the passion for swimming, and at this moment he is reminded of that time he saw Haru’s true power. Rin chased Haru, wanting nothing more than to beat that light within the sapphire-eyed boy, but the more he tried to beat it, the more enthralled he became by the navy-haired boy.

Rin’s eyes waver feeling himself fall in love with Haru all over again, not just the boy he met so many years ago, but the young man he has become. Haru has found his dream, all on his own and decided to join him in a shared dream to swim with the best in the world.

Haru takes a couple of steps towards Rin, standing right in front of the divider and lifts his hand out of the water, palm facing the redhead, smiling wider.

Rin feels his heart swell and he quickly releases his hand from the wall, stepping closer to the navy-haired teen, turns his body to high five his competitor, his rival, his friend, his lover. The redhead’s fingers curl around Haru’s hand, gently squeezing as he says, “that was awesome. Thanks...”

Haru smirks, curling his fingers over Rin’s hand, returning the squeeze as he interrupts and continues Rin’s sentence, “for showing you a sight you’ve never seen.” The sapphire-eyed teen chuckles, “you’ve done the same for me, Rin.”

The two teens break into a fit of soft laughter.

Nagisa is the first to notice Rin and Haru, jumping into the water, getting right in between the two as he bounces, wrapping his arms around Rin and Haru’s necks, bringing them down, “Rin-Rin! Haru-chan! That was so amazing! Both of you are amazing! You swam with such gusto I forgot to cheer!!” The blond giggles as he nuzzles his cheeks against Rin and Haru.

Rei joins Nagisa, splashing into the water to embrace Haruka and Rin, excited to witness such a sublime race between them, “that was so beautiful~~! Exquisitely beautiful! Haruka-senpai! Rin-senpai!”

Makoto looks down at the pool, smiling at the excitement from Nagisa and Rei, happy that they got to swim together once again as a team. The brunette stares at Haru, surprised to see him smiling and laughing, _‘Haru. Oh, Haru! This is wonderful! You’re smiling.’_ His emerald gaze rests on Rin and he chuckles, _‘Rin. You really do bring out the best in Haru...the rest of us too.’_

Sasabe gently places his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and says, “you guys really are something. Watching all of you grow, it really makes me proud.”

The brunette turns his head to stare into those kind chocolate eyes and smiles, “well, we had some guidance along the way. Didn’t we...Sasabe-coach?”

The older man laughs heartily, “must have been fate we met that day, ne? If you hadn’t showed up, we would have continued to lose touch with each other. You have an impeccable memory, Makoto. And this...” The blond man gestures with his hand, moving it from his chest and outward, “this wouldn’t be here. You guys inspired me. I didn’t realize how much I missed and enjoyed helping you all out when this place was around. It’s nice having it back.”

Makoto’s eyes widen, his chest swells with sentiment, “Sasabe-coach.”

The older man pats the brunette’s shoulder, “let’s not dwell too much on the past. I just wanted to share this with you Makoto. I’m glad I was able to make some time to see this. Who knows when I’ll be able to see you guys swim together again.”

The brunette stares at the older man and smiles, “thank you, Sasabe-coach.”

Sasabe releases Makoto’s shoulder and says, “you’re welcome, Makoto. I’ll clean this place up. Go on and head to the locker rooms soon.”

Makoto watches Sasabe’s retreating back, _‘fate. I’ve never really thought about it that way.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 29th, Monday, 7:04 pm  **

****

Makoto chuckles as Nagisa and Momo talk about some of the funniest commercials they have seen. They said their goodbyes to Sasabe before he set out on his scooter, wishing the blond man a Happy New Year too. The brunette listened to the conversations between the teens as they walk to the train station to head their perspective ways.

Rin is staying over at Haru’s place, Makoto has an idea of what the free-swimmer will be offering the redhead for dinner, he can only hope that Rin can find the courage to eat mackerel and pineapple. Sousuke is heading home, saying something about having dinner with his mother, and since Gou is heading in a similar direction, the raven-haired teen promised Rin that he would escort her home.

Nagisa somehow convinced Seijuurou, Momo, and Ai to get some ramen near Rei’s home. The blond tried to persuade Makoto to come with them, but he decided against it since he received a text message from his mom stating that his uncle is still visiting his friend at the hospital. The brunette texted his mom letting her know that he will stop by the hospital to pick up some takeout for his uncle, just to make sure that he eats dinner, since they are both missing dinner at home.

Makoto looks over at the teal-eyed teen, walking next to Gou, bundled up with a dark grey scarf and wonders if Sousuke wanted to swim with everyone else, but before he could continue further with his thoughts, he hears Nagisa whine, “mo~~u~~! That’s not romantic, Momo-chan! Hunting for beetles isn’t romantic.”

The blond turns around to look over at the crimson-eyed teen, “ne, ne, Rin-Rin...what is the most romantic thing you can think of?”

Rin makes a face before he sighs, mumbling, “seriously? How did we get to this kind of conversation.” The redhead looks over to Haru who is between him and Rei. He hears a fit of giggles behind him and Rin turns his head around to find Gou and Ai giggling about something together, “oi! What’s so funny?”

The redheaded girl puts her hands up in defense, “nothing, nothing, onii-chan.”

Ai smiles at the previous Samezuka captain, “sorry, Rin-senpai...”

Nagisa turns around to face Ai and interrupts, “since Rin-Rin hasn’t answered me, what do you think, Ai-chan? What’s the most romantic thing you can think of?”

Seijuurou laughs and says, “that’s an easy one! Make a nice dinner with some dessert!”

Momo looks up at his brother and makes a face, “nii-chan! That’s so lame! Everyone does that! It’s not special! Going out into the wild and showing off my special techniques of beetle catching is much better!”

Gou giggles and whispers, “a muscle contest...ohhh...that would be the best date.”

Ai looks over at the redheaded girl with a shocked expression before his eyes shift up to look at Sousuke. He looks away and says, “ummm...wouldn’t it be nice to just go on a walk on the beach...like a midnight stroll or maybe during the spring or summer...and have a swim?”

Nagisa tilts his head to the side and smiles, “Ai-chan! You’re so cute!” He looks up at Sousuke and says, “what about you Sou-chan?”

The teal-eyed teen releases a deep sigh, _‘I don’t know. Why are we talking about this anyway...I’ll just give him a simple answer. He’ll never shut-up without one.’_

Sousuke says with disinterest, “I don’t know, maybe take someone to Odaiba and let them decide what they want to do there. Probably play games at the arcade centers, ride the ferris wheel, view the Tokyo skyline, check out the showrooms, and go shopping.” He shrugs and continues, “it has everything most people would like to do on a date.”

Nagisa looks a bit shocked before he smiles, “a-ah! I can’t wait to go to Tokyo and check that place out! It sounds like so much fun!”

The blond turns to Makoto who is standing next to Momo and says, “what about you Mako-chan?”

The brunette’s quickly answers hesitantly, “ah, Nagisa. I...I don’t really know. Everyone’s answers sound really good, I don’t think I can come up with anything better.”

Nagisa pouts cutely, “awwww, Mako-chan! I bet you would make someone feel really special! Come on, Mako-chan! What is the most romantic thing you can think of?”

Makoto rubs his arm with his hand as he ponders, _‘the most romantic thing I can think of...hmm. Well, the cat café was really nice...that could be romantic. I enjoyed my time there with...’_ The brunette’s mouth parts as he realizes who he was with at the cat café. 

Rei readjusts his glasses after a bit of silence and says, “wouldn’t it be best to find out what activities your interest likes and then base an outing on that information.”

Nagisa walks backwards and listens to Rei’s description, “hmmm...ok! What do you think I would like as a romantic date then?”

The indigo-haired teen readjusts his glasses once again, this time a look of confliction graces his features as he says slowly, “w-well...I would probably take you to a...theme park or a...street fair. I-it would depend on...a lot of different factors.” The purple-eyed teen looks over at Nagisa and says, “w-why are you asking about romance all of a sudden!?!?”

The pink-eyed teen giggles as he turns around, ignoring Rei as he hugs Haru’s arm and says, “what about you Haru-chan?”

The navy-haired teen shifts his sapphire gaze over to the wide-eyed blond and says nonchalantly, “haven’t we had this discussion before?”

Nagisa blinks, thinking about the question, “hmmm....ummmm...I don’t think so. Ah! I do remember asking about who you would date! But that’s a different question.” The blond shakes Haru’s arm and says, “Ha~ru~cha~n~! Come on!! You must have some idea about it.”

Rin smirks, “come on Haru-chan! I want to know.”

Haru turns his head and lightly glares at the redhead, “well, what about you? You didn’t answer the question, Rin.”

The redhead makes a face, “che! So touchy! Fine! I’ll answer, but you have to answer first. I bet you have no idea what to do for a romantic date.”

The navy-haired teen turns his head forward and says with a bit of confidence, “I do too.”

Nagisa squeezes Haru’s arm and says, “oh? Tell us Haru-chan!!”

The sapphire-eyed teen says with a glimmer in his eye, “pool. I’d take my date to the pool.”

Rin opens his mouth to protest, but nothing comes out, instead he just continues to stare at the navy-haired teen with bewilderment.

Nagisa’s eyes widen for a few moments, shocked by Haru’s answer but then he hugs the free-swimmer’s arm, chuckling, “that is so Haru-chan!”

Rei smiles fondly, remembering other times similar to this when Haruka would surprise them all with his devotion to the water. It’s such a typical answer from the navy-haired teen, and even still, everyone including him, forgets Haruka’s beautifully simplistic answers. It’s nice to witness Haru’s idiosyncrasies again, it reminds him of last year, when they were all together, laughing and enjoying each other’s company.

Momo and Ai stare at the back of Haru’s head and says in unison, “eeeehhhh?”

Seijuurou roars with laughter, throwing an arm around Momo.

Gou giggles, covering her mouth.

Sousuke knits his eyebrows looking at the back of Haru’s head like he’s crazy.

Makoto chuckles to himself, fully knowing the answer from the sapphire-eyed teen, but it still surprises him when Haru blatantly says what’s on his mind.

Haru side glances over at the redhead and says, “now, you answer Rin.”

The crimson-eyed teen runs a hand through his hair as he looks away, muttering under his breath, “figures...it would be something like that.” He says, “okay, okay. Let me think for a moment.” Rin is silent briefly, _‘something...romantic.’_

Rin looks away from the group as a miniscule flush sets on his cheeks, “I think... flying out to see them with a surprise visit is romantic. Coming up to their doorstep and ringing the doorbell...until they come out to see their company, kinda like a present is one of the most romantic things I can think of.”

Haru stares at the redhead with wavering eyes, blinks, and continues to stare, but this time casually. Rin is still looking away and the navy-haired teen can see just a slight blush on his cheeks, _‘is he? He is, isn’t he. He’s blushing. That’s the most romantic thing you can think of, huh, Rin? It’s fitting. For you.’_

Nagisa giggles, “awwww! That sounds like something from a romantic film!”

Gou, Ai, Momo, and Seijuurou chuckle at Nagisa’s comment, finding the situation Rin provided to be cute. Rei brings up his hand, turning his head away from the group, chuckling to himself.

Makoto’s eyes widen and he stops. Memories of the evening he met his uncle and Takeshi at _Sunrise Café_ flood his mind. Sitting across from the coffee-eyed teen, the anger, the pleading, and the determined gaze. The brunette balls his hand into a fist, _‘romantic, huh. A surprise visit...’_ A pained expression makes it’s way to Makoto’s face, and he looks down at his black and brown boots, lost in thought.

Rin turns around and roars, “oi! It’s not that funny! Oi!” He glares at Gou, Ai, Momo, and Seijuurou for laughing at him, “humph! You guys suck!”

Sousuke smiles at the redhead, finding the crimson-eyed teen’s romantic streak hitting an all time high, but somehow it warms his chest knowing that Rin hasn’t changed all that much. He looks over to his side to find most of the group laughing, but he realizes that someone is missing. As Rin yells at the group, Sousuke turns around to look behind him and he knits his eyebrows.

The raven-haired teen gazes for a moment before he says loudly, “oi, Makoto? You ok?”

Everyone stops laughing to look back at the brunette. Haru cuts through Momo and Seijuurou quickly walking up to the emerald-eyed teen. Nagisa and Rei exchange confused glances, Rin knits his eyebrows with worry, looking over at Gou and Sousuke. Momo, Ai, and Seijuurou stare at the navy-haired teen and the backstroke swimmer curiously, wondering if something has happened. Gou looks between the pair of best friends and her brother, shaking her head and shrugging before staring at the pair of friends once again. Sousuke on the other hand finds himself moving closer to Haru and Makoto, but stops about a foot away from the pair as he watches their interaction.

Haru grabs Makoto’s hand and just at the touch, the brunette’s head lifts up instantly, his eyes filled with emotion. The navy-haired teen squeezes Makoto’s gloved hand in his as he says, “Makoto.” Haru says with his eyes, ‘don’t think about him. It’s not the same thing.’

The brunette looks away and sighs, “I don’t know. What if that was his intention...wha...”

Haru quickly exhales, “it’s not.” The sapphire-eyed teen looks at the backstroke swimmer’s profile, his darkened green eyes swarming with emotion, anger, defensiveness, and resentment. The navy-haired teen can feel his own emotions bubble up and he looks down as he tries to smother the feelings within him, not wanting to show them.

Makoto closes his eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before he turns his head and says, “Haru.”

The sapphire-eyed teen looks up reluctantly, yet curiously.

The brunette smiles and says, “I’ll be ok. Don’t worry, Haru. I’ll talk to my uncle about this, ok.” He says with his eyes, ‘Rin is with you tonight.’

The navy-haired teen pouts with his eyes, battling with his protective and possessive nature but at the same time Makoto’s words about Rin ring true. He releases Makoto’s hand and says, “talk to Suzuki.”

Makoto places a hand on Haru’s shoulder and says, “ok.” He walks past the free-swimmer, smiling at Sousuke as he passes by and says to the group, “sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to make you guys worry. I was just lost in my thoughts.” The brunette rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

Sousuke frowns slightly; something about the way the emerald-eyed teen smiled at him seemed dissonant as he watches Makoto’s retreating back. The raven-haired teen stands there for a moment, observing how Makoto tries his best to reassure Nagisa and Rei that he’s doing ok, that things have been overwhelming, and that he’s missed them a lot.

Haru stands next to the ex-butterfly swimmer and says in a hushed tone, “you can tell...can’t you, Sousuke.”

The raven-haired teen shifts his gaze over to the sapphire-eyed teen, their eyes clashing together, but Sousuke can see a deep worry over the brunette and he gives Haru a confused look.

The navy-haired teen looks away, feeling like he may have said too much with his eyes as Sousuke is giving him a strange gaze. Haru says with slight distress in his tone, “nevermind.” Haru walks towards the group, standing next to the brunette.

Sousuke sighs, _‘what the hell was that all about? Something must have happened. Makoto...what are you hiding?’_ The teal-eyed teen walks back towards the group, together they continue towards the train station, talking about other pointless things. No one mentions the strange behavior from the emerald-eyed teen.

When Makoto leaves at his stop to visit the hospital, Sousuke notices Haru’s clear blue eyes worrying over the brunette as he left, leaving the raven-haired teen wondering if Haru and Makoto had some kind of disagreement. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 29th, Monday, 8:56 pm  **

****

Rin takes the last bite of his grilled mackerel over rice, savoring the robust flavor of the salty fish and the sweet pineapple sauce on top. The redhead puts down his chopsticks on his plate, grabbing his cup of barley tea and gulping the comforting warm liquid down his throat.

Haru puts down his ceramic cup of tea, his eyes shifting up to stare at the redhead across from him as Rin laps up his tea. The navy-haired teen watches Rin’s adam’s apple bob up and down almost as if he was hypnotized until Rin brings the cup down and his crimson eyes gaze back at him.

The redhead wipes the his mouth with the back of his hand and says, “so...you and Makoto?”

The free-swimmer gazes at the redhead blankly, but his ears perk up at the question. The navy-haired teen licks his lips, “what about me and Makoto?”

Rin pushes his plate a bit to the side of the brown wooden table, leaning over as he rests his elbow on the surface and plops his chin in the palm of his hands, “earlier. What was that all about?”

Haru looks away, leaning his elbows on the edge of the square table, holding his forearm as he shifts his legs from its cross-legged position slightly, “it’s...I can’t say. Makoto will have to tell you. Why? Why are you so curious?”

The redhead knits his eyebrows lightly, sighing, “I don’t know. I haven’t seen Makoto upset all that much, so when he’s not doing well, it bothers me. I can tell you are bothered by it.”

Haru turns his head and gazes at the redhead with a bit of wonder, “how can you tell?”

Rin gives him a knowing look, “hey, I may be slow to the draw when it comes to certain things. You aren’t all that forthcoming, Haru. I can just...I can just tell. I don’t know! Hard to explain.”

The navy-haired teen looks down at the dark brown table, “is it really romantic to travel by plane to see someone?”

The redhead lifts his chin from his perch, a little surprised by the question, “hah? Is that what it was about?”

Haru doesn’t answer the question, instead he pressed forward, “to surprise someone with your presence? Some may say it’s rude.”

Rin frowns, “oi! What are you going on about? I know you used to let Makoto and the gang from Iwatobi come by your place all the time, invited or not. Heck, even me, so what’s the difference? If you don’t like that sort of thing, just say it.” The all-around swimmer crosses his arms over his chest.

The navy-haired teen shifts his eyes up to catch a glimpse of Rin’s dissatisfied face, “nevermind.”

The redhead frowns as silence overtakes the pair of teens. Rin sighs and mumbles, “don’t worry about it. I won’t do something like that. Besides, it’s expensive.”

Haru remains silent, lost in his own thoughts, _‘Rin...you’re upset. You don’t understand, and I can’t tell you. What if it’s someone you don’t expect, someone you don’t want to see? Wouldn’t that change the circumstances? If it were you Rin, I would be happy, but I would think it’s stupid...if you just visit me. Even so, I like this part of you Rin. Makoto has to be the one to tell you. He doesn’t want anyone to know. That Ito had come by and visited him, trying to reunite their previous relationship. Makoto is considering it, even though I advised against it. He needs to come to his own...’_

The navy-haired teen’s thoughts are suspended when he hears Rin’s words. He looks up to find the redhead getting up, leaning down to pick up his dishes. Haru watches Rin stand back up and walk towards the shoji door, probably to head to the kitchen across the hallway, however before Rin could step into the hallway the crimson-eyed teen says over his shoulder, “do you want me to stay tonight? I can head home and you can wait for Makoto to return, if he hasn’t already.”

Haru’s face contorts with anxiety and shock, _‘wa-wait. I thought you were staying tonight? Why are you saying this?’_

The sapphire-eyed teen squeezes his hands together watching the redhead walk into the hallway. He listens with a bit of fear and irritation, hearing the sound of dishes being placed into the steel sink.

Rin comes back into the living room and Haru says with indifference, “what do you want?”

Rin stops by the shoji door, leaning his shoulder against the doorframe as he huffs silently, not liking the question directed back at him, _‘what the hell?’_ The redhead glares at the tatami mat floor, “forget it. I’ll just go home. We can see each other later.”

Haru quickly gets up off the floor, standing up waiting for Rin to raise his head. The redhead knits his eyebrows, looking up to find the free-swimmer wide-eyed with fear. Rin’s crimson gaze wavers as confusion pools in his core, not understanding why Haru looks so scared all of a sudden.

The navy-haired teen says impetuously, “stay. I want you to stay, Rin.”

Rin just stares at Haru, not sure what to say for a moment. They’ve argued plenty in the past, this is nothing out of the ordinary, but it sure does feel different. Ever since they became an official couple, they have argued less, agreeing to be a little more direct with each other since a long distance relationship requires communication to make it work. Rin had his doubts about the long distance, since he had pretty much lost touch with everyone when he went to Australia the first time. However, he was determined not to make the same mistake this time, making sure to schedule in Skype chats, texts, and even phone calls. It’s been tough trying to find times that worked for both parties, but it was always worth it.

Rin finds himself pushing off the doorframe, uncrossing his arms, walking towards the navy-haired teen until he stands before him and says with a steadfast gaze, “ok. I’ll stay.” The redhead looks away, rubbing the back of his neck, “don’t get stuck in your head, Haru. I can’t read your mind like Makoto can. I need to hear the words come out of your mouth. Just like our Skype chats and all that.”

Haru looks down, sighing in relief, listening to Rin’s words. The sapphire-eyed teen nods and says quietly, “ok.”

Rin side glances over at the navy-haired teen, lifting his hand up to caress Haru’s cheek, leading his sapphire eyes up to his crimson gaze. The redhead had meant to say something, but he gets lost in that deep blue ocean stare. 

The navy-haired teen meets those red orbs, finding himself admiring those brilliantly expressive eyes, shining like shooting stars. Haru places his hand on Rin’s chest and says, “if you came to see me, unexpectedly...from Australia...I would be happy to see you.”

The redhead’s eyes smile, glimmering like twinkling stars in the sky as he brings his face closer to the navy-haired teen’s, their noses brushing up against each other, “and I would take you to the nearest body of water...challenging you to multiple races as I beat your ass over and over again until our limbs feel like jelly.”

Haru laughs softly, his hand on Rin’s chest slowly clutching the soft midnight blue cardigan over a black and white pincheck dress shirt with the first button undone and says, “too hopeful, Rin.”

The navy-haired teen moves up, pulling the redhead down towards him as he crashes his lips with Rin’s. A delicate kiss, one of amends and restoration. Haru wraps his other arm around Rin’s waist, pulling the redhead closer to him, tasting the salty remnants of mackerel on Rin’s lips. Haru pulls back just a bit, their lips separating as the navy-haired teen opens his mouth to lick the leftovers of the dish on the redhead’s lips. 

Rin’s hand moves from Haru’s cheek to the back of the sapphire-eyed teen’s neck, gently cradling his lover as he places his other hand on Haru’s hips, interlocking his middle and forefinger in the navy-haired teen’s belt-loop of his latte colored jeans, pulling Haru close in response to the sapphire-eyed teen’s actions.

When Haru pulls away, Rin shudders as he feels Haru’s warm breath wash over him. He moans when he feels the navy-haired teen’s wet tongue sweep along his bottom and top lip before he dives in and devours Haru’s inviting mouth. Rin’s tongue twirls over Haru’s, almost as if he’s teasing the sapphire-eyed teen to play with him in a battle of dominance as he deepens the kiss.

Haru doesn’t just take the challenge Rin presents him with, he willingly swirls his tongue under Rin’s, lifting himself up a bit as he places his weight on the balls of his feet, obtaining some leverage as he intensifies the kiss into a whirl of exaltation. Teeth clash as Rin and Haru’s tongues frolic trying to maintain control over the kiss.

After several moments of taunting each other in a battle of tongues, neither one able to keep the dominance of the kiss as both Rin and Haru revel in the pleasure of taking both roles, Haru breaks the kiss, needing air. He rests his forehead on Rin’s shoulder, unraveling his fingers from the cardigan the sapphire-eyed teen was grasping, pressing his fingertips in a circular motion as he pants heavily.

The redhead opens his eyes slowly, missing those warm lips pressed against his, wanting to play more with the navy-haired teen’s tongue. He looks down at Haru and says in a whisper, “Haru.”

The navy-haired teen’s breath trembles when he hears Rin’s delectably sexy voice. Low, gruff, and filled with marvel, Haru whimpers silently as he moves his hand from Rin’s chest up the redhead’s neck and jawline caressing the crimson-eyed teen’s ear and cheek with his fingers as he looks up and says, “go upstairs, Rin. I’ll clean up here.”

Rin smirks, moving his hand from Haru’s belt-loops to the navy-haired teen’s ass, squeezing as he pushes the free-swimmer towards him and rolling his hips forward, “is that a promise for something more, Haru?”

Haru’s breath hitches as his face contorts with a mixture of pleasure and restraint, knitting his eyebrows and closing his eyes until his breath becomes even, “maybe. But if you don’t go now...you will be sleeping on the floor.”

Rin enjoys the view of Haru’s face trying to maintain his cool, seeing the navy-haired teen become undone by his actions gives him a sense of a small victory. However, the words the pass through the sapphire-eyed teen’s lips makes the redhead wince, “ok, ok. I won’t push my luck.” The crimson-eyed teen unwillingly releases Haru from his grasp, taking a couple steps back, “I’ll go change then. You sure you don’t need any help?”

Haru instantly misses Rin’s warmth, looks up to gaze into those soft crimson eyes before he shakes his head, answering Rin’s question.

Rin nods, turns on his heel and walks out of the living room and into the hallway, heading up the stairs to Haru’s room.

The navy-haired teen watches Rin’s retreating back, noticing how broad the redhead’s shoulders are before the crimson-eyed teen disappears from view. Haru realizes that Rin has changed quite a bit since the last time they’ve seen each other in person, and for some reason his shoulders look broader than they did before, almost as if he’s able to take on the weight of anything he puts his mind to.

Rin reminds Haru of a rare gemstone, shiny, beautiful, hardy, and people scour the world to find the rarest gems, paying a hefty price. He left Japan to challenge himself, in hopes to become brighter. Rin may have lost his way, just like he did, but Rin found the light somewhere back here, where it all started. Instead of Rin choosing to leave, he was scouted by the very place he left Japan for, wanting to bask in Rin’s beautiful light...just like a gem.

Rin chose to leave, again to challenge himself, with the hope of meeting in the future to compete on the world’s biggest stage. Haru smiles to himself, running his hands through his hair, _‘Rin...no matter what happens...you have my heart.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 29th, Monday, 9:28 pm  **

****

Rin plops his black and grey duffle bag on Haru’s mattress, unzipping the main compartment. He searches the contents of the bag looking for his sweatpants, t-shirt, and an extra pair of briefs. He knits his eyebrows as he feels something hard in the bag. Rin pulls out the leathery item, he quirks an eyebrow as he just stares at a single red mary jane shoe. The redhead looks back down at his bag as he puts the shoe on the floor before pulling out everything out of his bag.

Rin finds the other half to complete the pair of mary jane shoes, in addition he finds white thigh high stockings with a black trim on the top, two pairs of lacy thongs that Rin recognizes as part of his Christmas gift from Nagisa, a white apron with a white frilly trim, a black hair band with a white frilly trim to match the apron, a big red bow, and a black dress with puffy sleeves and a white frilly trim to match the rest of the items.

The all-around swimmer stares at the items with disbelief, _‘what the hell? Who the hell put this in my bag? This is the Samezuka maid café from hell outfit! Ugh...I hated this thing! Why?’_ Rin looks in the bag again and notices a piece of A6 sized paper with some grey looking bird mascot framing the edges at the very bottom. Rin picks up the piece of paper recognizing the bird mascot as Iwatobi-chan upon further inspection. He reads the note.

「Onii-chan,

I packed your jammers, but I also packed something very special for you! Remember that absolutely adorable maid outfit you wore during your second year of high school? Well, I bought the outfit for you! ^_~ If you want to make Haruka-senpai really happy, I suggest you wear it sometime. Everyone really wanted to see you in the outfit, but you wouldn’t allow me to take any pictures! (I didn’t forget, onii-chan!) (。┰ω┰。) Anyway, enjoy the gift! Hope you find it useful!

<3,

Gou ⊂((・▽・))⊃

P.S. Don’t forget to show off your muscles, onii-chan! Especially your pecs! The peek-a-boo opening in the front is so swoon worthy! ^/////^ Make sure to adjust the dress appropriately! I’m not there to help you put the dress on this time. Good luck! 」

Rin’s eyes widen as he continues reading the note, _‘Go-Gou!! You bought it?!’_ The redhead smacks his forehead and groans. He falls to his knees, “what the hell? This has got to be some kind of joke, right?” The redhead rubs his temples for a couple of moments before he glares at the offending dress displayed against Haru’s light blue comforter.

Rin glare softens as he considers actually putting it on. After all, he did promise to wear a maid dress if he ever lost against the navy-haired teen. His team did lose this evening. He knits his eyebrows, before sighing in defeat, “shit. I guess I’m wearing the damn thing. Ugh! What a pain!”

The redhead begrudgingly starts taking off his clothes, committing to putting on the dress before he backs out.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 29th, Monday, 9:31 pm  **

****

Makoto sits down on his bed debating if he should take a bath after his uncle is done with the shower room. He runs his hand through his hair, his thoughts going back to Takeshi, but before he could ponder too deeply about his ex, he hears his phone buzz on his desk.

The brunette gets up off the bed, walks over to his desk, pulling the chair out and flopping onto the soft black cushion as he checks his message.

[To: Makoto

From: Haru

Did you talk to your uncle? ]

Makoto chuckles to himself before he types out a message.

[To: Haru

From: Makoto

Yeah, I did. Don’t worry, Haru. I’m not upset like I was earlier. And it’s not Rin’s fault. Now that I had some time to think about it, I think it’s really sweet. Spend time with him tonight. Stop texting me. ]

[To: Makoto

From: Haru

Ok. I’ll spend time with Rin. But, if you need to talk to someone, talk to Sousuke. ]

The brunette stares at the screen curiously, _‘Haru? Are you saying that Sousuke knows?’_ Makoto sighs as he texts Haru that he will see him tomorrow and to have a good night. Worried the emerald-eyed teen opens up a new text window.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

Hey. Sorry about what happened earlier today. ]

Makoto puts his phone down on the white desk, staring at the device until the screen becomes black. The backstroke swimmer wonders if the raven-haired teen is busy with family. He gets up after a few moments, deciding that Sousuke must be busy or sleeping and just when he’s about to take a step towards his bed, his phone vibrates. Makoto sits back down at his desk chair, picking up the phone.

[To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

No problem. Are you ok? Did you and Haru get into a fight or something? Also, sorry for snapping at you at the swim club. ]

Makoto tilts his head to the side, a bit confused by Sousuke’s question.

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

I’ve been better, but I’ll be ok. Don’t worry about it. O.o Why do you think Haru and I are fighting? We aren’t fighting. And, it’s ok. I think I snapped at you too. ]

[To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

Well, something happened. You didn’t seem yourself. You seemed a bit more tense than usual. Did you get some kind of bad news or something? I deserved it. ]

[To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

Well, sorta. Really, you don’t need to worry about it. Just take care of yourself, Sousuke. ]

Makoto sighs as he rests his arms on his thighs, looking up at the cream colored ceiling. His eyes become slightly clouded as he thinks about his conversation with his uncle. He felt selfish for asking his uncle advice about his ex and his uncle’s relationship with his aunt since the older man is dealing with a sick friend on top of everything else.

Suddenly his phone starts vibrating, indicating that he has an incoming call. He blinks and quickly answers the phone without looking to see who’s calling him, “hello?”

The other voice on the line sighs and says in a deep baritone, “Mako. If something is bothering you, you know you can talk to me.”

Makoto’s eyes widen and he whispers, “S-Sou...why are you calling me?”

The teal-eyed teen retorts, “because I care about you...and we’re friends.”

The brunette smiles, chuckling lightly, “Sou. You’re an idiot.”

Sousuke frowns, “that’s rich coming from you. I’d say you’re the idiot for thinking you can hide anything with anyone with half a brain. I bet all your friends know something is up. Especially after what happened when we were walking to the train station.”

Makoto inhales, ready to retort and interrupt the raven-haired teen, but stops as he realizes that Sousuke could be right, “you think so?”

The ex-butterfly swimmer pauses and says delicately, “yeah. I think so. Everyone we spent time with tonight, cares about you a lot. I’m sure they are able to read you better than they let on.”

The brunette slumps in his chair, “o-oh. I guess you’re right.”

Sousuke takes a deep breath, “hey, don’t get down on yourself. If you don’t want to talk to me about it, you don’t have to. Talk to Haru.”

Makoto walks over to his bed and flops on his side, “I can’t talk to him right now. He’s busy. And don’t say it, Sou. You know very well that they could be doing things that require their whole attention.”

The raven-haired teen grunts, “no shit. I bet they are fucking right now.”

Makoto groans, face-palming, “uuugghhh! Did you have to say it, Sou? Really? I doubt they have sex every time they see each other! Besides, Rin’s a romantic. I bet he loves to cuddle.”

Sousuke scoffs, “he may be a romantic, but he gets horny. I’m sure whatever they do to get off can only last so long before they need physical contact.”

The brunette knits his eyebrows and frowns. He turns his body, lying on his back as he responds, “that may be true, but they...they...” Makoto sighs, “nevermind. I don’t really know. I don’t pry too much on their relationship, and really we shouldn’t be having this conversation. It’s their relationship not something we have to get involved in. Besides, I...think they are good for each other.”

Sousuke remains silent on the other end of the line.

Makoto closes his eyes, _‘I said too much. He’s still in love with Rin.’_ The brunette says, “I’m sorry. I’m tired. I have a lot on my mind...I have some things I need to think about. Sousuke, you should go to...”

The raven-haired teen interrupts, “what’s bothering you?”

The emerald-eyed teen bites back, “well, what’s bothering you? I’m not the only one who’s a bit on the moody side.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, “well that’s none of...”

Makoto interrupts sadly, “yeah, none of my business. Yet, you want to know about my business. Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical? You apologize for being snippy but you refuse to share when someone is willing to listen. Why should I share? Don’t you think I’ve burdened you enough with my problems? I don’t want to overstep my friendship with you Sou. I trust you, but right now, you are being a bit of an ass.”

Sousuke takes in what Makoto says, but remains quiet, frowning.

The brunette continues, “maybe we shouldn’t live together. If this is the way...”

Sousuke interrupts, “oi! Don’t be rash. Just because we’re arguing doesn’t mean that we don’t get along. Mako. I, I want you to live with me. I like having you around.”

The brunette is silent for a moment, taking in Sousuke’s words. He covers his eyes with his forearm and says, “I...I like spending time with you too. You know, when Nagisa asked about the romantic thing...I thought about the cat café you took me to. I had a lot of fun with you...and if I were to take a date somewhere, I would take them to a cat café.”

The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen, a small flush staining his cheeks and for once he’s glad that Makoto can’t see him. He says softly, “oi. I’m sure there are other places that would be romantic to take a date to.”

Makoto smiles to himself, “maybe. Anyway...”

Sousuke interrupts, “wait. Just to be clear. You are ok with me asking my dad about you moving in with me?”

The brunette takes a moment to think about the question. He realizes that his tired brain is just being quick to judge and says, “yeah. Sorry. I think I’m really tired after everything that happened today. I haven’t been sleeping well. And Kisumi was over last night. We ended up losing track of time and he slept over with his brother Hayato.”

The raven-haired teen says, “ah. I see. Well, I’ll let you go to bed then.”

Makoto moves his forearm from his eyes, his vision readjusting to the smooth cream ceiling above and says, “wait. Tell me something.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, “I’m listening.”

The brunette releases a shaky breath, “hypothetically...if someone you cared about came to visit you out of the blue, talked with your friends or family, and then met them at a café with a relative and a friend, how would you feel about it?”

The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows, “well, that is kinda vague with some strange specifics. Someone I cared about? Like what? A long lost family member?”

Makoto blurts, “ex...I mean a friend that you had a fight with and thought the friendship was over but then they came to visit you.”

Sousuke frowns, “wait a minute. Your ex? That idiot came to visit you?”

The brunette remains silent but his defeated sigh is a dead give away.

The raven-haired teen internally curses, “Mako...”

Makoto interrupts, “oh, hold on. Someone is knocking on my door.”

Sousuke hears the phone being plopped on something, some silence and two voices talking for a couple of minutes before Makoto comes back, “can we talk about this later? My uncle needs help with my dad’s computer. He wants to email a few of his friends and prefers writing on the computer rather than his phone.”

The ex-butterfly swimmer sighs, “yeah. Call me tomorrow when you have time. Or we can meet a little earlier if you want. You know before dinner with everyone.”

Makoto says, “ok. I’ll text you in the morning and let you know. Thanks Sousuke. I’ll talk to you later. Good-night.”

The raven-haired teen hangs up with the brunette after saying ‘good-night’. He looks at his laptop screen in his room, the Korean movie, _Mother,_ paused about a half hour into the movie debating with himself if he wants to continue the film. He thinks about what Makoto told him and the pit of his stomach fills with uneasiness.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 29th, Monday, 9:46 pm  **

****

Haru closes the light in the kitchen, finishing up cleaning the dishes and tidying up. He roams down the hallway, making sure that he didn’t forget anything and stops at the shoji doorway to the living room and notices a couple of sports magazines he had left on one of the side tables, neatly piled next to his parents’ mail. He had meant to show Rin and ask if sports magazines in Australia were different. The navy-haired teen trots over to the side table, picks them up and turns off the light before heading upstairs.

As he heads up the stairs, he ponders on his last conversation with Makoto and hopes the brunette had a good talk with his uncle. Suzuki had always been observant, he even caught him in one of his half-truths when he was little and at the time it startled him and the older man just smiled at him. When he reaches the top of the stairs he sees that his door is slightly ajar, a beam of light pouring through the opening. He walks to the front of the cream-colored shoji door, placing his hand by the handle and gently sliding it open.

Haru’s eyes widen, his mouth parting as his mind tries to comprehend what he’s seeing in front of him. The sapphire-eyed teen inhales sharply, holding his breath as his eyes roam Rin’s form. The redhead has his back to Haru, bending down in a dress with a white bow tied around his waist, white thigh-high stockings with black trim above his knee. Rin’s tawny-peach thighs exposed, the black dress with white frills just hovering above the redhead’s ass as he places something into something.

The navy-haired teen’s grip on the sports magazines loosens, and before he knows it they slip out of his hand, falling on the floor.

Rin’s head lightly moves back before he’s able to zip up his duffle bag that he’s hovering over on the floor next to the small bookcase, hearing something fall behind him. He thought he had packed everything back into the bag, but he forgot a shirt and the other lacy thongs that he placed on Haru’s bed. The redhead didn’t want Haru to know exactly what he was wearing under the dress. Rin quickly straightens from his waist, standing up before he twists his body around to see what fell.

The crimson-eyed teen’s eyes widen, then waver as Haru stands in the doorway, his hand on the shoji door handle and magazines on the floor, but the expression on the navy-haired teen’s face makes the redhead’s cheeks flush deeply.

Haru’s eyes are glimmering, an unmistakable rosy blush on his cheekbones. Rin swallows as he turns around completely, facing the free-swimmer, “uh, I wasn’t expecting you so soon. But I guess yo...”

Rin takes in a breath of air, shocked to see Haru take steps towards him and for a moment, the redhead just stands there like a deer stuck in the headlights.

The navy-haired teen exhales slowly as Rin turns around, revealing a maid dress, complete from head to toe. The frilly hairband like a halo around Rin’s fiery hair, a big red bow tied around his neck, a small opening just below the bow’s knot shows Rin’s perfect skin, the apron that frames his body and the cute red shoes to marry the whole look together. Haru’s heart flutters at the sight, he’s always wanted to see Rin in a maid dress, ever since he’s heard the redhead dressing as one for the cultural event at Samezuka that one year. Of course, Haru didn’t hear about it until their third year, and he wished he knew about it sooner.

Rin trembling voice, it sounds so unsure, so unlike the crimson-eyed teen that Haru acts before he’s thought anything through. His body moves forward, taking steps in front of him, physically getting closer to the redhead. Haru notices Rin’s voice vanishing, the look in his eyes seem so shocked, so pure, and all Haru wants to do is just get closer to Rin.

Rin tries to take a step back, hitting the side of the duffle bag behind him, the crimson-eyed teen loses his balance and Haru wraps his arms around him as soon as he notices the redhead falling backward. 

The two teens fall to the floor, hitting the light blue-carpeted floor below with a thud. The redhead closes his eyes bracing the impact of his body slamming against the floor. Rin’s legs spread apart, briefly hanging in the air until he brings them down, his heels over the top of the duffle bag. Haru wedged between his legs, pressed against his body, an arm around his waist and a hand cradling the back of his head. Rin opens his eyes and sees the dark brown wooden ceiling, a head of navy hair to his side, and he realizes that his arm is hanging over Haru’s shoulder, his hand clutching the cotton stripped sweater and his other arm around the navy-haired teen’s neck.

Haru lifts his head from Rin’s shoulder, his hand cradling Rin’s head lightly rubs the scalp as he says, “Rin, are you ok?”

Rin peers up into those worried filled sapphire eyes and says, “yeah. I think so.” His hands resting on Haru’s shoulders, he continues, “what was that for? I wasn’t expecting you to knock me to the floor!”

Haru’s eyes widen before they glimmer, the blush on his face returning as those sapphire orbs shift to the side. He opens his mouth to say something, but then presses his lips together in thought.

Rin knits his eyebrows and sighs, “oi! Don’t get all silent on me, Haru! Say it! Or are you chicken?” The redhead smirks.

Haru frowns, shifting his gaze over at the crimson-eyed teen visage, making a face as his eyes focus on Rin’s shark-tooth smirk, “says the one wearing a maid dress.”

Rin’s face contorts with embarrassment and anger before his face floods with redness, “oi! It wasn’t my idea to wear this thing! I made a promise that I would wear a maid dress if you won a race against me, so, yeah! This is your fault!”

Haru smiles as Rin complains and he laughs softly at the redhead’s comment that it’s his fault, “my fault? Then I’ll have to beat you again.”

Rin’s face reflects stupefaction, his eyes shimmering with awe and his lips open and close like a fish out of water. The redhead rarely sees Haru’s smiles, at least the kind of smile that comes so naturally and expressive that it nearly blows his mind. The crimson-eyed teen finds his heart skipping several beats as he just witnesses this rare opportunity, _‘damn. Haru. You never cease to amaze me, but...I’ll be winning the next one. No way am I wearing this thing again.’_

The redhead sputters after several moments, “w-well, it’s not happening! This is a onetime deal. So, you better enjoy this.” Rin turns his head slightly to the side, shifting his gaze, not wanting to meet those beautiful blue eyes and mumbles, “god, I must look like an idiot. Wearing this damn thing.”

The navy-haired teen releases his hold on Rin’s head, gently prying his hand from Rin’s locks of red hair and the carpeted floor, noticing how soft and silky Rin’s hair is and unwrapping his hold on the crimson-eyed teen’s waist, lifting his body up from Rin’s warmth, _‘Rin, you don’t look like an idiot. I...’_ Haru finds himself staring at the all-around swimmer in a maid dress, his face turned away from him, embarrassed, and resolute. Rin’s red cheeks, and the cute outfit makes Haru’s heart swell, _‘you wore this, just for me. Rin...’_

Haru leans down placing a kiss upon Rin’s redden cheek, a sweet, chaste kiss filled with adoration for the redhead. Slowly, Haru lifts his head, opening his eyes as he whispers, “you’re beautiful, Rin.”

Rin slightly pouts as he looks away from Haru, staring at nothing in particular, but noticing how clean the light blue carpet is. Somehow the redhead remembers that Haru keeps a stash of magazines and videos of waterfalls somewhere under the bed and wonders if he still keeps them under there. When he asked about that sort of thing, a year or two ago, he had gotten a hold of what laid under that bed, Rin was surprised, but not at the same time.

At the time he was hoping for some kind of porn, or a kink at least, but what he found was pretty innocent, at least that’s what he thought at the time. Since they have been talking via Skype, they talked about their preferences, and of course porn and Rin got a better idea of what Haru thinks about waterfalls. Sometimes he wondered if he should be jealous of every body of water, but that just sounds weird.

Suddenly he feels a pair of smooth lips pressed against his cheek. Rin inhales silently, his heart pounding loudly in his chest. It was unexpected, especially from the navy-haired teen, and when the pressure of Haru’s perfect lips leave his skin the redhead’s eyes become hooded wondering what it meant. A ghost of a whisper is heard and Rin trembles from the words that fall from Haru’s mouth. He slowly turns his head to gaze into Haru’s eyes and he finds a calm, collected ocean peering into him. 

Rin’s eyes waver under that sapphire hue, feeling himself getting lost in those eyes, like being entranced by the waves crashing into the ocean and along the sandy beaches.

Haru’s blinks as Rin leisurely turns his head towards him, his fiery hooded gaze focusing on him. The navy-haired teen has been pinned down by those flaming orbs on several occasions, during arguments, when Rin’s been curious about him or the things he does, when the redhead has been surprised by something Haru did, times when Rin would challenge or attempt to get under his skin, times when Rin would express awe, and his favorite, during intimate moments like this. The navy-haired teen gazes back and those crimson eyes are filled with emotion, reverence, and adoration.

Haru’s chest feels light and he can feel color staining his cheeks, being blatantly ogled at so intensely is doing funny things to his body, his mind particularly. A sharp desire to kiss Rin overtakes him and he leans forward pressing his lips upon the redhead’s.

Rin notices Haru’s sapphire eyes sway under his gaze, but there is something in those blue eyes that shift from the cool, calm, collectedness he observed earlier, to something more fierce, passionate, like the waves crashing upon the sandy beaches with more force, almost yearning to roll against the sand, aching to pull each and every grain into the depths of the ocean. Rin feels his chest quiver under that sapphire stare and before he knows it, Haru leans down and envelops his mouth in a surprisingly steamy kiss.

The redhead’s hands clench the navy-haired teen’s sweater as their teeth clink together and Haru presses his tongue past his parted mouth. The crimson-eyed teen quickly challenges Haru with his tongue, meeting him at every twist and twirl and he starts pulling on the sapphire-eyed teen’s sweater as he pushes himself forward, intensifying the kiss.

Haru’s heart melts at Rin’s actions, arousing his lust for the redhead. Every sweep of his tongue being met with a glide from the crimson-eyed teen, spurring him on to swirl his tongue against Rin’s. The navy-haired teen moans lightly as he wraps his hand gingerly around the back of Rin’s neck, deepening the kiss.

Rin shudders at the sound of Haru’s vulnerable voice, desire pooling in the deep in the pit of his core, feeling himself getting very excited down below with such a stimulating kiss, wanting nothing more than to fall in the depths of the navy-haired teen, but he feels that they will just get right into fleshly pleasures if they didn’t slow down. Rin wants this to last much, much longer.

The redhead unravels his fists grasping Haru’s sweater, pressing his palms against the sapphire-eyed teen’s shoulders, breaking the kiss. He moves his hands down, leaning on his elbows as he pants, “wa-wait...Haru. Aren’t we goi...”

Haru knits his eyebrows when he feels Rin push him back, the hot kiss interrupted and the navy-haired teen finds himself bewildered by the act, panting. When Rin speaks, his eyes shift over to the crimson-eyed teen and he instantly notices the redhead’s rosy red lips, swollen and moist with their previous activities that the free-swimmer just moves forward, curling his fingertips along the back of Rin’s neck, pulling him into another kiss.

Rin moans as his lips are once again devoured in an impetuous kiss, his heart says yes, but his mind tells him to slow down once again. The redhead moves his legs, kicking the duffle bag and tries to scoot backward, away from Haru, breaking the kiss once again. He moves back with his elbows, panting, “Ha-Haru...let’s take a momen...”

The navy-haired teen once again misses the warmth of Rin’s mouth, finding the redhead moving away from him. Haru crawls forward, keeping his hand on the back of Rin’s neck, and moving his hand closer to Rin, finding those lips again.

The redhead’s breath is taken away, his cheeks reddening further as Haru impatiently kisses him again. Rin moves back once again, this time as he tries to scoot backwards, bit he accidently unravels the bow of his apron, pressing his hand on one of the long tails of the bow as he moves backward.

Haru makes a light whimpering sound, almost like he’s pouting with another separation from the redhead. Finding himself in the heat of passion, Haru moves forward kissing Rin, this time more hurried, their teeth clashing together before delving his tongue in the redhead’s opening.

Rin trembles, finding his shoulders becoming weak when Haru kisses him, his tongue dancing against his. For a moment, the redhead indulges in the kiss, finding the passion Haru shows him so hot that he can feel his body reacting, his dick starting to lightly pulse with such elation.

The all-around swimmer turns his head, breaking the kiss, a string of saliva ruptures between them. Rin once again moves back, panting, “Ha-Haru...yo-you...oh...”

Haru knits his eyebrows, his mouth empty again, the warmth gone again. With hooded sapphire eyes, the navy-haired teen moves forward trying to capture those delicious lips again.

Rin this time dodges Haru, scooting back farther and farther until his back is pinned against the wall. The redhead’s eyes widen as Haru’s knee somehow traps the apron under his weight, the frilly white straps coming down off the puffy sleeves of the black maid outfit, limiting his movements.

Haru’s hand somehow comes off the back of Rin’s neck and he literally pouts, his mind racing with thoughts of bringing their lips together again, wanting that warmth again, wanting to show Rin how much he needs him right now. Haru crawls towards the redhead, finding those lips and being evaded. The navy-haired teen huffs as he chases Rin until the all-around swimmer has nowhere to go.

Haru crawls over to the redhead, snaking his hand around the back of Rin’s neck, his fingertips grasping stands of red hair as he thrusts his head forward, seizing those parted lips once again. The navy-haired teen finds Rin’s hand on the floor and places his hand over the all-around swimmer’s, squeezing gently as he boldly launches his tongue in Rin’s wet cavern, moaning.

Rin swallows before his mouth is occupied once again, this time, the kiss is desperate and feverish. Haru’s fingertips in his hair, gently pulling causes Rin to visibly shiver. The thought of being pinned against the wall by the navy-haired teen seems so unreal and the all-around swimmer brings his free hand up to wrap around Haru’s wrist, gently squeezing in return to the navy-haired teen’s squeeze, but also to anchor him to reality of their connection. Rin gets lost in the kiss, his tongue dancing and challenging the free-swimmer to dominate the kiss, to stir him, provoke him to continue the carnal activity.

After what feels like forever, Haru breaks the kiss, resting his head on Rin’s shoulder as he caresses the crimson-eyed teen’s scalp with his fingertips, panting. The navy-haired teen knows he’s flushing, he can feel the heat on his cheeks and he just can’t bring himself to stare at Rin, hoping that he’s in the same state too. Haru licks his lips, the taste of the fiery redhead all over his mouth, delicious, like an aphrodisiac. With heat building in his core and in a bare whisper, he says, “mine...my water...”

Rin bites his lower lip a moment after Haru releases him, his lips swollen, a delightful feeling and definitely turned on. He pants heavily, the redhead doesn’t even hear Haru’s words and says, “Ha-Haru...kiss me again.”

Haru can hear the raw, throaty tone from the redhead and he smiles as the words fill his ears. The navy-haired teen wants to kiss him again, he wants to see Rin’s face all scrunched up in erotic bliss, seeing those pink stained cheeks that just compliments his rosy crimson eyes, and his silky maroon red hair.

The navy-haired teen moves his hand down Rin’s scalp to the fabric surrounding Rin’s neck. He doesn’t feel a clasp and moves his forehead from Rin’s shoulder to look at Rin’s neck from the front. Haru notices that the straps of the apron are no longer around the redhead’s shoulders, but wrapped around the all-around swimmer’s biceps instead. Haru’s eyes travel to the red bow obstructing his view of the black collar around Rin’s neck.

Haru moves his hand from the back of Rin’s neck to one of the tails of the satiny red bow, pulling the fabric between his thumb and forefinger.

Rin notices that they are in between closest and a small wooden bookcase before he closes his eyes when he doesn’t seem to get a response from the navy-haired teen, bringing his hand down from Haru’s wrist, panting slowly. He feels movement from Haru and his breath hitches wondering what kind of expression he’s presenting, not sure if he can meet Haru’s deep blue gaze. Instead, the redhead takes a moment to collect himself, to meet that sapphire stare head-on if Haru is staring, but he feels the free-swimmer moving his hand, _‘hmm? What is he doing?’_

Just when Rin is about to open his eyes, he hears and feels fabric being tugged. The redhead opens his crimson eyes to find Haru concentrating on something. Rin’s cheeks heat up again as Haru’s hand comes up to his neck, pulling the fabric from around his neck. The all-around swimmer swallows audibly before lifting his hand to grasp the cotton fabric of Haru’s sweater. Pulling the navy-haired teen harshly towards him, crashing his lips into Haru’s, demanding the kiss he asked for earlier.

Haru didn’t notice Rin’s movement and his eyes widen when he feels a strong force pulling him forward, his gasping mouth ramming into Rin’s pliable lips, meeting in a sloppy pressing of lips. Haru drops the red ribbon, moves his other hand that was over the redhead’s to wrap his arm around the crimson-eyed teen’s waist, pulling him closer. He meets some kind of resistance, as something seems to prevent them from getting closer. Haru feels a pressure coming from under his knee and shifts his weight until something gives, wrapping both arms around the redhead as he pulls Rin up into his lap.

Rin wraps both his arms around Haru’s neck, feeling the straps of his apron digging into his biceps, he whines lightly as he continues to kiss the navy-haired teen, shifting his head to one side as he pushes himself forward, meeting Haru’s lips again and again with heated open-mouth kisses. The redhead moans when he feels no pressure coming from his biceps, curling his hand around the back of the sapphire-eyed teen’s head as he wraps his legs around Haru’s waist.

The two break apart after a moment, Rin shivers and murmurs between pants, “Haru…I, I’m so hard. I want you.”

The free-swimmer releases a shaky exhale when he hears Rin’s voice, vulnerable and demanding at the same time. He untangles himself from the redhead and looks up in his crimson eyes. His eyes shimmering with raw desire, something he’s only felt when Rin was close to him like this.

Rin knits his eyebrows as Haru moves, gently pushing Rin off of him and the redhead complies and stares at the navy-haired teen. The two just gaze at each other, Rin feeling a little disappointed of the lack of contact from Haru, wanting to be close to his lover, however the look in Haru’s eyes, it looks like a torrent of candid emotion, longing, and hunger. The redhead smirks, liking the look in Haru’s eyes and says, “you want me bad, don’t you…Haru?”

The navy-haired teen looks away, his eyes pouting for being so honest. He sighs as he stares at his desk chair, “humph. I’ll have you writhing beneath me, just you wait.”

Rin’s eyes widen, his jaw dropping when he hears Haru’s words, “oi, oi, oi! What makes you think you’re topping?”

The sapphire-eyed teen side glances at the redhead, cool, and calm, “what makes you think otherwise?”

The redhead gives the navy-haired teen an exasperated expression, “hey! I’m topping!”

Haru’s eyebrow twitches slightly as he turns his head to the redhead, lightly scowling, “no! I’m topping!”

Rin gets to his feet, staring down at the navy-haired teen, “no! No, you’re not!”

Haru gets up, taking a step towards the all-around swimmer in the maid outfit, “yes, I am!”

The redhead frowns, “what the hell? What the hell gave you the idea that I was bottoming tonight?”

Haru lifts one eyebrow and says, “what gave you the idea that I was bottoming?”

Rin crosses his arms over his chest, shifting his weight on one leg, “che. Figures we’d argue about this.”

The two teens lightly glare at each other, the lusty and erotic feelings they had for each other dissipating as they continue staring at each other.

Haru turns his head, looking away first. His eyes wavering with disappointment, until the navy-haired teen remembers that he dropped some magazines by his bedroom door. He turns on his heel heading to the other side of the room, picking up the magazines, and sliding the door closed.

Rin watches the sapphire-eyed teen look away, his glare turning into a frown feeling frustrated with himself. He didn’t want to get into another argument with Haru, and this is something new in their relationship. They’ve only had sex a few times before he left for Australia and every time, Rin took the top position. They talked about how to continue their relationship with the long distance, relying on text, photos, and Skype, although Haru wasn’t all that into taking photos, but Rin sent the navy-haired teen photos of things he found interesting, and selfies. Rin knew that Haru would have to make a real big effort to keep in contact with him, and he’s grateful that they have kept up with the technological devices to keep contact.

The redhead had allowed Haru to take the top at Haru’s apartment, so why is it so different now? It’s not like he hasn’t been the bottom before, and Rin isn’t opposed to taking it up the ass, he just assumed that he would be topping this time. Rin notices Haru walking over to the other end of the room and Rin decides to slowly walk over to the bed, flopping on the blue comforter. He lies on his back, his heels planted on the floor as he sighs. He listens to Haru quietly walk past him, hearing the sapphire-eyed teen move some books around in his bookcase.

Rin closes his eyes, projecting his voice for the navy-haired teen to hear, “Haru. If you want to top, you can top tonight. I guess I sort of expected to…have you tonight. I guess I haven’t been all that fair.”

Haru listens to the redhead, plopping the magazines in the place he wanted them in the bookcase. He gets up from squatting down and says, “I don’t mind you being on top, Rin. I want you tonight. I want to be the one to give you pleasure.”

Rin winces a little, when Haru puts it like that, how can he deny his merman his wish. The redhead opens his eyes, staring at the wooden ceiling as he says, “ok. Take me, then. The crimson-eyed teen shuts his eyes again as he says playfully, “but I won’t make it easy for you, Haru.”

Haru breathes through his nose, amused by Rin’s words. He turns around and walks over to his bed, standing in front of the redhead with his feet apart. The navy-haired teen takes in a deep breath as he stand in between Rin’s shins, gazing at Rin’s form. He can tell that the apron has sort of come undone as one of the tails of the bow drapes over of the bed on Rin’s side. The sight of Rin just lying there with one hand by his head and the other just splayed out to the side, his palm up and his fingers lax but slightly curled. Haru looks down at Rin’s knee covered in white stockings and swallows.

Haru gently caresses the stocking hugging the flesh above Rin’s left knee and says, “you never have, Rin. I wouldn’t want it any other way. This is…is ‘us.’”

Rin inhales through his mouth, feeling tingles over his skin where Haru massages him, coaxing him. The redhead wants to answer back, but the free-swimmer fingers press into his muscles, caressing up his thigh until he can feel Haru’s warm fingertips over his flesh. The crimson-eyed teen lightly shivers at the touch. There is something very personal about Haru’s movements, like this is something they won’t be doing very often.

Rin whispers, “Haru. I…” The redhead feels Haru’s left hand on his right knee directly on his flesh, pressing his fingertips into his muscle, fondling him. Rin feels Haru’s hands travel up his thighs and he body reacts, lightly stiffening at the contact, but also wanting more. Rin moves his arms wanting to see Haru’s face and he props himself up on his elbows to find the navy-haired teen’s hands under his dress.

Haru bites the inside of his lip as he watches the black fabric create waves around his wrists as he brings his hands up Rin’s thighs. The redhead’s skin is smooth, he can tell that he shaved recently as his tawny-peach flesh feels soft, yet hard due to all the training Rin has put into his body. He can’t recall what Rin’s flesh felt like before, if his muscles were as toned as they are now, but he doesn’t care. All Haru cares about is touching Rin, feeling Rin’s fire, but he notices the crimson-eyed teen shifting on the bed and his sapphire eyes move up to clash with Rin’s orbs.

The two just stare at each other, Haru rakes his fingertips over Rin’s flesh, wanting to see what kind of response Rin will give him, and his lips curve in a smile. Rin’s eyes waver with desire all over again, a blush forming on his cheeks. Haru bends down, getting on his knees as he says, “Rin…let me undress you.”

The redhead opens his mouth to say something and huffs softly, “oi. You make that sound so…”

The navy-haired teen interjects lowly, “you can undress me…Rin.”

Rin’s eyes widen and his cheeks burn darkly as he peers into those blue eyes, _‘Haru…fuck! That was sexy!’_ The redhead bolts forward grasping Haru’s cheeks in his hands as he bends down and plants a kiss upon those surprised lips.

Haru eyes shimmer with a smile as he watches Rin’s face become all red and flustered because of him. It seems to be a new thing for the navy-haired teen. Ever since they started their Skype chats, Haru would say things a little more bluntly to get his point across, hating when the redhead wouldn’t catch the subtle hints he would drop here and there. There were times when the sapphire-eyed teen thought that the all-around swimmer did it on purpose, push aside his subtlety when it came to their relationship. In fact, Haru was the first to bring up sexual encounters during their chats together, Rin was embarrassed, which Haru expected, but the navy-haired teen would tease him in his own way about it which resulted in the redhead doing exactly what he wanted.

Teasing him in-person like this, saying things so bluntly when he can still touch him, felt thrilling because Rin can actually entice him with touch and it really did make his heart beat faster, almost like their races. When Haru would see Rin in front of him, his body would tingle with rivalry, with desire to get in front of the redhead, loving the feeling of seeing only the water ahead of him. Rin on his tail, losing that sight only to push his body forward to grab hold of that vision once again, like the ebb and flow of the ocean. When Rin pushes himself forward, embracing his cheeks, Haru’s heart skips a beat, his nails gently grazing against Rin’s thigh, eliciting tingles with each touch, as he opens his soft mouth to welcome Rin’s invigorating tongue.

Haru teases the redhead, bringing his hands all the way up Rin’s strong thighs, earning him a guttural moan from the crimson-eyed teen. The navy-haired teen pulls back a little, sucking on Rin’s tongue before the redhead pulls him into another heated kiss, battling for dominance.

Rin feels his core explode with fervor, twirling his hot tongue over Haru’s, wanting nothing more than to claim the mouth he occupies with his whole being. The sapphire-eyed teen distracting him with sensual hands up his sculpted thighs makes the redhead knit his eyebrows with rapture. Rin’s body throbs with frantic arousal.

The redhead gets a little confused when Haru pulls away, his breath escapes, but then halts when Haru’s lips clamps over his tongue, sucking on him. Rin’s body writhes with excitement, and he quickly encloses one hand around the navy-haired teen’s neck, pulling him in violently close in another fierce kiss. The crimson-eyed teen wraps his powerful legs around Haru’s waist, pulling the navy-haired teen as close as he can. Haru’s hands run up this thighs to his waist, flesh on flesh, and it sparks his senses. Rin can feel his cock twitch with avidity and all he wants is to be rid of every piece of clothing on his body.

The redhead toes off his red mary-janes, his body screaming with delight as he feels the cool air kiss the soles of his feet before he toes off the other one, not caring where the damn things land.

Haru hears a thud on the floor, and it excites him. The second thud almost hits his calf and the sapphire-eyed teen moves up, placing his knee between Rin’s legs before pushing him down on the bed, breaking the kiss. He pants as he stares into those lusty hooded crimson eyes and says, “Rin…”

The redhead inhales sharply, the tone Haru uses, it’s extremely intimate and it makes his body quiver. He says with emotion, “Haru…” Rin sits up a bit, using his core muscles and grabs the hem of the navy-haired teen’s blue cotton sweater, trying to pull it up as far as he can, getting stuck around the free-swimmer’s shoulders.

Haru helps Rin, pulling off his sweater and tossing it somewhere behind them as Rin pulls the navy-haired teen’s undershirt and Haru pulling that off as well. The redhead pulls Haru’s taupe colored jean’s towards him, causing Haru to lose his balance, placing his hands on either side of the crimson-eyed teen as he brings his other knee on the bed next to Rin’s waist.

Rin works on undoing the button clasp and unzipping Haru’s pants, trying to pull them down. Haru stops Rin from completely pulling his pants around his ass as he slips his hand into his back pocket pulling out a packet of lube between his middle and forefinger.

The redhead recognizes the silver packet of lube as ones he had packed in his suitcase for his trip and quirks an eyebrow, “where did you get that?”

Haru looks away, a slight blush on his cheeks, “you. I took a few from your bag when we were in Tokyo.”

Rin chuckles, “oh? Didn’t realize you were itching to get into my pants.”

The navy-haired teen lightly glares in reprimand, “shut up! You aren’t wearing pants, Rin.”

The redhead makes a face before he huffs, “whatever. Your pants have to come off now.”

Haru says with amusement, the thrill bursting in his chest, “now who’s itching to get into **my** pants?”

Rin smirks as he pushes Haru hard enough that the sapphire-eyed teen moves back and the redhead shifts his weight around continuing to push Haru onto his side and pinning him to the foot of the bed, “I’ll show you…how much I want you, Haru.”

The navy-haired teen fumbles back as Rin pushes him onto the bed. His legs kind of spread apart, but they are obstructed because his latte-colored pants are stuck around his bum. Rin pins his bicep to the bed, the redhead between his legs as Haru looks up at the crimson-eyed teen. The words that come out of Rin’s mouth makes his chest heave with a shuddering breath, his blue eyes glimmering with want and need.

Rin pulls Haru’s pants over his legs, tossing them to the side and just when he’s about to hanker down on the navy-haired teen’s briefs, he notices that the sapphire-eyed teen’s briefs are tenting. Rin smiles as he leans down on Haru’s neck, flicking his tongue out tasting Haru’s hot skin and leading his tongue up to the free-swimmer’s earlobe. The redhead says seductively, “am I turning you on, Haru? Do you want me?”

The navy-haired teen watches the redhead rip his pants off his body, tossing them aside with widening eyes. Rin’s hand stops in the air, a smile plastered on his face and Haru looks away realizing what the redhead is staring at. Haru swallows as he shuts his eyes, feeling slightly embarrassed being gazed at with delight, his heart beating loudly in his chest, he can practically feel the blood circulating through his body.

He lightly whimpers and winces, the navy-haired teen tries to turn his head farther away when he feels Rin’s wet tongue press into his neck, scolding himself for being too obvious with the redhead. He bites his bottom lip to prevent another sound from escaping his lips as Rin trails his sexy tongue over his flesh and nibbling on his ear. Another whimper breaks through from his throat at the absolutely tantalizing breath that ghosts over his ear, the flirtatiously spicy tone makes Haru nod once, answering Rin’s question.

Rin smirks unraveling his hand from Haru’s bicep, trailing down over the navy-haired teen’s arm, chest, and abs until his hand goes over Haru’s white briefs, palming him gingerly. Haru’s body tenses under Rin’s touch, his hands grabbing onto the redhead’s puffy black sleeves.

The redhead releases a throaty moan, kissing Haru’s neck, clavicle, chest, nipples, abs, and navel. He can feel Haru’s body heating up, his breathing becoming uneven as he continues down the navy-haired teen’s beautifully sculpted body, admiring how toned the sapphire-eyed teen has become since they graduated high school.

Rin looks up to find Haru’s body curved upwards, closing his eyes with the palms of his hands, the packet of lube still between his middle and forefinger. He smiles, enjoying the navy-haired teen becoming willingly exposed in front of him. The redhead wraps his mouth on Haru’s hardening still-covered cock and grazes his teeth against the tip, “mmm…I could give you some pleasure right now, Ha~ru~.”

The sapphire-eyed teen’s breath hitches when Rin’s mouth encompasses his dick, even though there is fabric between the redhead’s mouth and his cock, he doesn’t care, it still makes him writhe. Haru gets on his elbows, his eyes dilated with so much desire as he looks down to stare into those open crimson ones. The navy-haired teen sees the same emotion reflected back in those red eyes and his chest erupts with intense thirst, “Rin…take them off.”

Rin stares into those blue eyes and he does exactly what he’s told. The redhead gets up on his knees and pulls off those white briefs from Haru’s legs. He hears the navy-haired teen gasp when his cock is freed from its confines and makes a guttural moan when he looks back at Haru’s hard shaft.

The redhead licks his lips as he admires the navy-haired teen’s length and says, “Haru…you’re incredible.”

Haru releases a shaky sigh, still placing his weight on his elbows, the navy-haired teen’s eyes shift over to find Rin staring at him with awe, almost missing the words the redhead says. The sapphire-eyed teen shifts his weight to one elbow as he lifts his hand to reach the black fabric of Rin’s dress, the small opening in the front that exposes the redhead’s perfect peachy skin, his cleavage. He pushes two fingers into the opening, pulling the crimson-eyed teen down.

Rin wasn’t ready to be pulled down so forcefully and braces himself, placing his hands on the bed on either side of the navy-haired teen as Haru presses a needy, sloppy kiss upon his lips. Rin moans when he feels Haru’s fingertip twirling around on his exposed chest, teasing and tantalizing his senses.

The redhead shifts his position, going over Haru’s thighs as he straddles the sapphire-eyed teen, breaking the kiss. He pants heavily as he looks down at Haru, smiling as he brings his hands up his body, pulling off the frilly hair band, shaking his head back and forth.

The free-swimmer doesn’t take his eyes off the crimson-eyed teen, pouting slightly as the kiss ends, but his breath halts as he watches Rin smile, that smile that had broken down his walls so many years ago, beaming with a brilliant light and warmth. All he wants to do is just bask in it. If Haru were drifting in the depths of the ocean, Rin’s smile would be the beam of radiance shining down on him from above.

Rin brings down the hair band in his hands and gently places it over Haru’s head, tucking it behind his ears.

Haru eyes waver as he watches Rin place the hair band on his head, delicately pressing it in place and the navy-haired teen grasps the redhead’s wrist. The navy-haired teen brings Rin’s palm over to his lips gently kissing his hand.

Rin says in a whisper, “I want it like this…Haru.”

Haru knits his eyebrows, a little confused by the redhead’s words, releasing his hand as he watches Rin hand trail down the black dress he’s wearing. The crimson-eyed teen’s hand curls around the white frilly trim of the dress, pulling it up his thighs.

The navy-haired teen just watches, enraptured by the action. Haru can clearly see Rin’s muscled thighs around his abs and then he holds his breath. Rin continues to lift up the skirt farther up his body, revealing the crimson-eyed teen’s cock straining, dripping all over a pink lacy thong just barely covered by the fabric.

The navy-haired teen moans at the sight, taking notice that the thong is being held together by lacy bowties on either side of Rin’s hips. Haru moves his hands to either side of Rin’s body, grasping his hips and massaging the crimson-eyed teen’s flesh with the palm of his hands.

Rin feels Haru’s hands on his hips, and gently dips down, rubbing his throbbing cock over Haru’s body beneath him, moaning, “ah…free…Ha~ru…”

Haru feels his cock twitch at the sight of Rin erotically stroking his shaft over his own stomach and abs, feeling the sticky pre-cum exciting his senses. The navy-haired teen pulls the lacy strings, biting the inside of his bottom lip as his eyes become transfixed on Rin’s cock springing free. Haru pulls the lacy fabric away from Rin, hearing a hiss and a shuddered breath come from the redhead above him.

Haru is ready to just throw it aside until he notices something odd about the pink undergarment, it’s small, ridiculously small, and revealing, _‘wha…what is this?’_

As Haru is distracted by the thong, the redhead smirks to himself, finding the navy-haired adorable as he concentrates on the lacy underwear. He rolls his hips back, dragging his shaft over Haru’s stomach until the crevice of his ass bumps into Haru’s hot dick.

Rin releases a throaty moan as he slowly gyrates his hips back and forth, rubbing up against Haru’s cock with his ass cheeks, feeling himself becoming hotter and hotter with each roll of his hips, loving the contact on his sensitive flesh, the sticky fluid on Haru’s belly and his bum when his backside kisses Haru’s penis. He can tell that Haru is getting really bothered by his actions and his heart swells.

Haru gasps as Rin’s erection brushes up against his body, and he wants to throw his head back in bliss, but he watches that throbbing, thick, glistening cock move back and forth. The navy-haired teen’s breathing become more shallow, his stomach rising and falling with each breath in quick movements, his heartbeat ringing in his ears and somehow his eyes wander. Haru notices Rin grasping the hem of his dress tightly against his chest, his crimson eyes barely open as he looks down at the navy-haired teen.

Haru breathes, “R-Rin…ah…in…” The navy-haired teen starts bucking his hips upwards wanting more friction, more contact, more heat. The sapphire-eyed teen discards the pink lacy thing, and searches for the foil packet of lube he had between his fingers. He turns his head, a silent moan falling past his lips, his eyes darting around his blue comforter until he sees the silver gleam reflecting the light in the room.

The free-swimmer grabs the packet, bringing it above his chest and ripping it open, tossing the smaller end off his bed and a few cool drips of it falls onto his chest. He inhales eagerly as Haru pours the liquid over his fingers, he drops the packet somewhere on the bed, not caring about the silver package anymore and places his hand on Rin’s hip, squeezing him as he says, “R-Rin…stop.”

The redhead pants and comes to a halt, knitting his eyebrows as he watches Haru try to stick his hand in between them. Rin lifts up his hips just enough to allow the navy-haired teen passage and just when he about to ask what Haru is doing, he feels the navy-haired teen’s firm hand grasp his butt check as he pokes his ass until he finds his opening, swiftly pressing in his digit.

Rin trembles, his body jolting at the sudden intrusion and just when he’s about to get used to the idea of Haru’s finger inside him, the navy-haired teen places a second finger in. The redhead gasps, wincing lightly as he barks between breaths, “oi! That…was too fast!”

Haru retorts in a whimper, “I can’t…wait…anymore! I want…now!” The sapphire-eyed teen stretches him once, scissoring him before plunging a third finger inside Rin. The navy-haired teen hears a hiss above him and he whispers, “sorry, Rin.”

The redhead throws Haru a light glare before exhaling shakily, understanding Haru’s need to just get on with it. The crimson-eyed teen is also feeling that burning need to have Haru one way or another. Rin bites his lip gently bringing his hips down onto the free-swimmer’s fingers, gasping.

After a few strokes of prepping the redhead, Haru pulls his fingers out and wraps his hand around his own cock, hoping that he has enough lube left to coat himself. The navy-haired teen tries to push Rin back and mumurs, “lie, down, Rin.”

Rin’s face contorts with pain and pleasure, but when Haru’s fingers just suddenly fade, the redhead releases a quick breath, relieved and disappointed. Haru pushes on his torso, demanding that he lies down and Rin smirks as he pushes the navy-haired teen down with one hand. The crimson-eyed teen grabs Haru’s hand with his other hand, pinning him down on the mattress. Rin gazes into those slightly defiant sapphire eyes and says provocatively, “heh…I did say I wouldn’t make it easy, ne, Haru? I’m staying right here. On top of you like this.”

Haru gasps when Rin’s words spill past his lips before his eyes change from rebellious to horny, looking away from the redhead.

Rin whispers in Haru’s ears, “can you imagine…the sight you’ll see? You said you wanted to give me pleasure. This way I can give you pleasure too…Haru.”

Haru bites his bottom lip, the lust pouring though the redhead’s lips makes free swimmer’s hips buck up.

Rin releases Haru, lifting himself up and moving himself back as he grasps the maid dress up his torso to line himself up with Haru’s shaft.

Haru places moves his hand, wrapping it around his dick, trying to figure out how to line himself up appropriately with Rin’s ass.

The crimson-eyed teen, spreads one of his ass cheeks while he moves his body down. The two teens work together to connect their bodies and once Haru penetrates Rin’s entrance, the redhead winces as he continues his descent on the navy-haired teen’s hot cock. Rin grabs Haru’s forearm, pulling it away from the sapphire-eyed teen’s shaft as he just sits there adjusting to Haru’s thick length.

Haru’s face contorts with pleasure as his erection enters Rin’s tight ass. When the redhead seizes his arm, pulling it away, he can feel the crimson-eyed teen squeezing his arm tightly. The navy-haired teen breathes heavily, his cock fully embedded in Rin’s hole and as much as he wants to just start bucking his hips forward, he knows the redhead needs a minute. The free-swimmer decides to place his other hand on Rin’s thigh, rubbing up and down the redhead’s flesh soothingly.

Rin shuts his eyes, as pain fills him, however he feels a comforting hand on his thigh, rubbing him benevolently and he smiles, _‘Haru…’_ The redhead looks down to find the sapphire-eyed teen staring at his thighs, or his throbbing penis, Rin’s not sure. He can tell that the navy-haired teen reflects affection, and stimulation in his facial features and the frilly hair band looks like a halo over Haru’s head. Rin blushes lightly as he releases his grip on Haru’s forearm and trails his hand up the sapphire-eyed teen’s wrist, leading them down to his hard cock.

Haru’s eyes shift over to Rin’s hand on his forearm when he feels the pressure slacken. His blue eyes focus on the redhead’s fingers brushing up against his skin and when Rin leads his hand down the redhead’s arousal, Haru instantly drapes his fingers over the crimson-eyed teen’s length, rolling his thumb over the tip gingerly. He hears a raspy moan and he says, “Rin…”

The redhead hears Haru’s voice, throaty, and insistent. Rin takes that as his cue, and lifts his body up, his heart racing with dedication and excitement.

Haru moans as pleasure explodes within his core, the heat and the lust taking the reins as his body moves up, closing the gap between them. His grip on Rin’s hip tightens, his fingertips digging into the redhead’s flesh as he jerks his hand down the all-around swimmer’s shaft.

Rin arches his back, his passion coursing through his being, releasing his the hem of his dress as he moves back down onto Haru. He says between moans, “ah…I, I’m not gonna…Haru.” The redhead leans forward pressing the palms of his hands on the navy-haired teen’s chest, panting heavily.

The sapphire-eyed teen thrusts his hips up, causing the redhead to bob up and down on Haru, his mind becoming hazy with sexual desire. He can feel Rin’s hands on his chest, and his heart flutters. The reddened cheeks Rin dons make the navy-haired teen continue his assault with his hips as he murmurs between pants, “Rin…show me…”

The redhead opens his eyes to find dilated blue eyes, staring up at him with so much love and there’s a challenge in those depths that causes Rin to press his fingertips into the hot flesh below him. He smiles as he raises his hips up and down, catching on to Haru’s rhythm. Rin slams his ass down on the navy-haired teen and suddenly he sees stars, and moans loudly, “Haru…yes! Haru…”

That sexy, sensual voice causes the navy-haired teen to buck his hips upwards, wanting to hit that spot again, that sweet spot that makes Rin’s face transition to one of pure bliss, his favorite expression on the redhead’s visage. He moans, their breaths mingling together as he continues to ram his hips up.

Rin’s eyes become hooded as he brings one of his hands down to join Haru’s, wanting nothing more than to come undone as he rides Haru’s cock. Their fingers intertwine together as they stimulate his sensitive flesh. Rin arches his back as his prostate is hit over and over again and he says as he cums, “Haru!”

Rin throws his head back as he bobs up and down on Haru’s dick, cruising through his orgasm. Just when he’s about to open his eyes, he feels Haru’s thick, hot cum enter his body, an ardent spasm from his lover below him.

The two teens continue undulating until they feel completely spent. Haru whispers Rin’s name after every pant, bringing his hands up on Rin’s hips and keeping them there.

Rin falls onto Haru, resting his head next to the sapphire-eyed teen’s, partly on Haru’s shoulder and the bed below them, facing away, panting. He hears Haru’s soft murmurs and he smiles and purrs softly, “Haru…my water…I love you.”

Haru hears something from the redhead and says between pants, “what? Rin…what did you say?”

Rin chuckles as he lifts himself up on wobbly arms, “take this dress off me, Haru.”

The navy-haired teen huffs as he stares into those beautiful crimson eyes. Rin’s red eyes shine like a wondrous sunset. Haru smiles lightly, “this is my present. I’ll take it off when I’m done with you.”

Rin’s eyes widens, a flush burning his cheeks as he retorts, “o-o-oi! What the hell, Haru? Is this some kind of…”

The sapphire-eyed teen’s smile turns into a grin before he pulls his hands off Rin’s hips, bringing them up the redhead’s shoulders and pulling him in for a passionate kiss.

Rin falls onto the navy-haired teen, their lips crashing together as Haru delves deep into his mouth. The redhead totally forgets what he’s arguing about and indulges himself in the amorous kiss. The navy-haired teen rolls them over, and Rin wraps his arms around the free-swimmer’s neck as their shoulders hit the wall. The redhead shudders as Haru pulls out of him and he envelops his legs around Haru’s waist.

The two teens continue making out all evening, not wanting the moments between them to end.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 30th, Tuesday, 10:27 am  **

****

Sousuke continues eating the rest of his breakfast with his mom and her fiancé in the dining room next to the kitchen. His mother made breakfast for them consisting of steamed rice, miso soup, tamagoyaki, boiled edamame, and mirin glazed salmon over a bed of garlic braised spinach.

Last night, after Sousuke came home from swimming with his friends, he found his mother sitting at the dinning table waiting for him with homemade food enclosed in saran wrap. The raven-haired teen felt slightly guilty making his mom wait, but he was angry. The first time he saw his mom during the winter break was two days ago, for the lunch he invited Rin to.

Ever since he arrived home from his trip to Nagoya, he came home to a shell of what it once was, and over the years, Sousuke had gotten used to it. Instead of seeing his mother, he found a note, hand-written by his mom, apologizing for her absence. He was disappointed, but accepted it afflictively.

During the dinner last night, his mother seemed anxious about something, but he didn’t know why. Pressing his concern didn’t feel right, so he silently worried, pretending that everything was fine. She explained that she will be making a late breakfast the next day and that ‘he’ was coming around 10 a.m. It was the first thing she told him, making sure that the raven-haired teen agreed to the breakfast meeting the next day. Sousuke was afraid that he would have to have another meal with his mother’s fiancé, and it seems that fear has come to fruition. Dinner was quiet and the teal-eyed teen had kept his thoughts to himself.

The raven-haired teen looks up as he finishes the last roll of tamagoyaki on his plate, and he can tell that his mother wants to say something to him, but her teal eyes indicate hesitancy. Sousuke keeps his expression blank, and the older man, Takahashi continuously tries to start up some kind of conversation between them, however, the teal-eyed teen manages to maintain clipped answers, not taking the bait to have a dialogue open for too long.

Sousuke picks up his black bowl of miso soup, slurping the salty contents as his mother finally says, “Sousuke. I know you don’t really want to talk, but I have something important to ask you.”

The raven-haired teen finishes the last drop of his soup, putting down the bowl carefully, his teal gaze setting on his mother’s conjoined hands on the table across from him. Suddenly he sees that man’s hands over his mother’s, anger flaring in his chest. Sousuke says nonchalantly, “if this has something to do with dad, ask him. I’m not his secretary.”

The older man knits his eyebrows and says with concern and protectiveness, “Sousuke. Please try to be understanding. Your mother is trying to discuss something delicate with you.”

The teal-eyed teen looks away as he puts his chopsticks down, and sighs deeply. He crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back into his chair, “fine. What is it?”

Yamazaki unclasps her hands, placing her hand over Daichi’s, “your father isn’t coming to the wedding, and your uncle is away on business. He won’t be able to attend as well.”

Sousuke frowns, _‘what are you getting at mom? I don’t like where this is heading.’_

The woman looks up at her son, she can clearly see the displeasure in his features and continues, “I would like you to participate in a vital part in the wedding, Sousuke.”

The raven-haired teen frowns deeply, turning his head to meet his mother’s teal eyes, remaining silent, waiting for the specifics as he feels dread circulate in his core.

The older woman takes a deep breath as she holds her son’s gaze, and continues, “I would like you to give me away during the wedding ceremony. Your uncle regrettable declined, due to his job. I was hoping your father would do this, but considering the circumstances, I am left with very little options. So…what do you say, Sousuke?”

The teal-eyed teen tightens his hold on his bicep as his mother talks. He wasn’t expecting this. He thought he would just have to observe the wedding, witness his mother marry another man, but not this. How could she ask this of him? Sousuke looks down at his food, silently begrudging answering the question.

Silence fills the air, only the sound of the ticking clock is heard between them as Sousuke continues to glare hatefully at his food.

Misaki looks at her fiancé with worry, before she sighs softly and says, “Sousuke, you don’t have to answer now, you can give this some thought. But, I would be very happy if you accepted. I’m not asking for much. I want to move on with my life. I want to be happy just like your father.”

Sousuke feels anger pool in his gut as his mother talks, _‘what? Yeah, right? Like I have a choice!? How could you ask this of me? Hell I just met the guy less than two days ago!’_ The raven-haired teen snaps at that last sentence, throwing a fist down on the table, all the dishes shake, the liquid in the cups slosh about as he indignantly says, “happy? Just like dad? What about my happiness!? You told me to let everything be then, to go to Tokyo, live with dad and his family…to bite my tongue and accept everything, and now this? I come back here and you just disappear! Off with someone else, just like dad! Ever since I got here, you’ve been avoiding me! Last night was the first time I saw you without...” His dark teal eyes hardens as he accusingly points at his mom’s fiancé, “him! And don’t think I didn’t notice the packed suitcase last night! You’re leaving! And now this!?”

The raven-haired teen gets up quickly and yells, “No! I don’t accept this!”

His mother’s face is shocked by her son’s outrage, her eyes filled with resentment as she releases her hold on her fiancé, her hands balling on the edge of the table as she says desperately, “Sousuke! I’ve been patient! I’ve been nothing but a good mother! Taking care of you and your dad until he walked out on us! I’m past all that! All I want is a slice of my own happiness...to start over.”

Sousuke has seen that scared and forlorn look in his mother’s teal eyes, it’s a look he never wanted to see again, it reminds him of all the terrible things he had seen when he watched his parents argue. There were times when he would peek through the door’s opening just to see what they were fighting about, and that hopelessly desperate glimmer in her eyes always stung him.

The raven-haired teen glares at his mother and says bitingly, “start over? What? Pretend that your currently previous life never happened!? Abandon everything just like dad did?”

Misaki’s eyes flicker with hurt as she listens to her son’s words, getting up from her chair, “don’t you dare, Sousuke! Don’t you dare start acting like this!”

The teal-eyed teen growls, “like what? Like dad? I’m not the one acting like dad did, you are!”

The older woman’s teal eyes darken as she leans over the table, “I am not like your dad! I didn’t destroy our family! Everything is **HIS** fault! **He** did this to us! And I’m left picking up the...”

Sousuke interrupts, “it’s always about the family, why don’t you just admit it? He hurt you! He hurt you and left you behind like trash! And now you want to do the same to me?”

The light-brown haired woman gasps with despair, eyes welling with tears as she responds brokenly, “I would never. Why are you doing this to me? I’m not like...him.”

The raven-haired teen says darkly, “I doubt you married dad knowing that he was going to leave you one day. Why should I believe you? Seems everyone in this family will abandon each other anyway.”

Daichi gets up, his blue eyes glare at Sousuke with reprimand, “Sousuke. That’s enough. Your mother knew this was a delicate matter and she has been nothing but fair to you. You should give her the same courtesy. If you have to be angry with someone, be angry with me. I’m the one who asked her about the details of the wedding.”

Sousuke glares daggers at the light-blue haired man, his eyebrows furrow deeply, _‘how fuckin’ dare you! You have no right to talk to me like that! You aren’t my father, asshole! This is your damn fault!’_

Misaki shakes her head, the tears falling from her face as her strained voice says, “Dai. It’s ok. This is...” The older woman shakes as she breaks down in tears, turning her body towards her fiancé as she sobs loudly.

The teal-eyed teen feels a pang in his chest. He hates seeing his mother cry and he’s left with a bitter taste in his mouth. He looks down at the wooden floor, glaring at the wood grains beneath his feet. The raven-haired teen can hear the two shuffle out of the dinning room, leaving Sousuke by alone.

The sound soft sounds of his retreating mother crying softly with words of comfort by her fiancé can still be heard. Sousuke balls his hands tightly into a fist, angry at everything, _‘fuck. Mom...I’m sorry. I don’t want to give you away. I don’t want any of this. Why does everyone leave? I hate it.’_

Sousuke looks up at the food on the table once he can barely hear his mom and her fiancé and notices three spots around the table, almost all the food eaten, but some things still left untouched. He notices that his mom hardly ate anything on her plates and he curses, she must have been very nervous.

With a heavy heart, Sousuke starts picking up the dishes, throwing away perfectly good food into the trash before placing them in the kitchen sink.

In complete silence, Sousuke moves between the dining room and the kitchen, throwing food away and placing ceramic plates in the sink. He washes the dishes, paying close attention to his task, trying his best to be efficient. Once everything is in the dish rack, he grabs a spray bottle of kitchen cleaner and a dishtowel, wiping down the kitchen counters.

The teal-eyed teen walks over to the dining room, spraying down the glossy oak wood surface and just when he’s about to wipe it down, he hears the sound of suitcases rolling on the wooden floor and he freezes.

Sousuke doesn’t remember hearing anyone come down the stairs, how could he have missed it. He knit his eyebrows. The raven-haired teen slowly walks over to the doorway and as he peeks past the doorframe he sees the door slam close.

The teal-eyed teen gazes at the door with distraught and before he knows it he walks over to the front door and punches the door, _‘fuck. Mom...’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 30th, Tuesday, 3:41 pm  **

****

Makoto walks down the street reading the numbers of the houses, looking for Sousuke’s house. He received a text from Rin asking him if he had some time before the dinner with everyone to check on the raven-haired teen. The brunette was a little confused with the request since he texted Sousuke around noon, and the teal-eyed teen said that everything was fine and that he may not show up for the dinner.

Rin said that he was worried about the raven-haired teen, saying something about how things may be rough for him, but nothing more. The emerald-eyed teen wonders if Rin weren’t currently busy, if he would have checked on him personally. Rin and Gou are out visiting their father’s grave and he really didn’t want to interrupt them on their journey. Makoto knows how important it is for Rin to visit his father.

Makoto stops in front of a white house with a fence on the outside. He can see that the plate reads, “Yamazaki,” on the side and rings the doorbell. The brunette waits for a couple of minutes before ringing it again.

The emerald-eyed teen pulls out his phone, hopping from one leg to the other as he tries to keep warm from the cold air. He opens up a text window and starts typing out a message until he hears someone come from behind him, “Makoto? What are you doing here?”

The brunette turns his head to the side to meet a curious teal gaze. Sousuke stands next to him wearing a navy jacket, a black scarf, and there are two white straps on his left shoulder, Makoto assumes that he’s carrying some kind of bag.

Makoto smiles and says, “ah. I decided to come visit you. Rin was kind enough to pass along your address. Sorry if this is inconvenient for…”

Sousuke interrupts, pulling out his key from his jacket pocket, opening the gate, “it’s fine. Come in.”

The brunette sighs softly and says, “I brought some Satsumas to snack on. Sorry, I didn’t have time to go out and get something…”

The raven-haired teen shrugs as he closes the gate, leading Makoto through the walkway towards the front door, “it’s ok. I’ll cut them up and serve them.” The teal-eyed teen puts the key into the front door before he turns around to face the brunette, “did Rin put you up to this?”

The brunette realizes that Sousuke is carrying a duffle bag over his shoulder when he turns around. Makoto looks away, rubbing his arm with his free hand, “not really. Well…kind of? I think he’s worried about you.”

Sousuke sighs deeply and murmurs, “figures.” He turns around and opens the door, “please come in.”

Makoto enters the entryway, shivering as he tries to brush off the cold from his body, “ah, sorry for the intrusion.”

Sousuke closes the door, taking his duffle bag, gloves, and scarf off before placing his jacket on one of the hooks by the door.

The brunette looks around the entryway, noticing a wooden lattice shoe rack with doors, a small closet next to it, and a wooden bench on the other side. He places the plastic bag filled with Satsuma oranges on top of the shoe rack gently. Makoto unwraps his red and green plaid scarf from around his neck before he hears, “pass me your jacket, Makoto. I’ll hang it up.”

The emerald-eyed teen quickly sheds out of his jacket, passing it over to the raven-haired teen. He watches Sousuke place his brown jacket on the hook next to his navy blue jacket as Makoto takes his gloves off.

The two teens quietly take off their shoes, Sousuke taking Makoto’s boots and placing them next to his on the side. The raven-haired teen picks up the plastic bag from the top of the shoe rack, leading the brunette down the wooden hallway and through the dining room that is connected to the kitchen.

Sousuke pulls out a chair for Makoto and says, “go ahead and sit down. I’ll cut these up for us.”

The brunette opens his mouth to say something, but the teal-eyed teen just walks away, into the kitchen with his back to Makoto. The emerald-eyed teen pouts slightly, deciding to take the seat Sousuke had pulled out for him.

Makoto looks down at the oak colored table, noticing that there isn’t anything on the table, no condiments or a centerpiece. He looks around the white walls and finds a clock hanging on one of the walls, noticing the soft ticking sound it makes when the seconds pass by. There is a bamboo plant on one of the side tables with some magazines, but no pictures. The room looks pretty sparse and he wonders why that is.

Before Makoto could ponder further, he hears Sousuke’s deep voice ask, “ne, Makoto. Did you sleep well last night?”

The brunette looks up and watches the raven-haired teen’s back as he cuts the Satsumas, “um, yeah. I did. How about you?”

The teal-eyed teen shrugs, “yeah…kind of. I watched a movie to get my mind off a few things. Do you want to continue our talk from last night?”

Makoto sighs heavily, remembering the last thing they talked about on the phone during the evening, _‘oh. I had a feeling you would bring that up again. About my ex coming here to visit.’_ The brunette leans forward, resting his elbows on the cool wooden table as he places his cheek in the palm of one of his hands, “sure, we can talk about it. Let’s see, you asked if my ex came to visit. I don’t think I really answered your question…and yeah. He did.”

Sousuke leaves the bamboo cutting board and knife on the kitchen counter, picking up the white plates with black speckles, walking over to the dining table and placing the plate of sliced Satsumas in between them, and the empty one right next to the fruit. He pulls the chair out, sitting down, “is he still here?”

The brunette watches those teal eyes meet his green gaze and something about them seems off, distant, and maybe hurt. Makoto isn’t sure, but keeps that in mind as he answers, “I don’t think so. We talked that one night and I haven’t seen him since.”

The raven-haired teen leans forward on the table, extending his hand out as a sign for the emerald-eyed teen to start eating. Makoto nods and takes a slice of fruit, “thanks. Please try some.”

Sousuke reaches over, taking a slice of the sliced Satsuma, and says before biting into it, “what did he say?”

Makoto licks his lips, trailing the juice from the Satsuma into his mouth before answering, “well…I think you have an idea. He came all the way over here to…win me back. I’m trying to figure out what I should do about it.”

The raven-haired teen nods, swallowing the sweet and tangy Satsuma, “hmm. It doesn’t change anything. I think you’re being too kind, Makoto.”

Makoto places the rind of his eaten fruit on the empty plate, chewing the yummy snack, “you and Haru think alike. But…I’m curious Sousuke. Why is it that you don’t want to come to dinner with us? You told me that you may cancel, but Rin gave me the impression that you have decided not to come. Did something happen?”

Sousuke places the rind on the empty plate as he listens to Makoto, frowning at first due to his comment of him and Haru thinking alike, but his expression transitions into despondency, his eyes becoming more vacant. He doesn’t know how he wants to proceed with Makoto’s question. Something did happen, but will the brunette understand? He told Rin that he doesn’t think Makoto would understand what he is going through and after spending time with the emerald-eyed teen’s family, how could he? The raven-haired teen knows that Makoto didn’t lead a perfect life, but there is so much happiness in his life, how could he understand what his family life is like.

The brunette’s eyes shift, staring into those teal eyes in front of him and Makoto becomes perplexed by Sousuke’s silence. He can tell that the ex-butterfly swimmer is deep in thought and he can’t help but become a little fretful. Makoto takes another Satsuma slice, allowing the raven-haired teen some space, he’s not sure if staying silent is the right answer, but he can’t seem to find the decent words to say. Judging from the teal-eyed teen’s silence, something did happen. 

Sousuke finally breaks the silence and says slowly, “I just didn’t feel like meeting with everyone. And, yeah…something happened. I don’t want to talk about it. Rin shouldn’t be so worried, I’ll get over it. I always do.”

Makoto lets the words sink in, something about the way the raven-haired teen articulates the words, the tone, and the timbre make the brunette frown lightly. He nods instead, looking down at the sliced fruit in front of them, chewing the orange as he discards the peel, _‘hmm. So, something did happen. Rin was right. But what does he mean by that? That he’ll get over it like he always does? Is it something that happens often?’_

The raven-haired teen shifts his gaze to the emerald-eyed teen noticing the subtle sulk on Makoto’s face and continues, “even if I talked about it, it wouldn’t matter. There’s nothing I can do about the circumstances. Makoto…”

The brunette shifts his gaze up, green and teal clashing before Makoto gives the raven-haired teen a small smile, “you don’t have to say anything. I just wish I could do more for you. If you really don’t feel like coming to dinner, you don’t have to. I don’t mind telling everyone that you’re busy or not feeling well, which ever you prefer.”

Sousuke huffs softly, his lips curve slightly, “thanks.” The raven-haired teen picks up another orange slice and continues, “maybe I’ll tell you later. I burned off some steam at the gym, that helped.”

Makoto stares at the raven-haired teen, wondering, _‘huh? He went to the gym? I hope he didn’t overdo it, but, I think Sousuke knows that better than anyone. I’ll trust him.’_ He nods, “yeah. I usually like going out for a run when I need some space. But during the winter, it’s a little harder to go out for one.” 

The raven-haired teen’s eyes glint lightly, glad that their conversation had taken a different route. After everything that happened, it’s nice seeing a smiling face. He says, “yeah. That’s why I hit the gym. Maybe we can figure out a workout schedule or something. I think you mentioned you use your school facilities in Tokyo, but if things go well with my dad, we could use the small gym at my apartment complex.”

The brunette gives Sousuke his trademark smile, “I’d like that. Haru and I used to train a lot together, but his workouts are much more rigorous and it’s more convenient for him to work out at the sports center. Since he loves the pool.”

Sousuke chuckles, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone take off their clothes so fast just to go for a dip in the pool, it’s kind of amazing.”

Makoto’s eyes widen before he breaks out into a fit of laughter, holding his sides.

The teal-eyed teen lifts an eyebrow, confused, “hah? What are you laughing about?”

The brunette’s eyes open, twinkling in the light as he says between giggles, “I don’t think…I’ve ever seen you compliment Haru before.”

Sousuke makes a face, grabbing another Satsuma slice, ripping the fruity flesh off the rind in defiance.

Makoto’s laughter dies down as he smiles, finding the interaction between them more ordinary, more comfortable, “I’ll keep that a secret.”

The raven-haired teen huffs, refusing to meet Makoto’s gaze, continuing his defiant attitude, however, his chest feels light and warm. Sousuke finds himself thankful for the brunette’s presence, glad that Makoto had decided to visit him.

The two teens continue eating their snack together in a comfortable silent solace, enjoying each other’s company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! <3<3 Thank you so much for reading this chapter ^_^
> 
> I know everyone has been waiting for this chapter, and I'm sorry for the long wait. After having some difficulties with the holidays (particularly issues with family), I really struggled getting back into a writing space for myself. -_-
> 
> I had to re-think a few things in this chapter since it became very long and I needed to split some of it off into the next chapter and I realized after everything was written that I changed some of the scenes from my notes and now there is a lack of SouMako interaction (thank you editor-sama for bringing this to my attention (aka. my trusty roommate...you put up with a lot of my b.s. Thanks for always backing me up. ^.^)) But fear not, more SouMako interactions to come d=(´▽｀)=b
> 
> This chapter has been difficult for me, and I hope the flow and content hasn't been disrupted too badly with my absence. 
> 
> Also happy birthday RinRin!! Smexy times for you <3
> 
> Again, thank you all so much for being patient with me. ^.^ I hope you enjoy!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Koseki = Japanese Family Registry (more info at : http://crnjapan.net/The_Japan_Childrens_Rights_Network/res-koseki.html )

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** December 30th, Tuesday, 6:43 pm  **

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Makoto chuckles at the silly display between Seijuurou and Momo. The two Mikoshiba brothers are head-butting each other trying to take the same bite of sushi roll slice. Nagisa tells Momo to “fight” in a cheer while Rei tries to keep the two orange-haired bros away from each other. Kisumi steals the sushi piece from the Mikoshiba brothers saying that he got hungry watching everyone being so invested in their food.

Ai tries to pull Nagisa back into his seat, telling him to be quiet since they are in a restaurant.

Makoto grabs a piece of sashimi, dipping the fish into his wasabi and soy sauce mixture before plopping it gently into his mouth. He side glances over at the raven-haired teen sitting next to him, noticing the scowl on his face as he eats his tonkatsu. The brunette smiles to himself, glad that the teal-eyed teen had decided to come with him to dinner. After eating Satsuma oranges and talking about random things in the dining room, Makoto asked if he could show him some the cool things around in the neighborhood since he doesn’t really visit Sousuke’s part of town.

The brunette knew better than to rely on Sousuke’s terrible sense of direction and together they came up with a route around the areas he frequents. The emerald-eyed teen was able to hear about the community that Sousuke grew up in, which neighbors were nice and which ones were not so nice, the fish market that he always visited to pick up certain items, and the convenience store that he got lost in many years ago. Makoto couldn’t help but be a little excited to hear Sousuke talk about his community, and it must have shown on his face as the raven-haired teen would smile more and more, but there were times when the teal-eyed teen would smile sadly, and the brunette started to get the idea that his family life isn’t the way one would imagine. Makoto still has no idea what Sousuke’s family life is like, but he can tell it has a big impact on the raven-haired teen.

Rin roars in laughter as he makes Rei lose his grip on his sushi, taking the roll for himself. Kisumi pouts at the redhead saying that he’s keeping him out of all the fun stuff. Haru looks away, irritably at the emerald-eyed teen and says with his eyes, ‘I can’t believe you invited him.’

Makoto chuckles, answering with a sparkle in his green eyes, ‘he texted me, telling me he was free and that he wanted to hang out. So, I thought inviting Kisumi would be a good idea.’

The navy-haired teen picks up his white teacup filled with barley tea, drinking as he replies with his blue eyes, ‘humph.’

The emerald-eyed teen giggles and he hears a gruff voice next to him say, “oi! Stop doing that…mind meld thing you do. It’s creepy.”

Haru glares at the teal-eyed teen before his eyes soften a little, his eyes saying, ‘it’s not a mind meld. I don’t even know what that is, but it’s not that.’

Makoto chuckles, “are you jealous, Sousuke?”

The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows, “jealous? Me? I’m not jealous! It’s just weird. I don’t understand how you even picked up the habit in the first place.”

The brunette smiles, shifting his eyes over at the navy-haired teen whose trying to push Rin’s chopsticks away from him, the redhead trying to feed him a sushi roll in a playful manner. Makoto gazes back at the teal-eyed teen, “I just did. It was a lot of trial and error at the beginning, but once I started picking up certain things, it became a lot easier. Haru isn’t very expressive, and I wanted to make sure he got what he needed, or what he asked for.”

Sousuke smirks, “you really are motherly. Does that mind meld thing extend to the rest of your team?”

The emerald-eyed teen frowns lightly at Sousuke’s comment, _‘I’m not that motherly, just a little bit.’_ He blinks before he chuckles, “no. I can’t do the same with Nagisa or Rei. Maybe with Rin…” Makoto looks thoughtful for a moment.

The raven-haired teen’s eyes widen, shocked. He stares at the brunette as he says, “I don’t believe you. There’s no way you can do that with Rin.”

Makoto giggles, “you’re right. I can’t. I just wanted to see your face.”

Kisumi throws his arm around the brunette’s shoulder and says, “mou! What are you two talking about? You’re leaving me out on all the fun!” He looks up at the teal-eyed teen at the end of the table, “ne, Sousuke? Remember when we were kids and we tried to make our own fishing rods? We couldn’t find anything all that useful and we used…”

Sousuke frowns as he says loudly, “oi! Kisumi! Don’t mention that!”

Kisumi sighs dramatically, resting his head on Makoto’s shoulder and says, “eeehhh? Why not? It’s a good story. I have stories about Mako-sensei too, you know.”

Makoto raises his eyebrows and blinks as the pink-haired teen continues, “in middle school, Mako-sensei, Haru, and I would play basketball during physical ed…and Mako-sensei got tackled by one of the boys in our class and he just happened to pull down his…”

The brunette interrupts, “Ki~~su~mi~~! Don’t mention that! That’s so embarrassing. No one wants to hear about that!”

The pink-haired teen sighs, “mou! You guys are no fun. I thought you wanted to talk about some fun moments. Well, how about this. There was one time Rin, Sousuke, and I were gardening when we were kids, and Rin freaked out, shrieked like a girl because he saw a wor…”

Rin barks as he throws his chopsticks at Kisumi,”oi! Don’t mention that, you idiot!”

Haru gives the redhead a look and says, “I want to hear the rest of the story.”

Kisumi, rubs his head, “ita! That hurts! Ri~~n~! Don’t throw your chopsticks! Ick…I probably have rice in my hair now.”

Makoto chuckles but helps Kisumi, looking over his pink hair to see if any grains of rice are sticking to him. He notices one grain of rice and picks it off gently, “there. All better.”

Sousuke snorts, “Mako-mama is at it again. Watch out Rin, he may just scold you.” He lifts his cup of water, taking a swig.

Makoto pouts, “eh? Don’t call me that, Sousuke! “ He looks over at the redhead and says, “don’t throw things, Rin. You could have poked his eye out!”

The raven-haired teen chuckles, putting his cup down with a clank as Rin looks at the brunette incredulously, “eh? Are you serious?”

Haru gives them all a blank look, but Makoto can clearly see a twinkle of a smile in the navy-haired teen’s blue eyes.

Rin sighs, “alright…Mako-mama.”

The brunette glares lightly, “it sounds weird coming from you Rin-Rin.”

Nagisa joins in and says, “but you are! Mako-mama!”

Rei sighs as he readjusts his glasses. Ai chuckles sheepishly, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, Momo and Seijuurou burst out into laughter.

Momo holds his stomach with one hand and says, “Mako-mama! Hahaha! That’s a good one! I would have never thought of that!”

Seijuurou roars with laughter but when he hears his little brother make a comment, he hits him over the back of the head, “oi! Be careful, Momo! Mako-mama may come after you.” He smirks at his orange-haired brother.

Makoto makes a face, not happy that everyone is poking fun at his expense, however Kisumi throws his arm around him again, gently shaking him as he says in his ear, “I think Mako-sensei fits you better.”

The brunette smiles lightly, side glancing at the pink-eyed teen, “thanks, Kisumi.”

Kisumi smiles at Makoto before the pink-haired teen’s purple eyes gaze at over at Sousuke, “eh? What’s with the scary face, Sousuke?”

The emerald-eyed teen blinks, turns his head to find the raven-haired teen glaring at Kisumi. Makoto smiles sheepishly and says, “ah…it’s ok Sousuke. This is what Kisumi does…”

The teal-eyed teen shifts his eyes away, looking at another table in the restaurant, “che, whatever. You’re annoying, Kisumi.”

Rin chuckles at the other end of the table and says, “oi, Kisumi! Stop pestering Makoto. Take your arm off him already!”

The purple-eyed teen tilts his head, “eh? Why? I like hanging off Mako-sensei.”

Nagisa gets up, walking around the table and glomps Makoto from behind, “that’s because Mako-chan is the best! Isn’t that right, Kisu-chan?!”

The purple-eyed teen blinks as his hold on Makoto loosens, almost as if the blond had intentionally pulled him off the brunette. Kisumi laughs, “I guess I’m not the only one that finds Mako-sensei to be the best.”

Nagisa pries himself off of Makoto and glomps Kisumi, “yup! Mako-chan is always looking out for us!”

The brunette watches the two teens interact and laughs, noticing that Haru and Sousuke seem to be arguing about how many pieces of saba sashimi each person gets. Makoto looks around the table feeling a warmth flood his chest, everyone finding groups to talk to and then intermingling with everyone else around the table. He looks over at Momo and Ai getting into an argument about which fish they get before his eyes settle on something outside, a figure standing right by the window.

Makoto looks up at the figure’s face and his eyes widen, _‘Ta-Takeshi! Wh-What are you doing here?’_ The brunette stares at the blond outside the window, wearing his white puffy jacket, black jeans, and a white stripped beanie over his head; the coffee-eyed teen gazes hatefully at the group before his eyes meet Makoto’s green gaze. He swallows and out of fear he gets up quickly, the chair nearly knocking over.

Everyone looks up at the brunette with a bit of shock. The brunette fidgets with his hands and says hurriedly, “uh, sorry. I just noticed a stain on my sweater. I’ll be right back.” Makoto leaves the table, walking quickly.

Sousuke turns around to watch the emerald-eyed teen leave, shrugs and goes back to arguing with the rest of the group about who gets what from the shared dishes. 

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Makoto walks out the front door of the restaurant, turning his head to the side to find Takeshi lifting his gaze towards him. The brunette frowns as he walks closer to the railing of the pier, not wanting to get caught by his friends for lying about the stain on his sweater.

The brunette looks out past the sandy beach, listening to the sound of the crashing waves as he waits for Takeshi to walk up to him. He shivers, holding himself, since he didn’t bother to bring his jacket to keep warm.

Takeshi walks up to Makoto and says, “so, this is what you do on your free time. You guys seem quite cozy. Especially that…”

The emerald-eyed teen knits his eyebrows as he faces the blond, interrupting him, “Takeshi. Why haven’t you gone home? Shouldn’t you be spending time with your family? I thought you said you were giving me time to think about things? I don’t understand...why are you still here?”

Takeshi looks away toward the ocean, taking a moment before he says, “I’m not done here. I want you back, Makoto. I just…don’t understand something.”

Makoto knits his eyebrows, confused, _‘what? Wait, what is going on? I thought he said he would wait for my answer, but I thought that meant that he was going back to Tokyo, not stick around here.’_ The blond looks fairly calm and collected and he wonders if Takeshi is holding his tongue or restraining his anger on his behalf. Either way, it stymies the brunette and he just stares at the coffee-eyed teen, slightly shivering as the cold wind passes by.

Takeshi glances over at the emerald-eyed teen and says carefully, “do you have any sense of physical boundaries with your friends? You let them get so close to you, I mean…they hang off you, hug you, touch you, they even…look at you with so much interest it practically looks like they are flirting with you…and you with them.”

The brunette listens and the words perturb him, _‘huh? what is he saying? That it looks like I’m going out with all of my friends? I…I don’t understand. It’s…normal, isn’t it? I know I’m close with my friends, I cherish them, but he’s saying that it looks like I’m flirting!? I’m not flirting! And neither are they!’_

The blond takes note of the backstroke swimmer’s silence. He looks down at the concrete covered in snow and says slowly, “Makoto…I hardly see a difference between your definition of friends and a lover. Maybe behind closed doors, they could be different, but out in public…I don’t see one. I mean, you wouldn’t even allow me to hold your hand without resistance, and here…you easily just let your friends whisper in your ear. I don’t get it.”

Makoto’s eyes widen, _‘what!? No difference!? There’s a big difference! I don’t love my friends romantically! We...we interact as friends, buddies, but not lovers! We don’t do what lovers do! The intention is completely different! I don’t understand! How can it look the same...’_ The brunette says after a few moments, “it’s different.”

Takeshi removes his hands from his pockets, balling his hands to the side as he lifts his head, knitting his eyebrows, “how? How is it different? Do you even know what it looks like from another perspective? Makoto, I don’t see a difference. When you said you were close to your friends, I thought it was you know…like an emotional connection. Fine, I get that. You have history, get along and all that, but…I wasn’t expecting you to be physically close too. That pink haired guy was all over you! For all I know, you could be much more closer when no one is looking.”

The emerald-eyed teen furrows his eyebrows, shocked and frustrated, _‘Takeshi, it’s not like that! Yeah, I’m close to my friends, and we get physically close sometimes, but not that kind of physically close! I’m not screwing around with my friends! How could you even think that!?’_ He gasps, “it’s not like that! We aren’t like that! Kisu…”

The blond huffs, taking a half step closer to Makoto and says in a flurry, “all I have is your word, Makoto. I know I messed up, but at least I owned it! I know I fucked up bad, but I have no idea what you do with him or any of your friends behind closed doors. Maybe the same thing we did! The only difference between you and me is that I got caught! And maybe I wanted to, I don’t know! But I don’t think it’s fair for you to judge me, when you could be doing the same!”

Makoto moves his foot back, the ball of his foot teetering on the solid ground, but he doesn’t actually take a full step back as he peers into Takeshi’s eyes. The brunette hears the anger, but it’s more controlled than his usual outbursts. However, the argument Takeshi makes is substantiated, the brunette can’t find a specific fault in his reasoning except that it is completely wrong, as contradictory as that sounds.

The emerald-eyed teen’s lips form a thin line, _‘what the hell!? You can’t be serious!? I don’t know what to say. Oh my god! Why don’t you understand...we’re not like that! How can it look like my friends and I are flirting with each other! We’re not! And we are definitely not having sex! I mean...yes, we are close physically and emotionally, but...uuugghh! This is so wrong! Well, yeah! All you have is my word! Don’t you trust me!? Dammit!’_

Makoto says with frustration, “wa-wait a minute! It’s not what you think, Takeshi! We aren’t like that! My friends and I aren’t like that. We may be close physically and emotionally but we aren’t that clo...”

Takeshi takes a step back, looking away towards the ocean once more as he huffs shallowly, interrupting, “do you get it now? Why I get upset? Why I get possessive over you? You said you could fall…for me. I think that’s a lie. You love them, don’t you? I bet you can tell them that, that you love them. But you can’t even tell me that because it isn’t true. So you just lead me on, is that it?”

Makoto frowns, his feet planted to the ground, his emotions swirling in his chest, but he can’t seem to figure out what he’s feeling, only that it doesn’t feel good. He never lied to Takeshi, when he said he could fall for the blond, he meant it then. The brunette balls his hands into fists, feeling upset with himself because the statement about falling in love with Takeshi isn’t true anymore, after everything that happened between them, his feelings have changed and he has grown feelings for someone else. With the blond’s last question he replies with haste, irritation gnawing in his chest, “that’s not true! I would never lead you on!”

The blond shakes his head, placing his hands back in his white puffy jacket, “fine. Maybe that’s true. Tell me something.” Takeshi faces the brunette with hardened eyes, “do you love those people in the restaurant? Minus Haru. I already know the answer to that.”

Makoto blinks, perplexed at Takeshi’s control over his anger, it almost makes him feel like he’s the crazy one for getting upset, raising his voice and it vexes him. The question about loving the people inside the restaurant stupefies him, causing his green eyes to waver under that dark coffee stare and looks down. He says in a small voice, “that’s not…”

Takeshi presses callously, “life isn’t fair, Makoto. Look at me and tell me. Don’t I deserve that much? The truth? Look at me, Makoto. Look me in the eye and tell me if you love them.”

The brunette winces at the taller teen’s tone, hesitating to lift his head up. Makoto swallows and finds the courage to move his head, meeting that cold coffee stare. His eyes shift and he says quietly, “I do. I love them. Most of them. Some of them aren’t as close to me, but I admire them.”

The blond takes a step closer, grasping Makoto’s biceps to keep him in place as he asks a little more vulnerably, “what about me? Do you love me?”

Makoto opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. His mind races and a frigid breeze pierces his skin and it reminds him that he is outside, in the cold, in public, where everyone can hear them and he panics, “we can’t talk about this here. Takeshi…”

Takeshi’s grip tightens on the brunette and he says eagerly, “you can say you love them in public, but you can’t tell me? You can claim love for your friends in public, but not…your lover? If you feel nothing for me, just say it! I don’t like this, Makoto. I want you back, but you’re evading me every time. If you really could fall for me, then why is it that you can’t give us another chance?”

Makoto frowns, looks away towards the ocean, not his friends. He winces and says, “stop, Takeshi. This isn’t the place for this. We can’t talk about this here. It’s not saf…”

The blond growls lightly, pushing Makoto back. He takes several steps away from Makoto, walking parallel with the metal railing of the pier before he comes back, getting into the brunette’s face. With only inches between them, Takeshi bellows, “seriously? Don’t tell me that we need some kind of privacy for this? I want you back, Makoto. I came all the way down here to repair our relationship. To show you how serious I am about you! That what we had meant a lot to me! Are you gonna just throw everything we had away!? Do I mean nothing to you?”

The emerald-eyed teen stumbles back a bit when he is pushed, grasping the cold metal railing for support, wincing at the feel of the icy metal surrounding the palm of his hand. Makoto quickly releases his hold on the cold rod, shaking his hand in the air before rubbing his hands together to create some warmth. By the time he looks up, Takeshi invades his space, his angry coffee eyes meeting his green surprised gaze. Makoto holds his ground, his hands ceasing movement and just when he opens his mouth, the blond speaks.

The words that pour out of Takeshi’s lips causes the backstroke swimmer to make a strained expression, he can see the blond’s displeasure in his eyes and it sparks something in his core, something foreboding and riled, he frowns deeply. Makoto pushes the blond away from him, needing more distance, needing some breathing room to speak. He glares at the snowy floor and says darkly, “stop.” 

Takeshi suddenly feels this hard force pushing him back and he looks at his shoulder to find Makoto’s hand pressed up against him, creating space between them. He looks back at the brunette and the single word that he speaks. The blond holds his breath. He heard this tone from the emerald-eyed teen in the past, whenever they argued, it was the tone that said, ‘I’ve had enough.’

The coffee-eyed teen scrunches up his face, huffing as a response, but saying nothing as he waits for Makoto to say something.

Makoto’s hand forms a fist on Takeshi’s white puffy jacket and he says angrily, “I’ve never lead you on. I care about you, but this isn’t the way to resolve this. I will not talk about this…out here.” He looks up and meets those stern dark brown orbs and says thickly and hushed, “this is my home. This is my community. I do not want them knowing about this. I will not continue this out…”

Takeshi pushes Makoto’s hand away from his shoulder and says bitterly, “no! We talk about this now. You won’t even talk to me in private. Every time I tried to talk to you there is someone getting in the way, protecting you as if you are some kind of child! I know you hate confrontation, you told me that! But this is how I deal with things. I feel things and I say them, right then and there. I’m not waiting anymore. You tell me righ…”

The brunette frowns, feeling like a heavy anvil dropping in his gut and he interrupts as he pushes the coffee-eyed teen with both hands harshly, “I’m not a little kid! My friends are protective because they care about me! You never answered my question when I asked you back in Tokyo…so many times! Of course I assumed the answer was no. If any of those times meant yes, you should have said so! And now you come here telling me that you can accept my friends, just out of the blue!? Have you really thought about it? Or is this just some way to get me back? You said that you would do anything to get me back!”

Takeshi stumbles back at the impact of the backstroke swimmer’s push, not expecting the brunette to do anything like that. He catches himself from falling back, taking a few steps back and using his leg muscles to maintain his balance. He listens to Makoto’s words, frowning. He looks up at the emerald-eyed teen fuming. The blond closes the distance between them, grabbing Makoto’s grey and blue sweater, pulling the backstroke towards him. His steely gaze pierces the emerald-eyed teen, “I have thought about it! Aren’t relationships about compromise!? You said you couldn’t compromise your friends, fine! I won’t argue about it anymore! I want you back in my life, Makoto! I’m miserable without you.”

Makoto’s feels his heart rate rise as Takeshi grasps his sweater and pulling him in close, inches away from each other. The clash of words escalating to the point it has, makes the brunette grunt, he lifts his hands up, grabbing the blond’s wrists, trying to pry them off. The coffee-eyed teen’s grip is strong and just when he’s about ready to use his full strength, the blond words fill his ears.

The backstroke swimmer stares into those coffee eyes, anger in his emerald gaze, but when Takeshi mentions that he’s miserable without him, Makoto’s eyes waver. The brunette looks away and huffs, “you think this is easy for me? After what you’ve done? You hurt me! You hurt Haru! I don’t ever want to see my friends hurt like that, not because you had to make a point! Haru didn’t deserve that kind of treatment from you! And I know he wasn’t the only one to get hurt that day, you did too! I’m not even gonna start with what I saw in your apartme…”

Takeshi releases the brunette’s sweater, flinging Makoto’s hands off his wrists before he quickly envelops Makoto’s cheeks with the palm of his hands, peering into his eyes as he says angrily but vulnerably, “just tell me, tell me if you can fall for me, Makoto. I love you.”

The brunette is suddenly released, his arms flung to the side and it disorients the emerald-eyed teen momentarily. A gasp escapes his lips as cold hands encompasses his face and he looks up at those coffee orbs, the words that he was trying to say suddenly vanish from his mind as shock overtakes him.

The blond confessing his love for him makes his chest swell, but then something else follows…discomfort and heartache. Makoto’s eyes widen and he raises his hands up to pry off Takeshi’s hands from his cheeks, but then the blond moves forward as if he’s about to kiss him. Thoughts race in his mind, _‘no. No! Takeshi! No! I can’t fall for you! I don’t love you!’_

Makoto panics and says in a quick, tense tone, “I can’t. No, I like someone else. Takeshi, no!”

The coffee-eyed teen stops, eyebrows knitting as his expression changes to one of appall. He doesn’t release the brunette as he tries to process Makoto’s words.

Makoto’s eyes become fearful, recognizing that the words that just slipped out of his mouth were not the right choice of words. Dread fills him as he thinks, _‘crap. Did I just say that out loud!? Oh no! This is bad!’_

Takeshi moves his head back, and Makoto takes advantage of the blond’s bewilderment, pushing the coffee-eyed teen away as the brunette takes a step back. Takeshi says bitingly, “what?”

Makoto looks at the coffee-eyed teen, his stomach flopping with dread, he can hear Takeshi’s accusation in his tone and it makes him shudder with regret. The backstroke swimmer knits his eyebrows with worry as he says, “Takeshi, let me explai…”

The shakes his head as he takes a step towards Makoto, cutting him off, “You like someone else?”

Makoto opens his mouth, a flurry of emotions flood him, putting his hands up in defense, “that’s not the reason why I can’t fall…”

Takeshi grabs the brunette’s forearm, squeezing harshly as he scathingly interrupts, “That’s what you said! So, this whole fuckin’ time, you couldn’t commit to me is because you like someone else? You can’t fall for me because of some jerk!? Who is it? That guy from the café? That short asshole?”

The brunette winces, trying to pry Takeshi’s grip off his arm. The blond takes a step forward, suffocating the emerald-eyed teen. He pushes the coffee-eyed teen’s shoulder, trying to keep some distance between them as he says, “get off me Takeshi! No! It’s not what you think! That’s not the reason why! Let me go!”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The raven-haired teen rolls his eyes as Kisumi tries to tell stories about their childhood again, only to be shushed by Haru and Rin. He looks over at his side, the empty chair next to him and ponders, _‘hmm, Makoto has been gone a long time. I wonder what happened. Maybe I should check on him. The bathroom is near the entrance of the restaurant. I think I can slip by without anyone noticing.’_

Sousuke looks around the table, everyone seems to be listening to a story Nagisa is sharing about one of their practice trips, a couple of years ago. The teal-eyed teen quietly gets up from his seat, making sure none of the guys notice him, something catches his eye as he’s about to walk away from the table.

Outside by the pier, he sees two guys having a heated argument. A guy in a puffy white jacket angrily taking a step towards a brunette guy with a grey and blue sweater and dark blue jeans. Sousuke has seen that sweater, it’s just like the one Makoto’s wearing. He looks up and realizes that it is Makoto.

Sousuke walks away from the table, not caring if anyone sees him. His only thoughts remain on the confrontation outside, and it suddenly clicks in his mind, the reason why the brunette left the table with such a start was because his ex must have seen him.

The raven-haired teen frowns deeply as he trots over to the front door. He pushes the door open, quickly walking over to the two guys. The teal-eyed teen internally curses as the blond and the brunette struggle. Makoto clearly asking the coffee-eyed teen to release him, _‘you asshole! Let him go!’_ Sousuke stops next to the brunette, pries the blond off the backstroke swimmer. He grabs Makoto’s forearm and pulls him into his embrace.

The emerald-eyed teen doesn’t even notice the strong grip on his arm until his body roughly moves toward the force that pulls him. His body rams into another and he looks up to find the ex-butterfly swimmer glaring harshly at his ex, and an arm wrapped around his waist, protectively and possessively.

Sousuke’s eyes become dark as he roars darkly, “stay away from him! Makoto is busy with his friends. Get out of here!”

The coffee-eyed teen rubs his arm from the harsh grip and being tossed aside, away from his boyfriend. He knits his eyebrows, confused as to why Makoto has suddenly left his grasp. He turns his head to find a raven-haired teen scowling at him with hostility. His eyes drift down to find the teal-eyed teen hugging Makoto and Takeshi’s face turns into a grimace, _‘what the fuck!? Get your fuckin’ hands off him!’_

Takeshi hears Sousuke’s words, but all he can focus on is his hand on Makoto’s waist and he says with venom, “this is none of your goddamn business! Go back and deal with your own fuckin’ boyfriend! Makoto and I…”

Sousuke’s blood boils at the remark the blond makes, _‘fuck you! Makoto is my business!’_ He barks, interrupting the idiot, “you have no business here! Makoto has nothing to discuss with yo…”

The blond growls, “get your grimy hands off him! He’s not yours! Isn’t Haru enough for you!?” He faces the teal-eyed teen taking a step towards him.

The ex-butterfly swimmer eyes narrow and glower at the teen in the white puffy jacket, _‘Makoto isn’t a piece of meat to be claimed, asshole! He told you to let him go, you fuckin’ prick! Don’t tell me what to do!’_ He releases Makoto, stepping in front to keep the brunette away from the blond coming towards him. He takes a step forward as he stares at the coffee-eyed teen with disgust and says with belligerence, “I don’t care what you say. I won’t let you see him anymore!”

Makoto looks between Sousuke and Takeshi, but the blond’s words confuse him, _‘boyfriend? What is he talking about? Sousuke doesn’t have a boyfriend.’_ The anger that flows from the raven-haired teen is something he’s never seen from Sousuke and it frightens him. The brunette winces as Takeshi yells back and then he gets it, _‘wai-wait, what? You think Sousuke is Haru’s boyfriend!?’_

The raven-haired teen unwraps his arm from around Makoto’s waist, stepping in front of him and his heart sinks, _‘wait…wait! Don’t! Please don’t fight!’_ The emerald-eyed teen tries to move around the teal-eyed teen, but Sousuke’s arm comes out to prevent him from coming forward. Makoto says softly, “Sou-Sousuke…” The brunette looks around his surroundings and he realizes that their argument has caught eyes from those passing by and he instantly feels guilt and shame, _‘damn. I have to put an end to this! We’re making a huge scene. Everyone is uncomfortable.’_

Takeshi and Sousuke walk forward until they are right in each other’s faces, glaring daggers at each other.

The blond snarls, “fuck you, asshole! Go back into your little cubbyhole with your goddamn fuck buddies! Makoto and I…”

Sousuke interrupts, rumbling fiercely, “are done! It’s over! You can’t have him back. There’s nothing left for you here! Go home like the kicked puppy you are!”

Takeshi huffs and sneers as his hands ball into tight fists, reeling his arm back to punch the raven-haired teen in the face.

Sousuke is ready to dodge the punch, but in the moment he forgets to make sure that Makoto doesn’t get in the way. His eyes widen as the brunette gets around him, locking his arm under the blond’s shoulder and pulling him back.

The emerald-eyed teen yells, “stop! Don’t hurt him! Takesh…” Makoto gasps as he quickly locks his other arm under Takeshi’s shoulder, using his strength to hold the blond back.

The raven-haired teen observes how Makoto tries to prevent the blond from hurting him. Sousuke’s already balled fists tighten as his knuckles protrude out, becoming white as his anger festers within him, _‘dammit! Makoto! You shouldn’t get involved! You’ll get hurt, goddammit! Fuck! I know you don’t want a fight, but this guy fuckin’ pisses me off!’_

The coffee-eyed teen struggles against Makoto to get towards the raven-haired teen. He begins to pry himself away from brunette’s grasp, finding an opportunity to break from Makoto’s hold using brute force. He wastes no time rushing forward, towards the teal-eyed teen.

Sousuke narrows his eyes and dodges the punch, turning on his heel as he gets into a defensive stance. He lunges forward using an uppercut motion to hit the blond in the stomach. The teal-eyed teen takes a chance to glance over his back to find Makoto against the railing of the pier, wincing, _‘Makoto…dammit! This shithead will fuckin’ pay!’_

The brunette is pushed back and he staggers backwards trying to maintain his balance. The back of his body hits the railing and he hisses in pain. He closes his eyes for a moment, as he collects himself. Makoto looks up and finds Sousuke blocking a punch to his gut and slamming the blond to the floor.

The emerald-eyed teen acts, his body moving quickly, his heart racing with alarming apprehension, placing a hand on Sousuke’s chest to prevent him from confronting Takeshi. Makoto looks between the raven-haired teen and the blond who is getting up from the floor and says, “stop! Both of you! Don’t fight, please…”

The coffee-eyed teen pants heavily, pain filling his body, but he doesn’t care. He shifts his gaze toward Makoto’s aghast visage, the words barely reaching his ears. He notices how the brunette has both his hands up, as if he’s trying to break up the fight, but his coffee gaze lingers on Makoto’s hand pressed up against Sousuke’s chest and he growls, lunging forward, grabbing for the brunette’s arm, “no!” 

Sousuke looks down at Makoto’s hand on his chest; his breath heaving up and down as puffs of white wisps escape his parted lips. The raven-haired teen gazes over at the brunette, the words clear as Makoto yelps for them to stop. He doesn’t want to upset the emerald-eyed teen and listens, _‘dammit, really? You want me to stop? Makoto, I don’t want to make you upset. But this idiot won’t understand. He wants a fight.’_ His eyes moves over to the blond leaning over his knees and he sees those coffee eyes burn with rage, _‘damn bastard! You don’t fuckin’ care at all, asshole!’_

Sousuke slaps Makoto’s hand away, moving forward as Takeshi tries to grab Makoto’s arm, the raven-haired teen grasps the blond’s forearm. He clutches the coffee-eyed teen’s arm and says, “back off.”

Takeshi bellows, “fuck off! This is none of your goddamn business! Makoto is mine!”

The ex-butterfly swimmer squeezes the coffee-eyed teen’s arm even tighter, noticing the blond wince, _‘Makoto doesn’t belong to you! He decides who he wants, and it’s not you!’_ Before he could respond, Makoto tries to pry them off each other and says with panic, “ok! Ok! That’s enough! Stop! Takeshi! It’s time you leave! Now!”

The blond feels affronted as his eyes shift over to the emerald-eyed teen and rips his arm away from Sousuke and Makoto and yells, “Leave? Like hell! You’re mine, Makoto! I’m not leaving without you!”

Sousuke frowns as he listens to the stupid blond, _‘you asshole! Stop saying that! Makoto doesn’t belong to you!’_ He tries to take a step forward, but the emerald-eyed teen places his hand on Sousuke’s bicep. Makoto’s knits his eyebrows, glaring at Takeshi unflinchingly, “no. I’m staying here. With my friends and family, Takeshi. I won’t go back with you. I will not return to you. No more chances. It’s over.”

The ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes widen as Makoto asserts himself steadfastly, impressed with the brunette, _‘whoa! Makoto. I didn’t know your voice could sound so angry. And here I thought I would have to knock some sense into that fuckin’ idiot. Damn. I’m...impressed with you, Mako.’_

The blond frowns at Makoto’s disclosure, extremely unhappy, _‘what the fuck!?! After everything we’ve been through! Goddammit Makoto! You fuckin’ prick!’_ He looks over at the raven-haired teen scowling, _‘this is all your fuckin’ fault! Damn bastard!’_

Takeshi hurls forward aiming for the teal-eyed teen, but Makoto gets in front of Sousuke stopping the blond from grasping the ex-butterfly swimmer. The two struggle, grunting. As Sousuke tries to pry the coffee-eyed teen off Makoto, the blond shoves the brunette harshly to the side, down towards the floor.

Sousuke, unable to prevent the emerald-eyed teen from falling, watches with horror, extending his arm out, trying to reach for him, but his reflexes were just too delayed and his attempt fails as he watches Makoto continue to retreat back, crashing into the railing. Distracted, Sousuke doesn’t see the blond tackle him to the floor.

Makoto tries to hold Takeshi back, but is thrown callously to the side; the brunette fumbles backwards tripping over the ice and hitting the pier railing with a thud. The emerald-eyed teen winces in pain as his ass hits the floor, and his back thwacks the rail. He grunts as he feels a freezing sting on the palm of his hand. He shakes his head gently, opening his eyes to find Sousuke on the floor and the blond squatting down on top of him, grasping the teal-eyed teen’s black sweater with a large white stripe of snowflake print across the chest.

The brunette tries to get up, but he slips on some ice, falling back on the floor and winces once again with pain. He hears Sousuke and Takeshi grunting and struggling, and Makoto looks up to find Takeshi pulling Sousuke up and throwing him down onto the ground harshly. Makoto’s eyes widen with dread as his mind reels with thoughts of Sousuke getting hurt on his behalf and then he gasps, _‘no! No! His shoulder! Oh my god! NO!’_

Makoto stumbles to get on his feet and lurches forward with the intention of getting the blond off of Sousuke as quickly as possible. He seizes the coffee-eyed teen’s white puffy jacket, shoving him off the raven-haired teen. The blond tries to force his way back onto the teal-eyed teen, and the brunette snaps in the struggle, reeling his arm back and punching Takeshi across the face.

The coffee-eyed teen falls back onto the floor and Makoto can hear a couple of passerbys gasp in shock and fright.

Sousuke tried to kick, punch, and push the blond away from him, but once the coffee-eyed teen pulled his body forward, he braces himself for the impact downward, making sure that the back of his head doesn’t hit the pavement. He smacks his palm up Takeshi’s jaw and he hears a hiss, but the coffee-eyed teen throws him on the floor again. Suddenly he feels the blond loosen his hold on his sweater and the raven-haired teen gazes up to find Makoto prying him off. Sousuke shakes his head, trying to get up but then his eyes widen as he witnesses Makoto punch the blond.

There is the sound of someone coming out of the restaurant yelling about the ruckus, probably the owner as he scowls at the group of teens fighting outside, disturbing the peace.

Sousuke gets up off the floor, panting, staring at Makoto with surprise. He wasn’t expecting the brunette to throw a punch.

Makoto eyes waver as soon as he sees the image of the blond falling to the floor due to his action, feeling upset with himself. He wanted to get his ex away from Sousuke, to prevent him from hurting the raven-haired teen further, but to punch him in the face, he’s never punched anyone in his life.

The brunette’s eyes shift over to an angry middle-aged man and he frowns with disappointment and shame. He places his hand on his thighs and bows deeply, 90 degrees as he says loudly, “I’m sorry for the trouble we have caused. I am deeply sorry. Please, forgive us.”

The older-man sighs looking back and forth between the blond, the brunette, and the raven-haired teen. Sousuke stands next to Makoto, placing his hands to his side, and bows at 45 degrees, “sorry. We got carried away. Please accept my apology.”

The blond sits up on the floor, shaking his head as he’s seeing stars, grunting as he places a hand over his mouth almost as if he’s checking to see the damage to his jaw. He looks up to find Makoto and Sousuke bowing in front of an older man. The coffee-eyed teen rubs his bottom lip with the back of his hand and feels something wet on his skin. He looks at the back of his hand noticing a blood smeared across his flesh.

Haru, Nagisa, and Ai come out and bow in front of the owner apologizing for their friends’ behaviors. Ai stays with the owner explaining that the disturbance is a misunderstanding between classmates, apologizing again. Haru and Nagisa quickly trot over to Makoto and Sousuke. The raven-haired teen is the first to get up from his bow, a look of displeasure on his face, but relief at the same time. The teal-eyed teen rubs the back of his neck and frowns. He mutters under his breath, “sorry.”

Makoto gets up from his bow, glances at his friends before looking away with hurt and humiliation. The backstroke swimmer shifts his gaze over to the coffee-eye teen, furrowing his eyebrows deeply.

Takeshi gets up from the floor, glaring at the brunette. Before the blond could say anything, Makoto says firmly, “Ito-san.”

The blond’s eyes become wide with shock, he hasn’t heard the emerald-eyed teen call him that for over half a year and it’s like a slap in the face.

The brunette bows again, this time toward the blond, staying down for several seconds before lifting himself up to a standing position. He quickly turns away from the coffee-eyed teen, saying nothing else as he heads back into the restaurant shamefully.

Ai bows to the owner and the passerby that lingered as well as the blond before heading back into the restaurant to pay for their interrupted meal.

Sousuke notices Haru glaring at Makoto’s ex hatefully and says loud enough for the navy-haired teen, “he’s not worth it, Haru. Leave him be.”

The raven-haired teen walks past the free-swimmer, not even bothering to give the blond any of his attention, bowing his head to the owner in apology as he heads into the restaurant.

Nagisa drags Haru towards the restaurant, observing the sapphire-eyed teen glowering at the teen in the puffy white jacket. The pink-eyed teen wonders who the blond guy is to receive such a scowl from Haru-chan. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 30th, Tuesday, 7:47 pm  **

****

Makoto remains quiet after the whole incident at the restaurant, a sullen expression on his face. After they paid their bill, apologizing once again to the owner, Takeshi wasn’t outside and the brunette had no idea how much time passed since he entered the restaurant after the incident. The chatter between the patrons died down, but many of the customers would glance over at the group with wonder. The emerald-eyed teen inwardly grimaced every time he saw eyes on him and his friends, feeling humiliation.

The backstroke swimmer glances over at the raven-haired teen with terrified worry on his face, every now and then he would stare at Sousuke. Haru notices the behavior and knows exactly why the brunette is troubled. The group of adults behind them pointed out the fight, staring out the window with confusion and wonder, and Haru saw a part of what happened between Ito, Makoto, and Sousuke. The sapphire-eyed teen was shocked to see Ito outside, and anger filled him. Before he could run outside, he saw the brunette punch the blond.

Haru knows that Makoto isn’t violent by nature, he snapped, especially after what Ito did to Sousuke. The navy-haired teen notices that everyone has broken up into pairs, Rin and Sousuke, Nagisa and Rei, Nitori and Momotarou, and Kisumi and Seijuurou, talking amongst each other, probably trying not to disrupt the peace between the group members, but the tension of the incident hangs over all of them.

Sousuke turns his head, looking over his shoulder, gazing at the gloomy brunette walking beside the navy-haired teen and frowns, unhappy to see such an expression on the emerald-eyed teen’s visage.

Rin notices the raven-haired teen’s diverted attention and looks over in the direction Sousuke is staring. He says in a hushed tone, “worried?”

Sousuke turns his head, side glancing at the redhead, “yeah. You’re planning on staying with Haru tonight, right? They live so close to each other so maybe you could check on him or something?”

Rin quirks an eyebrow, turning his head to stare at the brunette and Haru, only this time the navy-haired teen’s gaze meets Rin’s. The redhead gives the free-swimmer a small smile, genuine but strained before he turns away, looking ahead, “I’ll ask Haru, but...what about you dude? You took quite the beating. Don’t take this the wrong way, but Makoto totally saved your ass back there.”

The teal-eyed teen side glances at the all-around swimmer and says nonchalantly, “che, it’s nothing. I’m not the one who got hurt back there. That idiot did. Makoto can throw a punch. Remind me never to piss him off.”

Rin frowns, knowing what the ex-butterfly swimmer meant, but concern wiggles its way into his core. He wonders if the broody teen is withholding the truth. The redhead huffs lightly, “heh. Yeah. Remind me never to piss him off too. Damn that looked painful. Fuckin’ bastard deserved it. I can’t believe that jerk followed Makoto home like that...goddamn stalker.”

Sousuke nods slowly and replies, “yeah.” 

Makoto glances over at the raven-haired teen again and Haru says, “if you’re worried, why don’t you go home with him?”

The backstroke swimmer turns his head, staring at that consistent blue gaze. Makoto sighs softly, “I’ll ask him then.” The two teens remain silent for several steps before the brunette asks, “Rin’s staying with you?”

Haru looks up at the emerald-eyed teen, nodding, “yes. If you want to stay over, you ca...”

Makoto shakes his head and says, “no. I don’t want to get in the way, and I know I won’t, but still. I don’t want to intrude. I’ll ask Sousuke.”

The brunette walks over toward the redhead and the teal-eyed teen, tapping Rin’s shoulder lightly.

The crimson-eyed teen turns his head, a little surprised to see Makoto behind him as the brunette says, “ne, Rin. Can I talk to Sousuke?”

The redhead nods, catching the hint that Makoto wants to talk to his best friend privately and moves over to the navy-haired teen walking by himself.

Makoto takes Rin’s place, making sure the redhead and his best friend have found each other before he turns his head towards the raven-haired teen. Sousuke gazes at him curiously and Makoto asks, “can I go home with you Sousuke? I’m...worried.” The emerald-eyed teen looks down, depreciative.

The teal-eyed teen listens to the brunette’s meek voice, inwardly frowning at how the backstroke swimmer takes responsibility for the incident. He keeps a straight face and says, “yeah. Come home with me, but one of us has to call your family. I don’t want them worrying over you.”

Makoto looks up, his eyes filled with emotion, feeling both gratefulness and relief. He nods, taking out his phone and texting his mom, dad, and uncle, letting them know his whereabouts.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 30th, Monday, 8:26 pm  **

****

Makoto starts getting antsy as they turn the block, walking towards Sousuke’s house. His mind keeps going over the image of the raven-haired teen on the floor, getting thrown against the concrete, _‘Sousuke. He hurt you. Damn, I keep thinking about it over and over again. Please...please don’t be injured. You worked too hard, Sousuke.’_ Thoughts of Sousuke hiding any injuries from him make the brunette frown. He shouldn’t have gone out there, by himself, he just acted without thinking when he saw him. He shouldn’t have lied to his friends but he didn’t want any of them to get involved, not like how his uncle got entangled with him, that was scary and confusing.

Makoto turns his head, gazing at the teal-eyed teen. He notices how the raven-haired teen continues to stare ahead coolly, and for some reason it stirs his already worried mind into a tizzy.

The emerald-eyed teen shifts his gaze downwards, watching Sousuke’s black boots make imprints in the snow as he recalls apologizing to everyone once they reached the train station. He expected everyone to be disappointed in him, but instead he was embraced with understanding. Even Kisumi toned down, patting his shoulder, with a small smile of reassurance. Seijuurou embraced him from the side, grasping his shoulder gingerly, smiling like he always does before everyone threw themselves at him, in a friendly group hug. Sousuke was the only one who didn’t initially joined in with everyone; Makoto noticed how Rin gave him a certain stare and the raven-haired teen quickly submitted to the redhead’s demand, joining in with everyone. If he were his usual self, the emerald-eyed teen would have laughed.

It was a sweet gesture, and it warmed his heart after everything that happened. Momo, Seijuurou, and Nitori exchanged numbers with the brunette, saying that they should keep in touch. Makoto could tell they were worried, even though they didn’t know him well, he can sense their care for his wellbeing.

Sousuke pulls out the keys to his home, opening the gate for the brunette. Makoto enters with his head bowed towards the ground as he says, “thank you. Please pardon the...”

The raven-haired teen closes the gate and interrupts softly, “you don’t have to say that, Makoto. You were here earlier. It’s ok. Come on, let’s get you inside.”

The emerald-eyed teen remains still, listening before he nods. The teal-eyed teen walks past the brunette and he follows, his eyes wavering with sadness as he follows Sousuke. The emerald-eyed teen lifts his head, and his eyes linger on Sousuke’s broad back, particularly the ex-butterfly swimmer’s right shoulder.

The two enter the house, Sousuke opening the door for Makoto, observing the sullen expression plastered on the brunette’s face and he sighs silently, feeling slightly responsible. He closes the door slowly, locking the deadbolt in place, _‘damn. If only I looked outside sooner, maybe things would have been different. Maybe you wouldn’t look so sad, Mako. Che, what am I thinking? Regardless, you would have been sad. He confronted you in the worse way possible. Damn asshole.’_

Makoto’s eyes become hazy when he hears the deadbolt click into place, feeling relief within a private domain and his thoughts once again hone on Sousuke’s shoulder. He needs to know. He needs to know that the raven-haired teen’s hard work on recovering hasn’t gone to waste, all because of one stupid incident. His eyes become teary as anger fills his heart, anger at himself, and anger at his ex.

Makoto turns around quickly, his eyes slightly focused on Sousuke’s dark blue jacket, _‘Sousuke...I need to know now. I can’t wait anymore...I can’t...’_ He reaches for the jacket zipper nestled right against Sousuke’s neck. Makoto pushes the scarf aside, fingers shaking as he pulls it down harshly, unclasping the connection.

The teal-eyed teen turns around pulling off his gloves, he doesn’t notice Makoto coming straight for him until the brunette’s hands are on him, and says, “whoa! Makoto!? What? Wha...”

The emerald-eyed teen says with insistence, interrupting, “take off your clothes, Sousuke! Take them off! Let me see! I need to know...” The brunette scrunches up his face unable to demand anything more verbally, the tears in his eyes threatening to fall down his face as he pulls the blue jacket off Sousuke’s shoulders. He continues his assault as his hands feels for the hem of Sousuke’s black and white sweater and yanks it up in an attempt to pull both his undershirt and sweater over Sousuke’s body.

The raven-haired teen knits his eyebrows, utterly confused as to why the emerald-eyed is so persistent in taking his clothes off. He feels the jacket come off and when Makoto pulls his sweater, the ex-butterfly swimmer’s eyes widen, _‘whoa! What the hell!? What is going on!? Makoto!?’_ He grabs Makoto’s wrists, “wait. Wait. Makoto, stop. Stop.”

Sousuke keeps Makoto’s hands on his partially bare chest, trying to prevent him from removing his clothes any further. The brunette’s cold hands on his flesh causes Sousuke to hiss lightly, and he continues, “Makoto. What has gotten into you? Why are you taking off my...”

Makoto doesn’t look up at the raven-haired teen, his eyes focused on his restrained hands. He tries to move his hands, but Sousuke’s grip keeps Makoto’s hands where they are at. The emerald-eyed teen doesn’t hear the words that fall from Sousuke’s lips, but he hears his voice. Makoto gasps as tears fall down his face, _‘god...why am I crying!? I shouldn’t be crying...I need to see. Dammit...Sousuke. I’m sorry.’_ His body shakes as a whimper escapes his lips, “So-Sousuke...I’m sorry...I’m so sorry. You got hurt because of me. I’ll never forgive myself if...”

The raven-haired teen feels his chest become heavy when he sees the emerald-eyed teen shake and whimper heartrendingly. He loosens his hold on the brunette as he listens to the grief-stricken sob of an apology and throws his arms over Makoto’s shoulders, cradling the back of the brunette’s head with his hand as he pulls him close, _‘Makoto. Dammit. I knew this would happen. It’s ok. I’m here for you. Just...let it out. No one has to know about this.’_

Makoto wraps his arms around Sousuke’s back, sobbing into his shoulder, his right shoulder. His hands clasps around the folds of fabric hiked up Sousuke’s body and clings as he just weeps, letting all the pain he was holding onto out on Sousuke’s shoulder.

Sousuke pets Makoto’s brown locks gently, his eyes casted downwards as he holds Makoto close, squeezing him, wanting nothing more than to erase the pain the brunette feels. 

The raven-haired teen just holds him tightly, listening to the sorrowful sobs, furrowing his eyebrows as he witnesses Makoto’s pain, trying to steady the shaking body in his arms. He doesn’t know how long he just stands in the entryway with Makoto, but he can hear the brunette’s cry become quieter as time passes.

After many moments, Sousuke says softly, “Makoto...let’s head up. Inside. I’ll make you some, uh...hot cocoa, tea? Whatever you need.”

The emerald-eyed teen takes in a breath when he hears Sousuke’s voice. It’s soothing. The mention of something hot makes him smile, but more importantly, Sousuke remembered how much he loves chocolate. It warms his heart and he grasps onto the black and white soft cotton fabric even tighter.

Makoto inhales unsteadily, a bit more deeply instead of shallowly, trying to calm his achy heart and jittery body. He catches a whiff of something woodsy, earthy, and sporty on Sousuke’s sweater. Makoto isn’t sure where the scent originated from, but he is certain it’s coming from the raven-haired teen. He sniffles _, ‘Sousuke. Thank you. You really have been worried about me. Ugh...I feel like all I’ve done lately is make all you guys worry about me. Things were going so well, I was so happy when this vacation started...but I’ve been on edge lately. Trying my best to handle the situation given to me, but I’ve felt so confused. Ever since I saw him...I was, I don’t know. I don’t know anymore. I’m so glad you’re here, Sousuke.’_

Sousuke patiently waits for Makoto to respond as he continues to hold Makoto securely in his embrace. The raven-haired teen starts recalling the events with that stupid blond idiot. He knits his eyebrows as anger bubbles in the pit of his stomach, _‘that damn asshole! Confronting him like that! He should know better, but no! The damn freak had to get his fuckin’ way! Inconsiderate bastard!’_

The brunette’s thoughts shift back to Sousuke’s shoulder and he says softly, “wa-wait. Your shoulder. What about your shoulder?”

Sousuke’s frown deepens as he continues thinking about the blond prick, he notices how his hand balls into a fist behind Makoto’s head. He tries to calm himself down from the sizzling anger brewing inside him since he doesn’t want to alert the emerald-eyed teen to his renewed irritation. He sighs quietly, _‘that goddamn idiot! What is that guy’s problem!? The damn bastard is a leech! Causing so much trouble for Makoto, but more importantly...pestering him, trying to get Makoto to...’_

Sousuke’s thoughts are interrupted as he barely hears Makoto’s words. The brunette sounds so raw, vulnerable and very much like Makoto, _‘my shoulder? Oh! My injured shoulder, that’s what you mean. After all that...that’s what you’re worried about? Is that why you kept looking at me like that? Walking here? You were worried...about me?’_ The raven-haired teen tenderly unwraps his arms around Makoto, placing them on the brunette’s shoulders delicately.

Makoto knits his eyebrows as the raven-haired teen disentangles his arms from his shoulders, missing the pressure, that nice, steady strength around his body. He unfurls his fingers around the cotton fabric he was holding, covering his face, wiping his eyes and nose on his hands. The brunette suddenly feels ashamed and foolish for crying on Sousuke. He didn’t want to burden the ex-butterfly swimmer with his problems, and yet, he was grateful to him. His emotions perplex him, but either way, he just can’t face the teal-eyed teen, afraid.

The raven-haired watches Makoto rub his face, _‘Makoto. I’m not really good at things like this. But...shit. I can’t leave you alone...I care too damn much about you.’_ He takes a deep breath before he says reassuringly, “I’m fine. Really. You don’t have to worry about me, Makoto. Rin wanted to make sure that I didn’t have a concussion and he wouldn’t stop until he checked me out. I can go see the doctor if that’s what you want. I can make an appointment. I’m more worried about you. You...”

Makoto ceases his movements when he hears Sousuke say that ‘he’s fine,’ and he feels his heart quake with distress, _‘wha-what? Fine?! How can you be fine after all that!? He, he slammed you on the ground! I was terrified. I never want to see you like that again. Hurting. Please don’t...if your shoulder is hurting again, I’ll never forgive myself, Sousuke. You worked so hard to recover. You went through surgery. Physical therapy. Lots of pain! And you’re still working hard. I’ve seen it! How can I just forget that. When I saw him slamming you down like that, I saw your hard work being stepped on! Don’t you want to swim again? I don’t want you to give up your beautiful dream. You deserve your dream.’_

The brunette snaps his head up, staring into those teal eyes with apprehension. His feelings of shame forgotten in the moment as he says with an exerted, shaky tone, “fine!? How can you be fine!? Sousuke. I saw what he did to you! You can’t be fine! He threw your shoulder on the floor, over and over again! Without a care in the world! All that hard work...all your hard work...everything we worked so hard for...he just...”

The brunette takes a step back, tears filling his eyes once again as he sobs, “he hurt you! He hurt you, Sousuke! I’ll never forgive myself if he has hurt your shoulder too! I’ll never...” Makoto looks away, shame filling his heart, anger at himself for letting it get as far as it did. He should have just answered the blond’s questions, tell him it was over, that there were no more chances before Sousuke came outside to protect him. Makoto shuts his eyes and covers them with the palms of his hands. He swallows the lump in his throat, welling with a painful wail, but Makoto holds it down as he tries to prevent himself from crying all over again.

Sousuke’s teal eyes widen at Makoto’s outburst and listens closely. He wasn’t expecting the brunette to be so upset about the fight. Wait a minute, that’s not completely true, Makoto is taking responsibility for actions that aren’t even his, and worrying over his shoulder. He saw Makoto make several attempts to break them apart, but his ex just wasn’t having it. Sousuke would have backed off if the damn asshole left Makoto alone. He tried not to spark a fight, but he was angry with the bastard, on several levels. Didn’t Makoto know that?

The raven-haired teen is surprised. The extent of Makoto’s worry for his shoulder is astounding. Doesn’t he understand that he wanted to protect him from harm? What would have happened if he didn’t step in? The thought of Makoto being hurt was out of the question, there was no way he was going to just stand there and watch from afar. No way in hell.

As Sousuke stands there, a bit dumbfounded, his mind reels with the events of the evening, coming to the conclusion that he would have done the same thing considering the circumstances. It reminds him of what happened between him and Rin last year, their arguments over swimming, over his shoulder, except this time Sousuke wasn’t at fault. Sousuke didn’t withhold information to get his way, nor did he have to explain why he withheld his injury and pour his heart out about his dream. This time it’s about something else. Makoto didn’t want him to be in the position he was in because of his shoulder. The brunette wanted to prevent him from getting hurt, to be more exact, to keep his shoulder recovery intact. However, Sousuke is bothered by the fact that Makoto is taking responsibility for that prick, blaming himself for that stupid idiot’s actions. Makoto extends himself so far, it’s one of his charm points, but in this case, it’s too much. 

The ex-butterfly swimmer places a hand over his right shoulder, noticing how Makoto seems so pained looking away from him, _‘damn. I didn’t really think about my shoulder. Rin was concerned about a concussion, and I complied with his assessment. But...ok, ok. Let me think about this seriously. Am I hurting?’_ Sousuke inhales slowly and says, “Makoto. Alright. I’m listening. Let’s see how my shoulder is doing. I haven’t really checked, but if it will ease your mind, I’ll do it. However, I will have to reprimand you if you continue blaming yourself like this. What **he** did is not your fault. Let me make that perfectly clear.”

Makoto ears perk up at Sousuke’s words and he turns his head to meet that teal gaze. The brunette blinks a couple times before he wipes the tears away, wanting to see clearly. He inhales sharply, taking in Sousuke’s words, _‘reprimand me? Oh. I see. I see what you mean. Now I feel foolish. I have been blaming myself. I just...no. I can’t think like that. Sousuke is asking me not to. I can do that. What Takesh...no, what Ito has done, is not my fault. But I still feel badly about it. Ok. I’ll try not to take responsibility.’_ Makoto nods slowly with tender resolution.

Sousuke waits for Makoto to process his words, wanting the brunette to take them seriously. He can see his eyes flicker with understanding and purpose, and the backstroke swimmer nods. The raven-haired teen feels his chest become calm, less tight, almost as if he was concerned. He really didn’t want to think about some kind of reprimand and for whatever the reason was, the teal-eyed teen wasn’t sure, but he felt that some kind of threat was necessary.

Sousuke nods before he pulls off his sweater and undershirt carefully, tossing the garment on the floor as he looks over at his shoulder. It looks normal, no redness or anything on the surface of the skin, but that doesn’t mean much. He takes a deep breath as he raises his arm out slowly, rolling his shoulder to see if there is any pain. The raven-haired teen sighs in relief, feeling no immediate pain in his shoulder, nothing to cause alarm or distress. Sousuke continues rolling his shoulder, trying one of his exercises to show Makoto that he’s fine.

The brunette watches intently, noticing the raven-haired teen taking his time rolling his shoulder. He recognizes the movements Sousuke makes with his arm and shoulder and closes the distance between them as he places a hand on the ex-butterfly swimmer’s shoulder, right over the scar as he says with a trembling voice, “is it really...ok?”

Sousuke stops his movements as Makoto gingerly places his hand on his shoulder and winces. The brunette’s hand is still cold, but he doesn’t physically flinch nor does he bother to move away. After Makoto speaks, Sousuke places a hand over the brunette’s and says, “I think so. I don’t feel any pain. I promise, I’m telling you the truth, Makoto.” The raven-haired teen pauses, allowing his words to sink in before he continues, “Makoto. How’s your hand?”

Makoto takes in a breath, a shaky relieved breath, releasing some of the tension he feels as he exhales. He shifts his gaze from their connected hands over Sousuke’s shoulder to the raven-haired teen’s teal eyes with a questioning stare, “huh? My hand?”

Sousuke nods before he moves his hand, leaving Makoto’s left hand on his shoulder as he gently grasps the brunette’s wrist and lifting it up between them. He places both of his hands around Makoto’s right hand and it’s cold. He brings the emerald-eyed teen’s hand up to his mouth and gently blows his warm breath over the brunette’s hand. He says between breaths, “you’re hands are cold. Does your hand hurt?”

Makoto observes the raven-haired teen take his hand and continues to gaze at Sousuke in a stupor. Clearly he can see what’s happening, what Sousuke is doing but he doesn’t understand why. He gasps when he feels Sousuke’s hot breath ghost over his hand, relishing in the comforting heat as his ears burn. The image of Sousuke embracing his hand so attentively causes his heart to flutter and he opens his mouth to say something but his voice fails him.

Sousuke’s voice echoes through Makoto’s senses and he just holds the raven-haired teen’s gaze for a few moments, _‘I...Sousuke...you...I never noticed...your eyes are so calm, like the ocean. They’re totally different from Haru’s, but...I love your eyes, Sousuke. They’re brighter for some reason...beautiful.’_

Sousuke smiles gently, something about the way the brunette stares at him, makes his heart skip a beat. It’s silly, but he feels like Makoto is admiring him or something.

The raven-haired teen tilts his head slightly and asks again, “Makoto? Does your hand hurt?”

The emerald-eyed teen shakes his head lightly, “I...I don’t think so. I, I...don’t really know.”

Sousuke blinks questioningly, “well, let’s see.” The raven-haired teen softly blows warm air over Makoto’s hand one last time before unraveling his embrace to look over Makoto’s hand, “well? Try moving it.”

The brunette does as he’s told, slowly opening and closing his hand, _‘Sousuke...I don’t think I’ve ever seen you do anything like this before. So gentle...’_ Makoto removes his left hand from Sousuke’s shoulder to rub his knuckles before he turns his hand, palm side up. He notices a raw, red scrape on the side of his palm and wrist. Gently he presses his thumb over the flesh and knits his eyebrows feeling a slight pain, and sensitive.

Sousuke notices it and says, “damn. Better get that bandaged up.”

Makoto looks up and says, “wa-wait. Are you sure...you’re ok?”

The raven-haired teen holds the brunette’s gaze tenderly, “yeah. If something is wrong, I’ll let you know. I pretty sure I’m ok. Trust me, Makoto. I’ll go see the doctor again. Probably not tomorrow, but I’ll make an appointment. Right now, you need to focus on yourself. If something else is hurting you, you need to tell me.”

Makoto holds Sousuke’s gaze, once again, his thoughts are enveloped in those dazzling teal eyes, finding the shade of bluish-green to be one of the most alluring shades he’s ever seen. He nods once in acknowledgement and says, “ok. I trust you. I trust you, Sou. I’ll let you know if something hurts.”

Sousuke gives Makoto a small smile and says, “ok. Well, let’s take your coat off and get inside.” The raven-haired teen gently brings down Makoto’s hand to his side as he pulls the brunette’s scarf off from one side before he tugs the zipper of Makoto’s brown jacket.

Makoto eyes focuses on that smile, it’s sweet and kind, but the best part is when the raven-haired teen’s eyes twinkle in the light. The brunette just allows Sousuke to do whatever he wants as his mind continues to reel around Sousuke’s smile, his warm breath caressing his hand, _‘am I imagining things? Did he just...smile? It looked so much like the smile he shares with Rin. It couldn’t be. I thought that smile was only reserved for Rin...how could he give me one of those? No, I must be wrong. It wasn’t the same, no...it’s a little different. And he was...comforting me. Breathing onto my hand, warming me up. I didn’t even notice I was cold. When did he notice? Was it when I touched his shoulder? I usually do things like that...for Haru. He used to forget to bring his scarf and gloves and I would always give him my jacket, scarf, and gloves during the winter. Haru used to be so careless about his well-being saying things about how bothersome it was to always bundle up during the winter. Am I being careless? Am I, Sousuke? I feel so...confused. This whole evening has been so confusing.’_

Sousuke carefully takes off Makoto’s jacket noticing that the brunette seems to be lost in his thoughts. He leads the emerald-eyed teen by placing his hand on the small of Makoto’s back, gingerly pushing him over to the bench, turning Makoto around and pushing him to sit down. The brunette seems to take direction well, and he sits down on the bench with little effort on Sousuke’s part. The raven-haired teen places Makoto’s jacket and scarf on one of the hooks nearby before he kneels down in front of the emerald-eyed teen, untying his boots.

Makoto shakes his head, his green gaze focusing on a head of raven hair looking downwards. The brunette knits his eyebrows until he feels his boot slacken and he says quickly, “Sou-Sousuke!? You don’t have to do...”

The teal-eyed teen looks up and says, “I know. Let me take care of you. It’s the least I can do. You’ve been through a lot today.”

The backstroke swimmer’s eyes widen, _‘huh? But! I’m not the only one!’_ Makoto sputters, “you too. You’ve been through a lot today too. I mean, I don’t know what happened earlier, but something happened. You looked so upset when I came to visit you, I thought for sure that you didn’t want to see me.”

Sousuke blinks, shocked by the brunette’s last statement, _‘I, did I really give off that impression? True, I didn’t want to be bothered, but, damn. I have a bad habit of pushing people away. At first, yeah, I didn’t want to see anyone, but you changed my mind, Makoto.’_ The raven-haired teen says, “I admit, I didn’t want to see anyone today. After spending time with you earlier, I realized that’s not what I needed.” 

Sousuke looks away before his eyes shift back down, taking off Makoto’s boot. His fingers slow down as he continues to loosen the brunette’s boot, _‘should I tell him? What happened? Maybe changing the subject could help...’_

Sousuke’s hands still as he says, “I know, I wasn’t in the best of moods earlier. My mom is getting married next year. To some guy I just met a couple days ago. I don’t know how long they have been together, but I’m not happy about it. She’s planning an Americanized Western wedding for the summer and she wants me to give her away like a father giving away a daughter. I was so pissed. I still am. She told me that she wants me to give her away this morning and I yelled at her. I just couldn’t hold it together anymore and I said things I shouldn’t have. Before we ate, I noticed she had packed a suitcase. It was hanging out right here in the entryway. Afterwards, she just left with her suitcase and with him. She didn’t say a word to me after we argued. I don’t know where she’s going, but she’s probably not coming back before I leave Iwatobi. Hell, she wasn’t even here when I came home. All I had to welcome me home was a note apologizing for her absence.”

The raven-haired teen sighs deeply, taking off Makoto’s other boot before sitting next to the brunette working on his own boots as he continues, “but after we talked in the dining room, you changed everything. You made me feel better. You didn’t question me. You just took my answer and let it be. And then you wanted to know more about me and about my neighborhood, so I guess that cheered me up a little. By the time you had to leave, I wanted to go with you. I didn’t want to be left behind. So don’t you go and blame yourself for convincing me to go to dinner tonight. I wanted to. I wanted to spend more time with you, Rin, and the gang.” 

Makoto listens, shocked at the news unbeknownst to him and his eyes never leave Sousuke’s face. He understands why Sousuke was having such a hard time reminiscing events of the past as they walked throughout the raven-haired teen’s neighborhood, he probably recalled potentially negative events with his mom, and maybe his dad, or them as a whole, as a complete family. He watches as Sousuke finishes untying his shoes, placing both pairs of boots under the bench.

Sousuke sighs heavily as he straightens his back, placing his hands on either side of him, leaning against the bench. He turns his head to meet those emerald eyes. Sousuke notices the brunette’s surprise, sensitivity, and his undivided attention. He smiles sadly and says, “too much? I bet it’s too much to...”

The brunette quickly places his hand over the raven-haired teen’s and says, “no. It’s not. It’s not, Sou. Here you are with so many worries of your own and...” Makoto looks down at their connected hands, curling his fingers as he squeezes gingerly, “thank you for telling me what’s bothering you.”

Sousuke stares into those green eyes until Makoto looks down. He feels the brunette squeeze his hand gently and his teal eyes fall towards Makoto’s hand embracing his, _‘Mako...even during times like these, you still look out for others. How do you do that? Usually people are more selfish, but not you. You’re the one who’s hurting, and I just basically dumped my shit on you. I thought it would help, but maybe not? I’m not sure. I really thought you wouldn’t understand. Maybe I was wrong about that. You really are something, Makoto. I like this attention from you. I like you.’_

Sousuke licks his dry lips, swallowing audibly, “thanks for listening. I haven’t told anyone about any of the stuff I told you. I mean, Rin knows but not everything. He was there when I met the guy for the first time. He knows that I’m not happy about the situation. Hell, he even took me home with him that night. I think he was worried about me staying here by myself.” The raven-haired teen looks down at the wooden floor, _‘this house, it’s broken. It’s been broken for a long time. And it’s become cold, uninviting. I don’t even know when I got used to it, but that’s what home means to me.’_

Makoto’s eyes move up from their connected hands to Sousuke’s face and he can see how hard it is for him to speak. Sousuke’s voice is stiff, strained, and tentative. The raven-haired teen’s eyebrows are furrowed together as he speaks and Makoto ponders, _‘you told Rin some of this? I’m glad. I’m glad he was there for you when you needed him. I just hope you know that Rin isn’t the only friend you have now, Sou. I’m here. Haru too. Your friends from Samezuka. And Gou, plus Nagisa and Rei. I understand...Rin is the closest person to you...’_

Sousuke looks up, staring at the stark walls, the door, and the shoe cabinet, _‘hmm...it doesn’t seem so cold and uninviting now.’_

The brunette notices Sousuke’s attention shift, looking around, wondering about something. He takes this opportunity to say, “Rin’s a good friend. He cares about you a lot, So...”

The brunette suddenly feels his nose tickle, a sneeze coming on. He quickly covers his mouth with his other hand, covering his nostrils with the side of his index finger to prevent the sneeze. Makoto breathes in twice unintentionally, holding his breath before he exhales deeply, relieved that he didn’t sneeze.

Sousuke turns his head, watching Makoto try to prevent a sneeze. He smiles, _‘cute. But...you must be cold. I bet these clothes aren’t helping.’_ The teal-eyed teen curls his fingers over the Makoto’s, getting up on his feet and says, “come on. I’ll get you some clothes to change into. You should take a nice, hot shower.”

Makoto takes a moment to process Sousuke’s words, a twinkle of a smile in his eyes as he says, “that does sound good. But, I don’t have a chang...”

The raven-haired teen interrupts, “I think I can manage letting you wear my clothes for the evening. Come on. Don’t want to catch a cold and worry Haru, now do you?”

Makoto makes a face, getting up, “No, no I don’t. Alright. Thanks, Sou.”

The teal-eyed teen smiles, “no problem, Mako.”

Sousuke picks up his jacket, placing it on the hook next to Makoto’s before retrieving his sweater on the floor and leading the brunette through the hallway and up the staircase toward the shower room.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** December 30th, Monday, 9: 23 pm  **

****

After taking a nice hot shower, Makoto gets dressed in a pair of black and grey cotton socks, greenish-blue ribbed boxer briefs, a black cotton undershirt, and a blue, white, and black plaid cotton flannel pajama set. Everything fits pretty well as he takes the last button on the bottom of the flannel shirt and looks at himself in the full-length mirror on the door. Makoto recalls his clothes fitting Sousuke nicely, a little on the tighter side in certain areas, like Sousuke’s thighs and biceps, but generally they are similar in size. The brunette can tell that the pants are a little loose, hanging on his hips and he pulls the drawstring on the inside of the band, tying it in place.

Makoto lifts his arm to take a whiff of the light lavender fragrance of the long sleeve flannel shirt, finding the smell calming, _‘this must be the detergent scent. It’s nice.’_ The brunette rubs the sleeve of the flannel shirt on his cheek, _‘and soft. These are really nice pajamas.’_ As he stares at himself in the mirror, he remembers that he punched his ex across the face and frowns, _‘that’s right. I...I punched him. I punched someone. I’ve never punched anyone in my life, not like that. Everything escalated so quickly. But, it didn’t start that way. He asked me a question, and it was something I’ve never thought about before. What was it? Oh. Personal boundaries? Physical boundaries? Yeah, physical boundaries. He asked if I had any physical boundaries with my friends. He saw Kisumi’s arm around me, Nagisa too probably. But, that’s so Kisumi. He’s always doing that with everyone. He tries with Haru, but Haru doesn’t let him...most of the time. That’s just the way I am with my friends, I guess.’_

Makoto sighs, shaking his head, he notices that his hair is still damp. He walks over to the towel he hung on the rack to dry and picks up the small plush cream-colored towel, throwing it over his head and massaging his scalp. His ex brought up some points that zapped him like a taser gun. How he wouldn’t allow him to hold his hand in public, but he was able to hold his other friends’ hands. But the meaning is different. The brunette knew that if he held his hand, it meant something, something along the lines of partners, lovers. When Makoto holds Haru’s hand or any of his other friends, it doesn’t hold the same meaning for him; in those instances, Makoto is holding one of his friend’s hands, nothing more. Sure it could look intimate and close on the outside, but the inside matters too.

The brunette stops massaging his scalp, bringing down his left hand to gaze at the palm of his hand. Makoto notices the lines in his palm before he closes his hand in a loose fist, _‘I...I hurt him. He was bleeding. And I called him...Ito-san. I haven’t called him that in such a long time.’_ He sighs heavily, _‘I don’t think he’ll bother me anymore. I didn’t just hurt him physically...I also hurt him emotionally by calling him by his surname.’_

Makoto opens the shower door and his ears are filled with beautiful melodies coming from a piano, _‘huh? A piano? It sounds like it’s coming from downstairs. How come I didn’t hear it in the shower room. I must have been lost in my thoughts.’_ The brunette looks towards the staircase and descends down, he stares at the bare walls and notices that there are a few spots of spackle, probably covering a hole where pictures used to hang. The spots aren’t easy to pick out, but it somehow catches his eye.

The brunette looks over to the dining room just in case Sousuke was in there, but the raven-haired teen wasn’t. Makoto heads over to the living room and finds Sousuke sitting down on a sleek black bench with his back to him. Makoto watches the raven-haired teen hit the keys of the vertical piano with awe until he stumbles with a section of the song he’s playing. He smiles, _‘it’s nice seeing your human side, Sou. But you didn’t let that mistake take you down. Hmmm...it sounds really nice.’_ The brunette slowly makes his way into the living room looking around.

He finds a circular kind of couch, a kotatsu couch that is mainly white with accents of dark brown on the edges. A round kotatsu table with a quilted mocha blanket and an oak colored countertop and a white tray in the middle of the table; Makoto notices a large blue mug with small handles on both sides filled with hot cocoa and whipped cream with a dusting of cocoa powder to top it off, and a tea warmer with a glass pot of tea on top of it, and two glass teacups with the opening face down on the tray. The brunette’s eyes shift back to the large cup of cocoa and he smiles, _‘wow, that looks absolutely delicious! Awww, Sou! You were serious about the hot cocoa and tea.’_

The seating area is positioned in front of a large T.V. on top of a vintage white T.V. stand with open shelves and two cabinet drawers. In the open shelves, Makoto can tell there is a dvd player and an old gaming console, the ps3. To the right of the T.V. is a large white bookcase and the piano Sousuke is currently playing on.

Makoto walks over to the piano standing closer to the bookcase and noticing a couple of items on the top of the piano, particularly a first aid kit and a silver frame placed facing down.

Sousuke looks behind him, finding Makoto standing there. He stops playing, turning around and says, “how was your shower?” The raven-haired teen stares up at the emerald-eyed teen and smells the light fragrance of the body wash the brunette used, it’s citrusy.

The brunette smiles, “it was good. Sorry. I didn’t mean to spend so much time in there. Um, what song was that?”

The raven-haired teen closes the top of the piano and says, “don’t worry about it. Oh. Bach, Prelude in C minor. My mom is a big fan of Bach’s works. So I got to hear many of his pieces.”

Makoto tilts his head to the side, “wow. I didn’t know you knew how to play the piano.”

Sousuke slightly shrugs, “it’s nothing. I used to play, not so much anymore. My mom wanted to be a pianist when she was younger, but she became a freelance copywriter instead. She’s the one who taught me how to play. I’m not that good at it; the piano was never my thing. I learned to play just to make my mom happy.”

The raven-haired teen gets up and moves the bench closer to the piano as Makoto reaches over the top of the piano, picking up the silver frame. The brunette says, “You stumbled a little bit, but I thought it was because you don’t play the piano often. So, you could have fooled me, Sou.”

Sousuke scoffs lightly, “yeah. I don’t play the piano very much anymore. I just wanted to see if I remembered how to play that song.” The raven-haired teen looks to the side to find the brunette staring at the picture he turned down. It’s something that he overlooked when he first got home, and when he saw it, he didn’t want to see it.

Makoto notices a picture of a woman in a white lace dress and a sheer silver shawl over her shoulders. Her long light brown hair flowing past her elbows as she holds a bouquet of red roses, her eyes gleam in the same color as Sousuke’s and the backstroke swimmer assumes that she must be Sousuke’s mother. The man next to her is taller with short light blue hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a black suit with a black and red stripped tie.

He looks up at Sousuke, his green eyes questioning who the couple is in the picture, but remains silent.

Sousuke sighs and says reluctantly, “my mom and her fiancé. I have no idea when that was taken. I didn’t want to look at it while I was playing.” He remembers that he picked up the small first aid kit that was in the kitchen and plucks it from the top of the piano, “put that thing back. If you want to know more, I guess I can tell you. But, let me bandage up your hand. Come on, let’s sit down and you can enjoy some of that hot cocoa I promised you.”

Makoto puts the picture back, face down, just like he found it, _‘if I want to know more? Of course I want to know more about you Sou. But...I have a better idea of how your family life has been. Sou...I don’t want to open old wounds for you.’_ Hesitantly, the brunette says, “th-the one on my right hand? Wa-wait, shouldn’t you take a shower first? I can tell you changed your clothes, but you were outside in the cold like I wa...”

Sousuke is wearing navy sweatpants and a thick cotton long sleeve grey and white shirt with three white buttons down the front.

The raven-haired teen shakes his head, interrupting, “I’ll take it in the morning. I showered at the gym earlier. I don’t feel like taking another. Come on, let’s take care of your hand.” Sousuke plugs in the kotatsu, turning up the heat under the quilted mocha blanket, “also, I picked out a movie for us to watch if you’re up to it.”

Makoto observes Sousuke walk over to the seating area, listening, lightly frowning, _‘but...I don’t want you to catch cold either. Oh. That’s right. You went to the gym today...of course you had a shower. I guess that’s ok.’_ Makoto shuffles his feet, slightly reluctant to get bandaged up, but he knows it’s necessary. He sits down, scooting over around the circular couch on the floor and making himself comfortable as he places the blanket over his lap, _‘oh...I can feel the heat already. Mmmmm...that’s really nice.’_

The brunette gives Sousuke his right hand. He watches as Sousuke opens the small white plastic box, pulling out the supplies to clean and bandage his small wound. As he waits, Makoto opens and closes his right hand, checking again to see how his hand is doing.

Sousuke glances over at the emerald-eyed teen and says, “how’s your hand? Is it sore?”

The brunette nods, “a little bit. But, I don’t think anything is wrong. Must have been from the impac...”

The raven-haired teen takes the backstroke swimmer’s hand into his and says, “Mako, this might sting a little.”

Makoto blinks, “eh? Wha...ah! Ita!” The brunette winces as he feels something cold, wet and a tingly feeling over his scrape on the side of his palm, “you weren’t kidding.”

Sousuke side-glances at the brunette, “yeah, bear with it. I’ll put some antibiotic ointment on it too.”

The emerald-eyed teen chuckles, “thanks...nurse Sou-chan.”

The raven-haired teen gives Makoto a puzzled look before he cracks a smile, “che. I’ll remember that little tidbit the next time I get hurt...Mako-sensei.” Sousuke smears some of the ointment on Makoto’s scrape with a cotton swab.

Makoto’s eyes widen before he laughs, “oh...that sounds so strange coming from you, Sou. Even if you mean it within a different context. You do know why Kisumi calls me that right?”

Sousuke opens up an adhesive bandage as he says, “hmm. Probably because you want to become a swimming coach. If that’s the case, shouldn’t he call you coach instead? Mako-coach.”

The brunette chuckles, “oh! I don’t think I could handle that. I think I prefer sensei over coach. Besides, I’m not there yet. Maybe I should call you Sou-sensei instead?”

The raven-haired teen places the bandage over Makoto’s scrape, gently securing it in place. He scrunches up his eyebrows, “no. No. That doesn’t suit me.” Sousuke puts everything back into the first aid kit, gets up to throw away the garbage in the trashcan near the T.V.

Makoto watches Sousuke get up to throw away the trash and says, “do you have any baby pictures? I’d love to see some pictures of you when you were younger. And I think it’s only fair since Rin and my uncle showed you some of my embarrassing moments.”

Sousuke places the first-aid kit on the T.V. table, grabbing the remote control before he turns around, pausing at the mention of baby pictures, _‘oh. That’s right. I did see Mako as a toddler, and when he was, what was it, five? Cute. I liked the picture of the pillow fort you made. Tetsuya was in the picture too, helping. It looked like so much fun. But, pictures of me?’_ He sits back down as he says, “I, I don’t really keep those things. My mom probably has some pictures somewhere in the house, but after my mom and dad divorced, things got messy. I don’t know where that stuff went.”

Makoto eyes become sad as he listens to the raven-haired teen, _‘oh. I-I thought that...oh. I didn’t realize...Sousuke.’_

The raven-haired teen readjusts the mocha blanket over his lap as he says, “my dad has a couple albums. Sakura, my stepmom, wanted pictures of me and keeps them in the living room where they live, in Tokyo. I can ask Sakura if I can borrow one for a week or something.”

The brunette slowly picks up the large blue mug, threading a finger through the small handles as he says hesitantly, “I...I’d like that. If it’s ok with your stepmom. I don’t want to overstep any boundaries.”

Sousuke releases his hold on the remote as he watches Makoto, noticing the sad frown on his face, “I don’t think Sakura would object. I’ll ask her about it. I think I can manage to embarrass myself in front of you, just to see you smile.”

Makoto turns his head, gazing into those teal eyes, wondering, _‘is it really ok? Rin is the only one who knows, right? Sou...I want to understand you better.’_ The brunette asks timidly, “is it...is it alright? To talk about this? I...I want to know more about you, Sou. I want to know more about your...family. But, only if you want to share that with me.”

Sousuke stares into those emerald eyes, noticing an inner strength emanating from them, but it stagnates when fear takes the forefront. He swallows as he listens to the brunette’s cautious words, at first they sound shy but as he continues to speak, the words become more curious, respectful, and confident while still have that quality of uncertainty. He runs a hand through his black locks, feeling his nerves prickling in his gut. The raven-haired teen debates with himself for a few moments wanting to give Makoto’s request some serious thought before he replies.

Makoto looks at Sousuke’s face, trying to read him, but all he can see is a phlegmatic face once the ex-butterfly swimmer looks away from him. The brunette finds himself wishing that he could read him, the same way he can read Haru at times. It’s unnerving waiting, but Sousuke needs time to think about it. His eyes cast downwards into the melted whipped cream with speckles of cocoa powder. Makoto decides to take a sip of his hot cocoa, finding the thick, chocolaty liquid instantly comforting.

The teal-eyed teen exhales slowly, “alright. I can tell you. Let me start at the beginning.” Sousuke shifts his weight, turning a bit more towards the brunette as he rest one arm on the top of the white kotatsu couch and the other on the oak countertop.

Makoto puts down his cup of cocoa, savoring the warm liquid as he swallows, but also wanting to give Sousuke his undivided attention. He notices the raven-haired teen turning towards him and he does the same. Makoto leans his shoulder on the white kotatsu couch, readjusting the mocha blanket on his lap as he places his hands on top. He looks up at the teal-eyed teen expectantly with cautious uncertainty.

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow as he watches the brunette, noticing a smear of white and brown foamy whipped cream and chocolate mustache above Makoto’s lip, _‘heh. Cute. But, I don’t think I will be able to take you seriously with that milky, chocolaty mustache on your face.’_ The raven-haired teen motions with his hand, sort of pointing at the top of his upper lip, “yo-you got something right here.”

Makoto tilts his head, confused at first what the other teen is trying to tell him, _‘eh? What does that mean?’_ When Sousuke speaks he realizes what he means and licks his upper lip before rubbing his index finger over the top of his upper lip, lightly sucking on his finger before he says, “did I get it?”

Sousuke just watches intently, his eyes never leaving the brunette’s lips. When Makoto’s tongue runs along the top of his lips, the raven-haired teen finds his eyes transfixed, swallowing, _‘oh, shit. That was...that was...something. Something...fuckin’ sexy! Dammit. I can’t be having thoughts like this, at a time like this.’_ The ex-butterfly swimmer covers his mouth, hoping that his cheeks aren’t burning with any evidence of a blush as he diverts his gaze.

He glances at Makoto, a bit hesitant, but commits to his action as he stares at the brunette’s lip, “yeah. You got it. All of it.”

The emerald-eyed teen smiles sweetly, “good. Sorry about that. The hot cocoa is delicious by the way.”

Sousuke chuckles lightly, “it’s nice seeing you smile.”

The two teens avert their gazes, Makoto feeling his ear burn and Sousuke trying to keep his dirty thoughts to a minimum. Silence fills the room for several moments. Makoto looks down at his hands on top of the quilted mocha blanket and Sousuke staring at the wooden blinds of the window.

Once the raven-haired teen calms his nerves, he recalls what they were talking about before the little distraction. He takes a deep breath and says, “the beginning.”

Makoto looks up his eyes filled with emotion as Sousuke’s voice takes on a deep serious tone. Instead of focusing on his own feelings, he waits. The brunette wants to listen wholeheartedly, to be there with him as he tells him his story, his family life.

Sousuke clears his throat, keeping his eyes focused on the blinds, “things weren’t always bad between my parents. I vaguely remember some good times, but that faded over time. My mom and dad fought a lot. My dad would be gone weeks at a time due to work. He flew from here to Tokyo, saying that he couldn’t work from home anymore. My mom was unhappy. She didn’t like the lonely nights without my dad. They just started to grow apart and they would fight over everything. The big fights were about jobs and where to live. My mom wanted to stay here in her hometown, my dad wanted us to move to Tokyo. The apartment I live in now, that was supposed to be our home.”

Makoto can hear Sousuke’s deep voice become more strained as he listens. When he talks about his apartment, the brunette’s heart clenches and he whispers, “oh, Sou.” Makoto clasps his hands together.

Sousuke takes a deep breath, glancing over at the brunette, seeing the sadness brew within those emerald eyes. His gaze stays on Makoto as he continues, “my mom refused to move. I didn’t want to move. Rin was here, why would I want to leave my best friend. Things got worse, the arguments were so bad, some of the neighbors heard. We hardly had family dinners until one day my dad comes home saying he wants a divorce, that he has a mistress, and that he wants to marry her. My parents divorced when I was in fifth grade, during the spring. It...was rough.”

The raven-haired teen breaks eye contact, his hand on the countertop balling into a fist as his face contorts with a trace of that deep-rooted anger, sadness, disappointment, and fear. He kept that raw emotion hidden within him, never showing the extent of his pain, refusing to accept pity from others, wishing to forget the problems at home. Sousuke shakes his head, “che. Both of them, so selfish. They didn’t care how much they hurt each other. The rift between them became so big, I didn’t know what to do when I was home. So, I kept myself busy and out of the house.”

Makoto can see some of the pain on Sousuke’s face and he bites the inner part of his bottom lip, _‘oh. Sousuke. I don’t know what to say. I...I had no idea. You shoulder so much on your own. I see now. I see why you always rely on yourself. Wait...fifth grade? Didn’t Rin leave for Australia after sixth grade? Not only that...Rin transferred to our middle school during sixth grade too. Sousuke...’_ The brunette comes to the realization that Sousuke was alone, without a stable family, without his best friend.

The emerald-eyed teen reaches out, lifting his hand from the mocha blanket on his lap and placing it over Sousuke’s fisted hand on the oak countertop, clasping the raven-haired teen with comfort. He doesn’t know what to say, he knows that Sousuke doesn’t like pity, but he’s not giving him that, he feels for the raven-haired teen.

Teal eyes fall on the hand over his and like a child snatching his favorite toy, he unravels his fist, grabbing Makoto’s hand and squeezes, “I wanted to stay here, in Iwatobi. My mom fought for me, but after they finalized the _koseki_ , my mom never looked at me the same. I’m not registered under my mom’s _koseki_ , I’m under my dad’s. Even though she kept my dad’s surname, she just didn’t treat me the same. I learned how to cook because I got sick and tired of seeing meals stuck under plastic wrap. A year later, my dad married his mistress, Sakura, and he adopted Yumiko. They didn’t have a wedding, just a long vacation to celebrate their union. When high school came around, I had to move to Tokyo and live with my dad and stepfamily. But I was just, so angry. And then I fucked everything up with my shoulder.”

Makoto squeezes Sousuke’s hand in return and just when he was about to suggest stopping for the night, the raven-haired teen continues. The brunette’s eyes widen as he listens to the other’s painful past. He holds on to Sousuke’s hand, not wanting to let go, wishing he could do more for the raven-haired teen. Without much thought he takes Sousuke’s hand and lead it up to his lips. His other hand gently grasping Sousuke’s forearm as he presses his lips against the raven-haired teen’s wrist, closing his eyes, _‘Sou. That was hard. Thank you for sharing your life with me. Please, find some comfort in this.’_

The brunette opens his eyes just a crack, not focusing on anything in particular, just realizing that he has kissed Sousuke, his wrist. His heart skips a beat, ears burn, and his cheeks are dusted in a light pink, _‘oh. I...Sou...’_

Sousuke shakes his head, frowning, but when Makoto squeezes his hand back with a similar strong pressure, it calms the angry storm simmering within him. He knits his eyebrows, slightly puzzled as his hand is being led up somewhere. Sousuke shifts his eyes toward the brunette’s face and his eyes waver. The brunette gingerly kisses the inside of his wrist with veneration he flushes instantly, _‘M-Mako...y-you...kissed, me. I...want to kiss you.’_

Suddenly he notices Makoto’s eyes open slightly, those green eyes seems so soft and then he parts his lips just a bit, hovering over his wrist. Sousuke’s heart hammers in his chest and he inhales sharply, “uh...wha-what was that for?”

Sousuke balks, his mouth hanging open as he makes a face, dumbfounded with his own response, _‘what the hell was that? Why did I say that? Ugh! That was so lame! I’m an idiot!’_

Makoto hears Sousuke’s uncertain voice and he eyes focuses on the raven-haired teen’s face. His eyes wavers with surprise as he quickly notices the blush on Sousuke’s face, _‘h-huh? So-Sou! You’re blushing...’_ With that newfound knowledge the brunette’s face heats up as he smacks his forehead with Sousuke’s hand, floundering, “uh, we-well...I-I...I was just trying to... Oh! I don’t know, Sou! I just got caught up in the moment and I-I thought that kissing your hand would comfort you...”

Sousuke blinks, chuckling for a few moments as Makoto babbles, using his hand to sort of smack himself in the face. As Makoto continues talking, the image of the brunette flushing so red, his face practically looks like the color of Rin’s hair, Sousuke bursts into laughter, slapping the top of the white kotatsu couch.

Makoto stops his nervous blubbering, dropping their hands onto his lap as he watches Sousuke laugh. A soft smile graces Makoto’s features as his heart softens, _‘oh. Sou. You’re smiling.’_ The brunette decides not to chide the other, hearing Sousuke’s laughter is much more rewarding than his own pride.

The brunette lightly chuckles and says, “alright, alright. Let’s watch that movie before it gets too late, Sou.”

Sousuke stares at Makoto, wiping a tear from his eye from all that laughter, “yeah. Ok. I’ll set up the movie. Why don’t you go turn off the lights, Mako.”

Makoto huffs playfully scooting around the kotatsu couch, getting up to turn off the lights as the raven-haired teen grabs the remote on the oak countertop. The brunette glances back at Sousuke as he’s about to flick the light switch, _‘I’ll wait for you Sou. You are worth waiting for. I know...I can fall for you.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 30th, Monday, 11:57 pm  **

Makoto finished his delectable mug of hot cocoa within the first 15 minutes of the film beginning, making sure to swirl the liquid in the large ceramic cup, devouring every last bit of chocolate. The raven-haired teen snorted when he found the brunette with his head back, lapping the last morsels of hot cocoa, asking if he wanted a second cup. Makoto pouted and declined since they also had a pot of tea to finish.

Sousuke and the brunette had polished the pot of delicious green tea a while ago, as they continued to watch _Ace Attorney._ Makoto’s eyes droop as sleep seems to settle heavily in his body and the heat from the kotatsu keeps enticing sleep into his weary body. He looks over at the raven-haired teen, noticing how the other man’s eyes are practically glued to the T.V., and he smiles. Makoto shifts his weight, leaning back into the kotatsu couch as he tries his best to pay attention to the movie.

The raven-haired teen watches the movie with concentration, curious about how _Phoenix Wright_ will solve the case and find the truth. He’s never played the videogames as he preferred the _PSP_ over the portable _Nintendo_ units, but he’s seen some of the game play from the _Ace Attorney_ series, and has always been interested with the popularity this game had received. He picks up his glass cup of tea, trying to drink from it, _‘hmm?’_ Sousuke looks inside the cup and figures that he must have drank all of it already. He puts the cup down, his eyes transfixed on the T.V. until he feels a gentle thud on his shoulder.

Sousuke turns his head and his eyes widen as he finds Makoto’s cheek on his shoulder, breathing through his mouth lightly, _‘huh?’_ The raven-haired teen’s attention is diverted from the T.V. to the sleeping brunette on his shoulder. The soft glow from the screen casts a blue light on Makoto’s face and Sousuke can’t help but continue his gawking. Without much thought, he brushes Makoto’s bangs away from his eyes and the brunette rubs his head on his left shoulder, startling Sousuke, _‘shit! I...I shouldn’t have done that. But, he looks so peaceful now. I didn’t realize how tired he was. I don’t want to wake him up...I kinda have to unless I let him sleep down here. Naw, I should wake him up. I can finish this movie later.’_

The raven-haired teen picks up the remote control, pausing the movie before he shifts his weight carefully as he turns towards Makoto. He places a hand on the brunette’s shoulder and gently nudges him, “Mako. Mako. Wake up. Wake up. You don’t want to sleep down here, do you?”

Makoto knits his eyebrows, groaning as he opens his emerald eyes slowly. His eyes focus on the dark figure in front of him and says, “huh? Is it over already? What happened? What did I miss?”

Sousuke smirks, “don’t worry about it. You should have told me you were tired. I could’ve stopped the movie and watch it later. C’mon, lets head upstairs.”

The brunette groans, “I wasn’t tired. I’m not that tir...” Makoto yawns, covering his mouth, “tired. Just a little tired.”

The raven-haired teen scoffs, “yeah, right. Get your lazy bum off the floor and get up. We’re going upstairs.”

Makoto whines before he huffs, “I don’t wanna. The kotatsu is so nice and warm. Mmmm. Can’t I just stay here for a few more minutes?”

Sousuke rolls his eyes, “get up before I throw you over my shoulder and carry you up myself.”

The brunette rubs his eye with one hand, “yo-you wouldn’t do that. I’m too heavy to carry up a flight of stairs.”

The raven-haired teen turns off the kotatsu, cutting off the warmth so Makoto can’t use it as an excuse, “oh? Would you like to see my try?”

Makoto shakes his head as he stares at the raven-haired teen, “no. I don’t want to see that.”

Sousuke pushes the kotatsu away and gets up, “alright, get up, Mako.”

The brunette heaves a sigh as he watches the quilted mocha blanket recede from his lap, “awww. Ok, ok. I'm up.” Makoto slowly gets up to his feet, moving away from the kotatsu couch as Sousuke turns on the lights.

Makoto winces when the bright light from above shines down on him. Sousuke walks back over to the center of the room, grabbing the remote control on the oak countertop, turning off the T.V. and the dvd player.

Sousuke pushes the kotatsu back to its usual place, placing the glass cups and the blue mug back on the tray as he says, “head up to my room, Mako. I’m just gonna take care of the dishes. You can lie on the bed for a while until I set up the futon.”

The brunette yawns again, “I can help. I can wash the dis...”

The raven-haired teen interrupts, “I don’t think so sleepyhead. Head up and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Makoto nods and says in a cute sleepy tone, “o-o~kay~~”

Sousuke watches the brunette slowly saunter out of the living room and into the hallway, _‘cute, Mako. Real cute.’_ The raven-haired teen grabs the tray of dishes, walking out into the hallway making sure Makoto didn’t get lost before he heads into the kitchen to deal with the dishes.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Makoto takes his time walking up the staircase, holding onto the white railing heading up. He walks down the hallway and opens the slightly ajar door to Sousuke’s room all the way. He flips the switch, turning on the light.

The brunette looks at Sousuke’s bed right away as it’s one of the largest pieces of furniture in the room and makes his way towards it. His sleepy mind goes straight towards ideas of getting under the covers and warming up, but his rational mind tells him to wait for Sousuke and figure out sleeping arrangements.

Makoto stands at the foot of the bed, debating with himself, _‘I should really wait for Sou to come up. But, I’m really tired...I just want to pass out. The bed looks so nice and comfy. I wonder if it's the same as the bed Sou has in Tokyo. This one is smaller, probably just right for Sou to fit in. Looks like a double sized bed. Like the one I have in my room, here in Iwatobi. Oh, that pillow looks so inviting...like it has my name written all over it. Would he mind if I just lie down for a while? I’ll try not to fall asleep.’_

The brunette walks over to the side of the bed and flops onto it, burying his head into the white pillowcase, _‘oh! This pillow really does have my name written all over it. Mmmm.’_

Makoto tries his best to stay awake, staring at the ceiling but he eventually gets cold waiting for Sousuke to return and convinces himself that getting under the covers isn’t such a bad idea.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sousuke washes the dishes and tidies up a few things in the kitchen before turning off the lights downstairs. He heads up the staircase and goes directly into his room.

The raven-haired teen says as he walks in, “Mako, how are you...” He stops just a couple of steps into his bedroom to find Makoto under the covers in his bed. Slowly he walks over to his bed and the brunette moves to his side, facing Sousuke as he gently curls under the covers.

The teal-eyed teen pulls out his phone from his pocket to check the time, 12:21 a.m. He runs a hand in his hair as he sighs, deciding to lie on the bed beside Makoto, _‘it is pretty late, but I’m not tired yet. I’ll just read some stuff on my phone or play a game before I set up the futon on the floor.’_

He looks over to his side, staring at the sleeping brunette next to him and smiles, _‘Mako...you did good. Considering how much you hate confrontation, you told that little shit what you wanted.’_ Sousuke shifts on to his side and once again lightly brushes Makoto’s bangs out of his face noticing how nice and soft his olive brown locks feel.

Gingerly, Sousuke strokes the back of his fingers against Makoto’s cheek admiring his soft skin and the curve of his cheekbones. He swallows as his eyes fall onto those pinkish lips that are parted, his bottom lip looks a little dry. Sousuke licks his own lips and notices that his own lips are a bit dry, probably due to the cold weather. He can hear the light exhale that escapes the brunette and his teal eyes observes Makoto’s facial features. The slumbering emerald-eyed teen looks so tranquil and it puts Sousuke at ease, _‘Mako, I’m relieved to see you like this. You really are like an angel, so peaceful, and stunning.’_

Makoto nuzzles against the pillow and the hand that caresses him, his lips forming a sweet smile. Sousuke freezes, afraid that the brunette will open his eyes and hold his breath. He waits a few moments until he hears a breathy snore from Makoto, _‘damn. That was close. I thought you woke up and I would have to explain myself. If that happened, I don’t think I have any good excuses. I better be more careful.’_

Sousuke releases the breath he was holding, retracting his hand from Makoto’s face, shifting his weight to a sitting position next to Makoto as he fiddles with his phone.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 31st, Tuesday, 8:34 am  **

Sousuke finds himself wearing a white suit jacket with black satin lapels, black slacks, and black bow tie. He looks at himself in the mirror, his hair is slicked back and he frowns.

A woman with short brown hair, wearing a light blue dress suit comes up to him and says, “you have to get ready. You can’t be here. Follow me.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, _‘what the hell?’_ He follows the woman to a hallway that is empty and she says, “wait here. When it’s time for you to come out, I’ll let you know. Just...don’t move.”

The raven-haired teen makes a face as the click-clacking sound of her white and blue high heels is all that’s left of her presence, _‘what!? Don’t move!? Why the hell can’t I move?’_

Sousuke looks around the hallway, finding pictures of scenic backgrounds hanging around him, nothing noteworthy, except for the mirror hanging in the back, _‘there’s one here too? How many mirrors does this place need?’_

The teal-eyed teen walks over to the mirror and just when he’s about to touch the cool surface, a hand grabs his bicep, “come on it’s time. Hurry. You can’t be late to this. Remember just do your job, hold your tongue, and everything will be ok.”

Sousuke is forced against his will to follow the lady with the short brown hair once again, leading him to the room he was just in, but there is a woman in a long flowing dress with a train, it’s white, and she’s wearing a lacy veil over her face.

Sousuke’s heart plummets as he recognizes the woman in the wedding dress as his mother, “m-mom? What is going...”

Yamazaki walks closer to her son a beautiful smile on her face through the veil, “Sousuke...remember? You are giving me away today. Giving me away to my one true love. This is the one thing that I’ve asked of you. Please...let us go inside and proceed with the procession.”

Sousuke takes a step back, eyes blown wide as his heart quivers in fear, _‘no. No. I never agreed to this! I don’t want this! Why...why?!’_ The raven-haired teen grimaces, “mom. I, I never...”

Yamazaki tilts her head to the side, her features becomes sullen, “Sousuke. You are now the man of the house, remember? You have to pull your father’s weight. If it weren’t for your father, you wouldn’t have to do this. I asked your father first. He refused. Your uncle refused. You have no choice, Sousuke. Do this for me.”

The raven-haired teen shakes his head, “no. I don’t want to do this. You’re just gonna leave me again.”

Sousuke’s mother looks down, hurt and says, “it is your duty to do this for me, Sousuke. You disappoint me. A good son would do whatever he is asked, just like a good husband. You are just like your father. Why are all the Yamazaki men so stubborn and selfish.”

Sousuke balls his hand into a fist, he hates it when his mother does that to him, judge him with such stupid expectations. He internally curses as he says bitterly, “I’ve always been a disappointment to you. Walk down the aisle yourself, mom. I’m not giving you away, because I don’t accept this. I don’t care if you have a boyfriend, someone to share your life with, but marriage? Why? Why do you have to marry him? I don’t know him! I can’t accept someone I don’t know!”

The woman starts to sob, crying into her white-gloved hands as she shouts, “that’s not fair! It’s not fair! Your father is married! He married that stupid woman! That stupid bitch that stole him away from me! He took you from me! The least you can do is this one thing to make me happy! What kind of son refuses his mother?!”

Sousuke frown deepens, his knuckles become white as he just stands there fuming in anger. He refuses to stare at his mother, and he can hear chatter coming from the doors that they are standing in front of. Sousuke notices people inside the partly closed doors starting to get up, talking amongst themselves wondering what is holding up the ceremony. He can hear women talking loudly, almost as if they are gossiping about something, and it infuriates him. 

He turns his head, glaring at his mother and says, “I’ve never refused you in the past, not until now. I can be here for you...” Sousuke roughly points towards the doors and continues, “I can sit in one of those pews and watch you marry the guy! But I will not participate in this! I will not take part in this stupid ceremo...”

All of a sudden Sousuke cheek is turned to the side in a flurry and his eyes widen, _‘wh-what? She...slapped me...’_

Yamazaki’s dark teal eyes are set on her son in front of her, her hand still hanging in the air, across her chest as she says with a broken affronted tone, “I should have **never** married your father! I should have **never** started a **family** with your father! It has brought me nothing but misfortune.”

Sousuke takes a couple of steps back, turning his head as he rubs his cheek. He stands there as he watches his mom’s face twist into a tortured grimace, _‘dammit. I hate this. Feeling like the bad guy. I, why can’t I just witness the wedding. I can do that. I can sit there and disapprove, without objecting. Watch her move on with someone else. I don’t want to put on a farce in front of so many people, pretending that I approve of their joining.’_

He hears the crowd start to filter out of the double doors, questioning, accusing, demanding voices blurring all together. Sousuke takes one look at his mother and he sees her with that guy, her ‘to be’ husband, comforting her the way his father should’ve many years ago. Anger, rejection, and this gruesome dejection fill his heart and this desire to run away sparks in his body.

Someone tries to grab his arm and without much thought, he bolts out the front door, running.

The raven-haired teen runs as fast as he can, away from everything that he left behind. His legs start to burn with fatigue and he stops as he bends forward, grasping his knees while trying to catch his breath.

Sousuke hears a kind voice, “Sou? Are you ok?”

He snaps his head up to find Makoto, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. Sousuke quickly moves, wrapping his arms around the brunette’s shoulders and says, “Mako. Mako, I’m so glad to see you.”

The emerald-eyed teen gasps at the sudden action, the embrace strong, and solid against him.

Sousuke closes his eyes, nuzzling against Makoto gently as he continues, “I...I am so glad you’re here.”

Makoto slowly embraces Sousuke, firmly placing his hands on the raven-haired teen’s back, “I’m glad to see you too, Sou.”

The dark emotions from before fade away as he holds Makoto in his arms, “Mako?”

The brunette brings up his hands, holding Sousuke even tighter, “you don’t have to say anything, Sou. Whenever you need me, I’ll be here for you.”

Sousuke smiles, releasing the emerald-eyed teen so he can look at him; the two teens gaze at each other candidly and open. Those green eyes accepting without judgment alleviates his fears and brings him repose.

Makoto grabs Sousuke’s arm, gently reaching for the raven-haired teen’s hand as he brings it up to his lips, kissing the inside of his wrist.

Sousuke watches intently, the brunette’s green eyes continuing to peer into his teal ones as Makoto kisses his wrist with such tenderness. His chest starts to feel light, churning with affection for the teen in front of him. When Makoto’s eyes close, Sousuke moves his wrist away from Makoto’s mouth, leaning down, capturing those delectable lips with his own.

Makoto moans with surprise, his body stiffens for a moment, relaxes as his hand makes its way up Sousuke’s body, cradling the raven-haired teen’s cheek sweetly.

Sousuke moves his hands down to grasp Makoto’s hips, his hands brushing against cotton fabrics as he encloses his arms around the brunette’s waist, bringing their bodies closer together.

Makoto’s other arm drapes over Sousuke’s shoulder as he opens his mouth, inviting the raven-haired teen to kiss him more deeply.

Sousuke delves his tongue into the brunette’s mouth, taking the invitation and is greeted with Makoto’s hot tongue swiping over his. The raven-haired teen wants to drown in this good feeling, no words are necessary, the simple action of an open-mouth kiss is enough to spur his heart into the enchanting connection.

The ex-butterfly swimmer has always been afraid of change, but change always came and he adapted, but with matters of the heart, he knew relationships could come and go. Losing someone so important has always terrified him, so much that he never told Rin about his attraction. He lost him when he transferred schools in sixth grade, and then he left to go to Australia. Rin was his light, a reminder of what happiness looks like, that he could be happy too.

Sousuke’s connection to the crimson-eyed teen had dwindled over time and he refused to let Rin go. If he held on tight, he wouldn’t be left behind. If he continued swimming, he knew he would see him again in the future. So he fought tooth and nail to be the best. When he heard Rin had gone back to Iwatobi, he had to see him. But Rin can’t be his. Makoto, he could be his, an equal, a partner, if he felt the same way.

They break apart, Makoto panting in his ear, his warm breath ghosting over his sensitive flesh, sending shivers throughout Sousuke’s body. The raven-haired teen feels this strong sizzling burn stir within him, _‘Mako. You feel so good. This, this feels so right. I want more of you_.’ Sousuke wants to shower him with kisses, his desire, to feel his flesh on Makoto’s body as he continues to sense this pooling heat, making itself know through his pants.

Makoto gasps as he feels something hard rubbing up against him, through Sousuke’s pants. He smiles as he whispers with a soft erotic tone, “someone is definitely happy to see me.”

Sousuke chuckles as he lightly grinds against the brunette, earning him a delicate drawn out moan from the other, “yeah, I am happy to see you. I want you, Makoto. I want to...”

The brunette wraps his arms around Sousuke’s neck, fingers caressing the back of Sousuke’s scalp, a thrilling wave courses through the raven-haired teen’s body. Makoto gently thrusts his hips forward, rolling his hips slowly. Their hardening cocks brushing against each other with a soft pressure through layers of fabric, Sousuke lightly grunts from the impact of his tenting pants.

The brunette shudders, his fingers stiffen in Sousuke’s raven hair, releasing a silky whimper, murmuring, “you aren’t the only one, Sou. Let’s continue this...”

Before Makoto could say another word, the brunette is ripped from his grasp and Sousuke is left with emptiness, the cold biting air pierces his skin and his heart trembles with anxiety.

Suddenly he hears a voice yelling at him, “get your grimy hands off him! He’s not yours!”

The raven-haired teen grimaces at the sound of that deep, grating voice. Anger once again bubbles within him and he hears Makoto grunting, the sounds of flesh swatting flesh away, and the struggle to get away from the blond.

Sousuke looks up to find Makoto’s eyebrows knitted together tautly, pushing the taller guy off him. The raven-haired teen curses as he rushes forward prying off the blond from Makoto, he grabs fistfuls of the white slippery jacket the blond wears, pushing him away from the brunette.

Makoto dashes toward the raven-haired teen, first trying to pull Sousuke’s biceps from behind, attempting to split them apart, “Sousuke! Sousuke! Stop, please! Don’t fight! Your shoulder! I don’t want you to get hurt, please! Sou!”

The raven-haired teen hears the brunette, but he doesn’t listen, he pushes Ito to the floor, reeling his arm back to strike the bastard. His arm is held back by a strong force and he looks to the side to find emerald eyes pleading with him to stop.

Sousuke’s angry eyes soften, not wanting to upset the teen holding him back, _‘Mako, I...I...’_ His thoughts are interrupted as Makoto pulls him away from Ito, “Sou, please don’t.”

The raven-haired teen pants as his anger dissipates, the frosty air filling his lungs, his throat becoming raw, sensitive to the chill he breaths in. Sousuke stares at the brunette and he sees fear, _‘Mako...are you afraid of me?’_

The blond gets up and says between pants, “fuck you asshole! This is your fault! Everything is your fault! Makoto will never be yours! I’m his first! His first everything!”

Sousuke winces, his ears sting at the jarring sensation of Ito’s yell, almost like a harsh winter wind biting at his flesh. He grunts through gritted teeth, hating the sound of the blond’s voice in his ears.

His head snaps towards the blond, his anger spilling over like a pot of hot milk bubbling over the brim, sizzling as it hits the flame underneath. Makoto forgotten as he approaches Ito, grabbing that stupid white jacket with one hand, bringing him closer as he strikes the blond right across the face, watching him fall to the floor.

Makoto yelps at the sight, running over to Ito’s side sputtering apologies, but Sousuke doesn’t know who he’s apologizing to. He knits his eyebrows, confusion sinking into his core, _‘what the hell? What is happening? Why are you over there? Why are you by his side?’_

Sousuke feels the chill of the cold air that surrounds him and he shivers, his feet seem to be rooted to the floor. He tries to move his feet, grunting, but he never looks down, not caring about what is holding him down. Sousuke wants to get to Makoto, take him away from that creep.

The brunette green eyes shift over to Sousuke, wavering with emotion, the raven-haired teen can’t make it out, uncertain what Makoto is trying to say with his eyes. Before Sousuke could ask, Makoto sobs and murmurs, barely audible, “I’m sorry, Sou. I’m so sorry. I’ll never forgive myself.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen, _‘what? What do you mean? What does that mean? I don’t understand? Makoto! Get away from him! He doesn’t deserve you! You deserve better!’_

The blond lips curve in a malicious smile, his mouth moves, but no sound comes out.

Sousuke is taken aback, feeling himself shake at the sharp words, “what makes you think you are better than me? Everything you do is unfortunate. Broken. You will always be alone.” The blond’s voice blends with his mother’s as he speaks, confusing the raven-haired teen, deafening him.

Sousuke covers his ears, shutting his eyes as the words penetrate his body, paralyzing him. Suddenly he feels a vibration coming from his side, causing him to wince in pain.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The raven-haired teen opens his eyes, breathing shallowly and he feels it again, a vibration on his side. He moves his head to his right side, feeling his thigh, his tummy, and then the side of the bed where his body and the mattress meet. He finds the phone around his hip, slightly lying on it and brings the phone up to his face.

Sousuke squints and sees that Yumiko is calling. He slides his thumb over the touch screen bringing the phone up to his ear and says, “Hello? Yumiko? What is it?”

He hears nothing on the other end and says, “oi, Yumiko. What do you want?” Again he hears nothing. Sousuke frowns, pulling the phone away from his ear to find that he has a missed call from his stepsister. The raven-haired teen sighs as he drops his hand to his side. He knits his eyebrows, _‘huh? When did I get under the covers? I, I don’t remember falling asleep.’_

Sousuke leaves his phone on the bed, above the covers as he rubs his face, turning his head to the side to find brown hair resting on his left shoulder. He raises an eyebrow, _‘what?’_ The raven-haired teen tries to move and he realizes that his leg is surrounded by a pair of legs, _‘oh. Ma-Makoto!? Holy shi...how did this happen!? I...I was playing games on my phone and...did I doze off? But how...how did we end up like...this!?’_

Sousuke looks from Makoto’s head on his shoulder down to where his legs lie under the covers. Slowly he grasps the blankets he’s under and lifts it up to see a hand on his stomach, grasping the grey and white shirt he’s wearing. His eyes travel down farther and he sees Makoto’s legs around one of his legs. The raven-haired teen puts down the blanket as he runs his hand through his hair, _‘crap! How am I gonna get out of this!? He’s practically all over me!’_

His teal eyes widen as that last thought circulates in his mind, smacking his forehead he can feel his heart race and his cheeks flush, _‘damn.’_

Sousuke lies there trying to calm his racing heart, taking deep breaths until he hears a light snore and a moan come from the slumbering brunette. He halts his breathing, remaining as still as he can, hoping Makoto doesn’t wake up.

Makoto nuzzles his face into his cotton shirt, moving his hand on the raven-haired teen’s stomach farther away and clutching onto Sousuke’s shirt again, this time closer to his left side.

The teal-eyed teen flushes as Makoto sort of hugs him in his sleep, releasing his held breath, covering his mouth. He waits a few moments, before he sighs deeply, _‘oh, man. I’m a mess this morning.’_

Makoto inhales deeply and murmurs, “mmm...Sou...”

Sousuke’s heart skips a beat at the mention of his name, well, nickname. A flutter bursts in his chest and he covers his face with his hand, feeling a kind of embarrassment due to the rouse of his desire, and feeling it go straight to his dick, _‘oh, shit! Am I really gonna be undone with just the mention of my name? Really? Ugh...that’s pathetic. Ok, ok, ‘that’ can’t happen. I just have to focus on something else. Something that isn’t, shit, I keep thinking about Makoto. Ok, maybe I can somehow move him away from me. That could help.’_

The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath and moves his hand down his body, over Makoto’s arm and placing a gentle pat on Makoto’s thigh. He pushes gingerly to kind of persuade the sleeping teen to move his leg.

Makoto whines, “mmm...five more minutes...just...yeah...” 

Sousuke scoffs lightly, _‘yeah, right. C’mon, just a little more...’_ He nudges Makoto’s thigh a little more and the brunette moves, unfurling his hand from Sousuke’s shirt as he lies on his back.

The raven-haired teen’s arm is now stuck under the brunette’s and he carefully moves his leg off of Makoto’s, shifting his body to the side facing Makoto, _‘ok. Good. Now I just need to get my arm out from under him.’_

Makoto turns his head towards Sousuke, breathing lightly as he continues sleeping. The ex-butterfly swimmer stares at the brunette and he can’t seem to tear his eyes away from his sleeping visage. Last night he remembers the peaceful expression he wore then, but now, he looks more angelic with the sunbeams filtering through his room casting a mellow glow on Makoto’s face.

Sousuke unconsciously brings up his hand, trailing the back of his fingers over Makoto’s cheek, noticing how soft and smooth the brunette’s skin is. An urge to lean in towards the brunette gnaws at him and before he can really process this impulse, he leans down with the intention of kissing Makoto’s parted lips.

He stops when he hears a light snore come from the brunette and swallows, _‘what am I doing? Is that really what I want? To kiss him in his sleep?’_ Sousuke ponders on that thought as he continues hovering over the snoozing teen.

The raven-haired teen lightly frowns, deciding against it and instead brushes Makoto’s bangs out of the way and pecks his forehead sweetly. Sousuke attentively pulls his arm out from under Makoto’s weight, getting out of the bed and into the shower before he dwells too much on the action he took part in.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** December 31st, Tuesday, 8:58 am  **

Makoto stirs in his sleep, feeling too cold for his own liking. He turns on his side, flopping his arm over the mattress before he groans lightly. His foggy mind tries to rationalize why he needs to continue sleeping, _‘it’s the weekend. I don’t need to be up early. Wait...where’s my phone. I usually set alarms. Did I sleep through them?’_

He opens one eye and finds aquamarine colored sheets and a pillow. Makoto lifts his head and realizes that the room doesn’t look familiar. It’s not his room, not Haru’s room, nor any of their apartments back in Tokyo. The brunette pushes himself up into a sitting position as he groggily looks around the room. He notices a desk with a mounted bookcase above it, a closet, another bookcase, taller, a dresser, and a window.

Makoto shuffles his legs over the edge of the bed, facing the window as he rubs his face, remembering that he’s at Sousuke’s house. He yawns covering his mouth with the back of his hand while raising the other, trying to shake the slumber from his body. The brunette slowly does some neck rolls, _‘I slept in Sousuke’s bed. I should apologize.’_

The brunette gets on his feet, walks around the bed assuming that Sousuke is sleeping on the futon, on the floor. When he gets to the other side of the bed, Makoto blinks, _‘he must be up then? And he put the futon away already?’ What time is it? Where did Sousuke put my cell? I’ll have to find him.’_

He looks over to the bedroom door noticing that it’s closed. Makoto walks over to the door, turning the knob to check the hallway and his ears pick up on the sound of water rushing through a faucet, _‘oh. He’s taking a shower. Sou said he was going to take one in the morning. It can’t be that late. But, I should make the bed then. It’s the least I can do.’_

Makoto leaves the door open, to let the raven-haired teen know that he’s awake, and walks over to the bed to smooth the covers. After the brunette places the fluffed pillow on the bed, he looks around the room and decides to check out Sousuke’s tall bookcase. He stands in front of it looking over the titles of some of the books in it. Makoto quickly scans the titles of the books, noticing some reference books, dictionaries, novels, history books, literature books, but a variety of them are on swimming, physics, fitness, and nutrition. Some of the books have covers on them and he picks them up only to find them to be like the others.

Something catches his eye as he attempts to put one of the covered books into the shelf. He sees something on its side in the narrow opening, almost as it’s something to hide. The brunette puts the book in his arm as he pulls off more books to uncover what is behind. Makoto’s eyes widen as he recognizes that it’s a trophy.

Once he creates a big enough opening, he puts the books on the floor and carefully pulls out the trophy. He grasps the silver part near the base as he plops the cherry wooden base on the palm of his hand, _‘first place, butterfly, 100 meter...Sousuke.’_ As he looks over the beautiful trophy, above the four silver pillars, it’s gold and red with an image of a person on the top, almost as if he’s swimming.

Makoto just stands in place, admiring the trophy and remembers that he’s seen it before, _‘I’ve watched Sousuke win this.’_ This is the trophy Sousuke won in high school, when he was at Tokitsu. The image of Sousuke holding up the trophy in the air with a smile on his face, it brings a sad smile to Makoto’s face, _‘you were so happy. I bet you were on top of the world when you got this. Winning first place...that is amazing, Sou. But...’_

The brunette remembers what happened to Sousuke’s shoulder and he frowns. He can see why this trophy was hidden behind all those books, a memory that once held so much happiness has changed into one of sadness and anger. Makoto sighs heavily. He admires the trophy one last time before he places its side once again in the very back of the bookcase. Makoto picks up the stack of books on the floor and covers the trophy one book at a time.

Sousuke notices that his bedroom door is open as he rubs a towel over his scalp. He enters the room, leaving the towel over his head, noticing the brunette putting a couple of books into the bookcase. Sousuke stops in his tracks recognizing which shelf the brunette is at and says, “find anything interesting?”

Makoto jumps a bit in place, looking over to the side to find Sousuke with a white towel over his head, shirtless, and wearing loose fitting black jeans. The brunette notices the white and navy elastic band from Sousuke’s boxers showing above the hem of the black jeans. He swallows, looking away as he says, “uh...w-well you have a lot of books. I couldn’t tell what some of them were, so I, um...wanted to check them out. Sorry...I don’t mean to...”

The teal-eyed teen walks over to his desk, checking his phone to see if someone had called him, waking up the brunette. Nothing. He listens to Makoto’s nervous voice and interrupts, “don’t worry about it. I take it you saw the trophy behind all those books.”

Makoto holds his breath as he watches those back muscles move, but then his eyes move toward Sousuke’s shoulder. The raven-haired teen turns around, his teal eyes gazing into emerald orbs. The brunette sputters, “um, well, I...” Makoto sighs softly, looking away, “yeah. I...noticed.”

Sousuke takes a deep breath and says, “I figured as muc...”

Makoto quickly says after a pause between them, “I didn’t mean to snoo...”

The two teen stare at each other shocked that they spoke at the same time. Makoto’s eyes wander down Sousuke’s body and he feels his ears lightly burning, _‘oh god...he looks so good. I just want to run my hand down his abs and fiddle with the elastic band...’_ The brunette looks away, rubbing the back of his neck, “sorry.”

Sousuke stares at the brunette’s face, but his eyes zero in on his parted lips. He remembers how much he wanted to kiss him the night before, and of course when he woke up. He licks his lips as he inhales softly, the feel of Makoto’s skin on his lips linger for some reason. His heart skips a beat but then Makoto looks away mumbling an apology, _‘oh. The trophy. Hmm.’_

The raven-haired teen walks over to the brunette, standing before him, looking at the shelf Makoto was putting books back in, “I don’t really like seeing that thing. Yumiko sent that to me while I was here. She didn’t want me to forget, what I accomplished, but...”

Makoto listens, he hears an undertone of sadness. He turns his head to stare at Sousuke’s profile, interrupting, “Sou...I was just browsing your selection of books. Some of them have covers on them and, I...didn’t know it was back there. I guess I got too curious.” The brunette looks down at his feet, feeling guilty for bringing up complicated emotions for the other.

Sousuke side glances at the emerald-eyed teen and says, “ah. Were you wondering if I was hiding something?”

Makoto’s head shoots up, his eyes widening, “wh-what? N-no. No. I...” The brunette looks away, sighing in defeat, “ok, maybe. I couldn’t figure out why some of the books had covers on them.”

Sousuke chuckles, “did you think I was hiding some dirty books or something? The kama sutra?”

The brunette gasps, face reddening, “I...I...w-wel...no.” Makoto face palms, groaning, “Sou!” Makoto can feel his whole body tense up, his heart ramming in his chest, _‘I...I wasn’t. I mean...maybe. But not the kama sutra. I...I don’t know. God, what is happening to me? I’m freaking out! Why am I so embarrassed?’_

The raven-haired teen lightly smiles at Makoto’s reaction, _‘I rather see you like this than upset. I like it when you blush.’_ He clears his throat as he can feel a prickle of his own flush blooming on his cheeks, “I’m joking, Mako. I don’t have dirty books or the kama sutra here. Those books with the covers are ones I’d carry with me to read. I don’t like it when people approach me asking me questions about my reading material.”

Makoto slowly looks up and his eyes don’t make it past the raven-haired teen’s pectorals and says, “oh. That makes sense.”

Sousuke notices that the brunette doesn’t look at him and he wonders if his teasing went too far. He takes a step back, turning around as he says, “let me get you some clothes. You can change in here. I also left you a toothbrush and a towel in the bathroom. I’ll head down and make breakfast, so take your time.”

The brunette stares at the retreating ex-butterfly swimmer, his heart jittering, _‘wait. Sou...’_ Makoto’s feet move, walking over to the raven-haired teen, grasping Sousuke’s wrist to stop him, “Sou...”

The ex-butterfly swimmer found a pair of dark grey jeans for Makoto and just when he’s about to pick up one of his green sweaters, the brunette’s hand clasps around his wrist. Sousuke turns his head with a questioning gaze.

Makoto blinks as he realizes what he’s doing, holding Sousuke’s wrist and he opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. He closes his mouth and says with uncertainty, “Sou, I...thank you. For doing all this for me. I just...I’m not used to this. I mean, Haru has always been there for me, but there were times I didn’t want him to see me...struggle. And...”

Sousuke straightens his back, noticing that Makoto is rambling, “Mako. Stop. I get what you’re trying to say. I...,” _‘I like you, Mako. Damn. I want to tell you, but...this isn’t the time. Not after what happened last night.’_ He continues, “I appreciate your gratitude, but if you feel so guilty about it, then you can make it up to me with something. Then we can call it even.” 

The brunette release Sousuke’s wrist, _‘huh? Sou...I...I’m not sure what I wanted to say, but that wasn’t it. Ugh, I messed that up! Why did I say that?’_ He nods and Sousuke goes back to finding some clothes for Makoto.

Swiftly, Sousuke walks over to the made bed and places a pile of clothes on it for the brunette before he heads over to the dresser again to pick up an undershirt. He heads over to his closet and picks up a white, red, and blue plaid shirt and a black quilted vest, “come down when you’re finished.”

Makoto nods solemnly, watching Sousuke walk out the door, closing it behind him. The brunette drags his feet towards the closed door, placing his hand on the solid surface, _‘Sou.’_ Gently, he rests his forehead on the cool white door, _‘I...Sousuke. I told him, that I like someone else. That someone else is you. He misunderstood, but...I want to be closer to you Sou. But I know, you aren’t ready...Rin...’_

Sousuke takes a couple of steps away from his door before he stops, frowning. The raven-haired teen takes a deep breath, _‘yeah. It’s too soon. Mako, I don’t know how long it will take, but when things settle down, maybe I can tell you how I feel. I’ll wait...’_ An unsettling feeling bubbles up in his chest, doubt. He shakes the feeling off him, shaking his head as he heads down the stairs thinking about what kind of breakfast he should make for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay got another chapter posted within a couple of weeks this time ^///^ yay! I think this chapter was pretty exhausting, but I've been waiting to write this part for a long time, but when it came to writing it...let's just say I kept telling myself "I can do this." I hope the intensity is about right. I took some liberties with Sousuke's history since there isn't much on him. I hope everything makes sense and feel free to ask for clarifications. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!! <3<3<3
> 
> (comments are love ^////^)


	18. Chapter 18

** February 16th, Monday, 8: 03 pm **

Makoto gently swirls steaming soymilk into an insulated paper cup with two shots of espresso, and fragrant, small black beads of vanilla bean, creating a nice creamy latte colored whirl. He places the finishing touches with a bit of the frothy foam on top and places the white cup with a brown sleeve on the counter as he calls out the order.

A young woman with blond hair walks up to the counter and Makoto looks up briefly to meet a blue-green hazel colored gaze and smiles.

The woman looks down as she combs back a tendril of hair over the shell of her ear and says, “thanks...Ta-tachibana...san.”

Makoto chuckles lightly, “you’re welcome. Please take a sip and let me know if it’s to your liking.”

The girl’s hazel eyes shift to the coffee cup and back to Makoto, a small blush flushing her cheeks as she nods, taking the cup in both hands, gingerly sipping the contents of her latte.

The brunette glances over at the young girl as he starts the next order on the queue.

Eiji sighs as he looks over his shoulder to check on his co-worker manning the espresso machine. He takes a couple of steps back and notices a young girl moving her cup down on the counter, talking to the brunette. He quirks an eyebrow as he notices the blond girl place her hand on her chest, smiling at Makoto, _‘heh, she’s digging you Makoto. And I bet you’re totally oblivious, figures.’_

Makoto calls out the next to-go order and the young girl says her goodbyes to the charming barista.

Eiji playfully elbows Makoto’s side and says, “that girl had eyes for you, Makoto.”

The brunette turns his head, “huh? What do you mean?”

Eiji raises his eyebrows, “seriously?” He shakes his head, face-palming, “you made her blush, Makoto. What do you think I’m getting at?”

Makoto furrows his eyebrows, tilting his head, “um...I doubt it’s what you think. She was just amazed with how well I make the drinks here. She was complimenting me. She wasn’t...ouch! Hey! What was that for?” He rubs his forehead with his fingers.

Eiji puts down his hand from flicking Makoto on the forehead, “you are dense sometimes, Makoto. Don’t make your love interest jealous with all of the customers you charm.” He goes back to organizing things by the cash register.

The brunette frowns as he watches Eiji’s raven ponytail swish over his back, _‘I am not dense. And I’m not making him jealous! And he’s not my love interest! He’s...he’s just...someone I really like, that’s all! What makes you think I’m in love with him?’_

Makoto sighs as he goes back to the espresso machine, cleaning up the mess he made earlier as he reflects over the past couple of months.

During New Years Eve, Makoto had okonomiyaki with Sousuke that morning for breakfast. They ate silently, especially after the bittersweet talk about Sousuke’s trophy. Sousuke left Makoto in his bedroom to change and Makoto remembers his thoughts as he stared at Sousuke’s bedroom door, _‘I told him that I like someone else. That someone else is you. He misunderstood, but...I want to be closer to you, Sou. But I know, you aren’t ready...Rin...’_

With those kinds of thoughts over New Years Eve, it made it difficult to interact with Sousuke. He wanted to show Sousuke how much he cared for him, but his fear got the best of him, causing the brunette to halt his actions and words. Not to mention, Sousuke is still in love with Rin. There is no way he could compete with Rin, even thought Rin has Haru as a lover. Makoto remembers the talk they had months ago, when Makoto figured out Sousuke’s desire for the redhead. Sousuke said that he was going to work on his feelings for Rin and that he would let him know his progress.

Makoto frowns as he empties the portafilter basket of the used espresso grounds, cleaning it up and getting it ready for the next espresso drink, _‘Sousuke hasn’t told me anything about his progress. I wonder...if he’s given it any thought? Probably not. Things have been really difficult for Sousuke.’_ Makoto continues to reminisce as he starts preparing the next order.

After breakfast, and cleaning up afterwards, Rin contacted Sousuke and Makoto asking them to come over for the New Year holiday. Makoto and Sousuke went to the convenience store to pick up some oranges and a list of ingredients from the redhead. To their surprise, Haru, Rei, Nagisa, and Gou were already there ready to make some mochi together in Matsuoka-san’s new electric mochi maker. It was the first time Makoto had ever seen a mochi maker machine and Nagisa had a blast imitating and mimicking the noises it made. Nagisa also came up with different fillings for the mochi they created and tried to incorporate Gou’s strawberry protein powder much to the chagrin of the group.

After their mochi mayhem, Sousuke and Haru decided to make traditional Ozoni soup together. They asked Matsuoka-san for her permission to use the kitchen to make dinner for everyone. Rin, Gou, Rei, and Nagisa were awed by Sousuke’s and Haru’s ability to work together in the kitchen, and Makoto could tell that Haru was trying really hard not to argue too much with the broody ex-butterfly swimmer. Makoto noticed how Sousuke would shift his gaze over to him, or maybe it was Rin since they were standing next to each other, either way, it was cute.

Rin kept asking Makoto questions about Sousuke and Haru, wondering if he should worry about their sudden ability to work together for an evening. The Ozoni soup Haru and Sousuke made was absolutely delicious with hints of yuzu in the broth and perfectly crisp and chewy kirimochi on top. Makoto can still remember how light and comforting it was and Matsuoka-san loved it so much she asked the two for the exact recipe.

Afterwards they visited the Buddhist temple around 11:30 pm to witness the bell ringing. Makoto was surprised to see his siblings, parents, and uncle at the bell ringing ceremony, and Haru had said with his eyes that he was the one who contacted them to meet them here. Makoto felt his heart swell with happiness since Haru knew he needed some space to sort himself out. Ren and Ran somehow convinced everyone to take them to the bell ringing so they could spend more time with their big brother. Makoto was flattered, but he was really worried for them considering the two rascals would be staying up way past their bedtime, but their cheeky smiles and warm hugs melted away any doubts. Nagisa and Rei also invited their families to join them at the bell ringing ceremony.

Everyone and their families made an effort to come to the Buddhist temple, except for Sousuke’s family. The brunette’s heart sank when he thought about that and constantly looked over at Sousuke with Rin, Haru, Gou, and Matsuoka-san. Every now and then he would glance over at Sousuke and there were times when their eyes would meet. Sousuke smiled at him several times, acknowledging him and Makoto would smile back.

The bell ringing is meant to ward off worldly desires, and rid of the sins of the previous year. The ringing of the bell resonated throughout the night, 108 times, and he couldn’t help but wonder what Sousuke was thinking about. 

They had a couple get-togethers before everyone had to go their separate ways. Sousuke left a day earlier, going back to Tokyo. Rin left with Makoto and Haru to Tokyo, catching his flight to Australia a few hours after they landed in Tokyo. Makoto said his goodbyes to Rin leaving the two lovebirds alone at the airport so they could have the last few hours together before they would have to say goodbye.

Makoto thought about visiting Sousuke, but Sousuke texted him, telling him that he was visiting his dad until school started. Once the next school semester started, Makoto had been trying to get used to his new schedule with his new classes while keeping the same hours at _Momento Café_. Haru became busier this quarter as well, spending time in the art room to finish his projects and his swim training becoming more time consuming.

Sousuke has been spending more time with his family, and he has been coming to the café when Makoto is working to study. Haru followed suit when Makoto told the free-swimmer about it a couple of weeks into the semester, and now Haru and Sousuke sit together studying in silence.

Makoto smiles to himself, _‘Haru and Sousuke can be similar sometimes. It's a good thing I sent Rin some pictures of Haru studying when he isn’t looking.’_ More importantly, he was caught taking a picture of Sousuke by Eiji two and a half weeks ago and it must have been written all over his face. Eiji was able to figure out his feelings for Sousuke and has been constantly poking fun at him in a playful way since.

The brunette sighs softly as he finishes up cleaning up and looks around to see if any new customers have come up to the counter. No one seems to be coming in at the moment and his eyes catch Eiji staring at him, “eh? Is something...”

Eiji shakes his head, interrupting, “nope, nothing like that. Are you expecting someone, Makoto? Maybe that tall, dark, and handsome friend with the teal eyes perhaps?”

Makoto opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted again.

Eiji chuckles, “man, you are so fun to tease. I’m joking, I’m joking. Just tell me something? Did you and your friend go on a date last weekend? Last time you and your date went to the National Art Center and saw the work of Miyake Issey, right? My roommate was jealous when I told her about it, so she’s checking out the exhibit next week.”

The brunette can feel his cheeks flush at the mention of a date, face-palming as he whines, “Ei~~ji~~. It’s not a date. How many times do I have to tell you...I’m helping him with his photography class. Sousuke asked me if I would go to some places with him to take pictures. And no, we didn’t do anything like that last weekend, but we did go to a park together and he brought his camera.”

Eiji smiles as he observes Makoto’s cheeks turn a nice shade of pink as he talks with his hand over his eyes, _‘say what you want, you like him...it’s a date.’_ He sighs, “yare, yare. When are you gonna make your move, Makoto? Or are you waiting for your date to make a move?”

Makoto slouches as he drops his hand, hoping that the flush on his face has subsided, “Ei~~ji. I...” The brunette frowns, not knowing how he should respond to the older man.

Eiji’s smile fades, _‘you’re hesitating. I don’t understand. I’m missing something, I must be.’_ He places a hand on Makoto’s shoulder, squeezing gently, “hey, I’m here if you ever want to talk about it. You shouldn’t have to...”

Makoto gives Eiji a small smile, worry written all over his features, “if you knew that the person you like, likes one of your other friends who is currently in another relationship...wha...”

A young man wearing silver bottom rimmed glasses says, “Makoto? Ah! I finally caught you while working as the barista here.”

Eiji turns his head to the side and notices a tall guy with droppy olive colored eyes and dark green hair staring at them.

Makoto smiles and says, “Sera-sa...I mean, Tadanori. I’m surprised to see you.”

Tadanori returns Makoto’s smile, “ah, I was visiting a friend of a friend, actually he goes to the same school you do, I believe. I stopped by the dormitory to pick up a few books that I’m borrowing, and I remembered that you worked here, so I decided to test my luck and maybe catch you at work.”

The brunette chuckles, “well you caught me. What can I get you?”

Tadanori looks up at the menu, scanning the items carefully, “I’ll have a large yuzu green tea, for here.”

Makoto nods and just when he’s about to start making the order he hears, “Makoto. Let’s head back to the apartment together. I don’t mind waiting for you.”

The brunette nods with a smile, “ok. I’ll bring your drink over to your table. Please make yourself comfortable.”

Eiji rings up Tadanori’s order before he walks over to Makoto and says quietly, “I’ll close up tonight. Why don’t you and your friend head out when the café closes.”

Makoto glances over at the shorter man, opening his mouth to protest.

Eiji shakes his head, “no buts. You always work so hard, c’mon, let me help you out every once in a while.”

The brunette smiles, “thanks Eiji.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 16th, Monday, 8: 34 pm **

Sousuke glances over at Sakura and Yumiko talking about fashion designers and make-up products. His father stepped out to take on a business call for the second time during dinner. He shoves his hand into his pocket, pulling out his phone to text Rin.

[ To: Rin

From: Sousuke

It’s like 10:30 over there, you better be heading to bed soon. The next time I say I need to go to a family dinner, remind me to decline. I’m wasting my time.]

Sousuke stares at his phone for a moment, going over his text to Rin before pulling up a second text window.

[ To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

Hey. How were things? ]

Sousuke is interrupted when he hears his dad sigh, sending the very short text message to Makoto. He looks up to find his father rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger.

Yumiko tilts her head, “is something wrong, dad?”

Sousuke is about to put his phone into his pocket but when his father speaks he freezes, “Yumiko, you will have to leave to Osaka sooner than I anticipated. I’m sorry. I know you wanted a couple of months after your graduation to dedicate to packing and saying goodbye to everyone, but you will have to start working on April 27th. Please put that in your calendar. If you need assistance, I will gladly pay for any additional charges for the change. Let me know, and I will have my secretary deal with it.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows before he glances over at Yumiko. The young woman’s caramel eyes stare into Sousuke’s with some kind of guilt before she looks down and says, “yes, father. I’ll do that right now.” Yumiko gets up and walks into the living room to grab her phone to note the change.

Sakura notices Sousuke’s confusion and says, “Sousuke. Yumiko hasn’t told you yet, has she?”

The raven-haired teen’s lips form a thin line.

Yamazaki shifts his sky blue eyes over to his son, “after she graduates, she is moving to Osaka. She will be the assistant to the CEO in the Osaka branch of our company. He’s planning on retiring in the next 10 years, if Abe-san finds her suitable for his position, she will take over the company when he steps down.”

Sousuke’s body stiffens as he stares into those icy blue eyes, frowning at his father, “ah. I didn’t realize she was leaving.” He shifts his weight to place his phone in his pocket.

Sakura pours some barley tea into her husband’s cup as he sits down, “anata, I know you are thinking of everyone’s well-being, but Yumiko wanted to tell Sousuke.”

Yamazaki looks at his wife, taking the white ceramic cup filled with tea, “I know. They can talk about the details later, but I need to discuss the differences that will take place with Sousuke. Yumiko will no longer be able to manage his doctor, and physical therapy appointments.”

Sousuke’s hand forms into a fist on his lap, _‘Yumiko...you’re leaving? You’re leaving...’_ Sousuke’s eyes focus on the delicate floral pattern on the white tablecloth in front of him as he listens to his father.

Yamazaki takes a sip from his teacup, setting it down and says, “Sakura, I have some documents in my office. It’s the stack in the middle of my desk with a book about finance on top of it. Please give them to Yumiko. I would like a few minutes to talk to Sousuke.”

Sakura looks between her husband and Sousuke. Her eyes shimmering with concern as she concedes, “yes, anata. I’ll give Yumiko the documents.” As she gets up, she whispers something in Yamazaki’s ear before she pushes her chair into the table and walks away.

Sousuke’s eyes follow Sakura until she is out of the room. He hears his father’s voice, “Sakura and I have discussed your request of having your friend move in with you, Tachibana-san, I believe. He can move in with you, you decide when and how much to charge him rent, however, before any of this takes place, I want to meet him. Bring him to dinner next week.”

Sousuke stares at his father, his muscles still stiff as his father speaks, “ah. I’ll ask him.”

Yamazaki stares at his son, noting the affirmation of asking his friend about dinner and continues, “I have discussed your physical progress with your medical team. Yukimura and Hamasaki-san believe you are progressing well, Ishii-san mentioned some concerns that I have relayed to Yukimura and Hamasaki-san. I have taken Hamasaki-san’s recommendations into consideration, and I have approved the treatment plan Hamasaki-san laid out for you. All your physical therapy treatments will be at the Sports Medical Treatment Center from now on. Every three months, you will see Yukimura-san and I will receive a report from Yukimura and Hamasaki-san. As long as you continue to require medical attention and demonstrate progress with the treatments, I will continue to provide for you.”

Sousuke keeps his eyes on his father, blinking a couple of times as he listens to him. His phone vibrates, twice, and even though he wants to pull out his phone and check his messages, he continues to stare at his father with indifference, as he crosses his arms over his chest.

Yamazaki takes a sip of tea, “one of my recently hired assistants will meet you at your apartment complex and oversee all your appointments. I’ll have my secretary email you his contact information. His name is Maki Ryunosuke.”

Sousuke looks away as he listens to his father, _‘recently hired? Che, what is this? Testing your new employees with stupid tasks...I don’t need a babysitter.’_ He sighs, “ah.”

Yamazaki’s eyes slightly narrow and he stares at his son with cool eyes, “Sousuke, Maki-san will be taking Yumiko’s place in your appointments. I cannot accompany you. You aren’t forthcoming with your progression, Sousuke. You are lucky Yumiko has been willing to take time out of her day to accompany you to your appointments and relaying the information to me. I advise you to be courteous to my assistant, he will be reporting to me about your weekly progress.” 

Sousuke frown deepens as he bites his tongue, restraining himself from lashing out, “ah. Whatever you say.”

Yamazaki’s eyebrow twitches slightly at the arrogantly detached tone from his son, “Sousuke, don’t forget that I want an answer from you by the end of the quarter. Your major.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows as his teal eyes shift and bore into his father.

Yamazaki eyes narrow further, becoming more frigid, “I know you. You need a goal. I am paying for your education and I will not hesitate to cut off that source of support if I don’t see results, Sousuke. Money doesn’t just grow on trees. Your payment to me requires a major, good standing grades, and graduating from university in a timely fashion if you want to keep my financial resources. I am giving you an opportunity to choose your destination in life; however, I will make that choices for you if you continue to meander through life. Give it some thought, Sousuke, but don’t forget, that opportunity will be taken from you. We all have deadlines we must meet.”

Yumiko and Sakura walk into the dining room, Yumiko asking, “is everything ok?”

Yamazaki looks to the side and smiles at her, “yes. Everything is fine. Did you find the documents?”

Yumiko nods and steals a glance at Sousuke noticing the slight grimace on his face, _‘crap...he’s in a bad mood.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 16th, Monday, 9: 21 pm **

Yumiko and Sousuke are in their dad’s company car; the atmosphere between them is thick and heavy. She sighs softly feeling the tension in the air. Ever since their father mentioned the move to Osaka, she knew Sousuke must have been shocked at the news.

Yumiko fiddles with a strand of hair between her fingers as she tries to start a conversation with Sousuke, “sorry. I really wanted to tell you Sousuke. I just didn’t know...”

Sousuke notices the small infliction of fear in Yumiko’s voice, but at the moment, he doesn’t care. Yumiko is leaving him and nothing will change the outcome of the upcoming future. The raven-haired teen glares out the window and says darkly, “really? When were you gonna tell me?”

Yumiko winces at the resentful tone Sousuke lashes out with, her eyes shift from shock to hurt, “I...I don’t know. I just knew you were gonna be upset. I wanted to tell you when you came back from Iwatobi, but...I don’t know. I couldn’t...I just couldn’t then.”

Sousuke shifts his teal eyes towards Yumiko, looking down at her black pleated skirt, her eyes wavering with discomfort. He huffs, “che. Whatever.” He turns his head to look out the window again, _‘you’re no different. Everyone ends up leaving. I should have known, this would happen in the end.’_

Yumiko’s eyes widen when she hears the dismissiveness from her stepbrother, _‘S-Sousuke...’_ Her head snap up and she stares at Sousuke’s profile, noticing how obscure his teal eyes have become. Yumiko looks away, _‘I have to do something...’_

The caramel-eyed woman takes a deep breath, leaning forward a bit and says to the driver, “excuse me, Tanaka-san. I need to run an errand before I go home. Can you drop off my brother first?”

The older man’s silver eyes shift, staring at the young woman through the rearview mirror, “yes. I can do that, miss.”

Yumiko smiles at the driver, “thanks.” She sits back into the black leather seat and continues riding through Tokyo in silence.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 16th, Monday, 10: 01 pm **

Makoto turns off the hairdryer, ruffling his hair to make sure that it’s dry. After deeming that his hair is dry enough, he places the hairdryer in the drawer before he gently brushes his locks of brown hair with a brush. After he’s done, he puts the brush on counter, raising his hands above his head stretching his back until he hears a knock at the door.

The emerald-eyed teen furrows his eyebrows, _‘huh? Who could that be?’_ He steps out of the bathroom, walking into the entryway. Makoto places his hand on the smooth, cold surface of the door as he peers through the peephole.

The brunette quickly opens the door, “Yumiko?”

The young woman smiles sweetly at Makoto, “hi, Makoto. Sorry for dropping by like this, but...” She sighs heavily, eyes casted down at her mauve leather boots, “I need to ask a favor of you.”

Makoto blinks, perplexed as to why Yumiko decided to pay him a visit so late in the evening, but the tone of her voice changes to one of despondency. He remembered that Sousuke and his family were having a family dinner and wonders if something had happened. A moment passes between them before Makoto realizes that he hasn’t invited Yumiko in, “um, co-come in Yumiko. It’s freezing out there.”

Yumiko nods as she carefully walks through the threshold, entering Makoto’s apartment. She stays in the entryway, moving only a few steps to give Makoto some space to close the front door. Yumiko turns around, facing the brunette, “I apologize for the sudden intrusion, Makoto. I’m...not going to stay long. The company car is outside waiting for me, I just...I need some help, Makoto.”

Makoto closes the door, turning the deadbolt lock as he listens to Yumiko’s words, _‘Yumiko...did something happen between you and Sousuke?’_ He turns around to find caramel eyes filled with sadness and worry, “what is it, Yumiko? If I can help, I’d be more than happy too.”

Yumiko smiles, grasping the golden heart pendant on her chest, “you really are a lifesaver, Makoto. Sousuke is lucky to have a friend like you.” She breaths in a shaky breath, “He’s...he’s mad at me. I was supposed to tell him something really important when he came back from Iwatobi, but...I couldn’t do it. Tonight, my father told him everything.”

She takes a step towards Makoto and continues, “Sou-chan needs someone right now, could you go see him...please?”

Makoto lightly knits his eyebrows, he understands what Yumiko is telling him but he can tell there is more to the story. When she takes a step towards him with pleading eyes, he holds his breath as he just stares at Yumiko, _‘whoa, this sounds serious. What happened? He needs...he needs me?’_

Makoto looks away, rubbing the back of his neck as he releases his breath, “how can I say no. I’ll go see him right now. Let me just change, get some stuff together, and I’ll hop on the next train to see...”

Yumiko giggles as she clasps her hands together in front of her face, “thank you, Makoto. Don’t worry about the train. I’ll have the driver drop you off at Sou-chan’s place before he drops me off.”

Makoto gives the young woman an inquisitive stare, “are you sure? I don’t mind taking the train. I don’t want to inconven...”

Yumiko shakes her head and interrupts, “it’s not an inconvenience to me, Makoto. If anything, I’m inconveniencing you. Don’t worry. The driver knows that I’m running an errand right now, so please take your time. I’ll wait right here.”

Makoto smiles, “thanks. Give me 10 minutes or so.” He quickly trots over to his bedroom to change his clothes and pack his things.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 16th, Monday, 10: 37 pm **

The company car pulls up to Sousuke’s apartment complex and before Makoto could open the door, Yumiko says, “thank you, Makoto. I know I haven’t told you the whole story, but I think it’s best if you hear it from him, if he’s willing to open up.”

Makoto turns his head to look at Yumiko, he can see the worry in her caramel eyes and senses some kind of apprehension emanating from her. Makoto gives Yumiko a small reassuring smile, shifting his weight to face the young woman, moving his arm and grasping her hand firmly, “you care about him...there’s no doubt in my mind. You wouldn’t have come to me if you didn’t. I’ll do what I can to help. Please, take comfort in that.”

Yumiko’s eyes waver as she peers into kind emerald eyes. She places other hand on top of Makoto’s, squeezing gently as she closes her eyes, “o-okay.”

Makoto tilts his head to the side slightly, his eyes moving down to their connected hands when Yumiko squeezes. Her voice lightly breaks, and he hears the trembling sadness come through when she utters a single word. He looks up to find Yumiko’s eyes closed, a couple of tears streaming down her face, “Yumiko...”

Makoto wants to wipe a tear away with his hand, but the driver opens the door and it startles him a little, he jumps in his seat, “oh, oh. Thank you, sir. I’ll be out in a moment.”

Yumiko releases Makoto’s hand and wipes her tears, “I’m sorry. Please, go see him. I’ll be fine. Tanaka-san will make sure that I get home safely. It’s late and I’ve had a really long day. Please...Makoto.”

Makoto turns his head to stare at Yumiko, those caramel eyes continue to waver a little, but they seem more self-reliant and certain. The brunette takes a moment, debating with himself before he nods, “ok. Text me when you get home. Goodnight, Yumiko.”

Yumiko nods and watches Makoto get out of the car with his green backpack. She clasps her golden heart pendant with both hands, _‘Sou-chan...I’m so sorry. I hope you can forgive me before I leave.’_

Makoto walks into the apartment complex, turns around to wait for the black company car to drive off. He waves as the car starts to move away, hoping that Yumiko was able to see him through the tinted windows. He walks over to the elevators passing by the concierge desk, “good evening, Oda-san.”

The bespeckled man smiles at Makoto, “good evening, Tachibana-san. I’m glad to see that you are doing well.”

Makoto slightly bows in front of Oda, “I’m glad to see you are doing well too, Oda-san.” He waves goodnight to the onyx-haired man, pulling out his keycard for the elevator.

He swipes his card and presses the button with the number 15 on it. As he ascends, he starts to feel nervous all of a sudden. Usually when he visits Sousuke, he texts him letting him know of his arrival. Sousuke had mentioned in the past that he doesn’t need to do that, and that he could come by any time without announcing his arrival. He was rushing so quickly to get his stuff together that he forgot to text Sousuke, and even though the car ride was silent most of the way, he couldn’t stop staring at Yumiko.

Makoto could tell the young woman was worried and sad, and his mind was racing with several situations that could have possibly happened. She said that Sousuke was mad at her, and the last time they had a huge dispute was when Yumiko was upset with Sousuke. She didn’t understand Sousuke’s feelings or the situation very well, but they were able to eventually settle their thoughts and feelings.

Makoto bites his bottom lip, feeling a pool of jittery energy in the pit of his stomach, _‘oh gosh. I should have texted him. What am I gonna say? “Hi, Sousuke...I just came by to see how you were doing. Why so late, oh I was just...lonely?” Oh! That sounds horrible! Maybe I should just...’_

The elevator dings and the doors open before Makoto could continue his thoughts. He takes a deep breath as he steps into the hallway, slowly making his way to the end of the corridor.

When he reaches the door, Makoto swallows debating with himself, _‘should I call him? Let him know I’m here? Or should I just barge in? What do I do? He’s totally gonna ask me why I’m here...what am I gonna say?’_ He sighs heavily feeling foolish for worrying so much about frivolous things, it’s not like they aren’t friends. Makoto always shows up to Haru’s place, regardless if it’s announced or unannounced.

With resolve, he slides the keycard and opens the door. Once inside, he quickly locks the door, takes his shoes off, and moves them so the tips are facing the doorway. He puts down his backpack on the plush white carpet, takes of his jacket and puts it in the entryway closet, “Sousuke?”

Makoto walks through the hallway, takes a peek in the kitchen, dining room, and living room only to find them empty. He decides to check the bedroom hallway and he sees light emanating from Sousuke’s bedroom.

Slowly, Makoto takes steps towards the light and when he turns the corner he says, “Sousuke?”

The brunette notices Sousuke’s door is wide open and he sitting in front of his desk with a pair of red and black headphones on his ears as he’s doing something on his laptop.

Makoto walks over to Sousuke and before he taps his shoulder, he takes a peek at what Sousuke is doing on his laptop. His eyes widen, his hand hanging in midair as he sees a picture of himself on Sousuke’s laptop screen. Makoto feels his cheeks flush as Sousuke continues fiddling with Photoshopping layers of the photo. It’s a picture of Makoto sitting down at a round table strewn with his notebook and textbooks open, a pen in one hand, resting his chin in the other as he leans against his open textbook, looking out the window of the café he works at, smiling at something beyond the picture with his black-rimmed glasses.

Makoto doesn’t remember Sousuke taking that picture, but it must have been a Wednesday or Friday after his shift from work. Sousuke would meet him at the café and they would study together. He remembers the raven-haired teen bringing his camera a few times, checking the pictures in his memory card, but he didn’t expect Sousuke to take a picture of him. It almost feels like he captured one of those rare moments when he would smile at something that caught his eye, something that he has now forgotten and it leaves the brunette wondering what lies beyond the camera lens.

Without thinking, Makoto leans in behind Sousuke, watching subtle things change in the photo, making it look brighter and more polished. He doesn’t realize that he places a hand on Sousuke’s left shoulder, startling the other teen.

Sousuke’s muscles tenses quickly, whipping his head to the side to find Makoto’s face right next to him. His teal eyes widen with shock, _‘holy shit! Makoto!’_ Before he could think clearly about his words, he says loudly, “what the hell, Makoto? Are you trying to do, give me a heart attack? Don’t sneak up like that!”

Makoto winces at the volume of Sousuke’s voice, quickly jerking his hand back and standing upright. He raises his hands up in the air, waving them from side to side, “ah! Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you. I should have been more considerate. Sorry.”

Sousuke watches Makoto’s movements, shifting in his chair and realizes that he can barely make out the brunette’s words because of the music blasting in his ears. He takes off his noise cancelling headphones, putting them next to his laptop and looks at Makoto to find him staring at his laptop. He shifts his gaze to his laptop and quickly closes the lid to his laptop, “I was prac...”

Makoto interrupts, “when did you take that picture, Sousuke? I don’t remember you taking pictures at the café.”

Sousuke gazes up at those curious emerald eyes and swallows slowly, _‘Mako...’_ He looks away, clearing his throat, “it was about two weeks ago. Haru was running late and I was going through the pictures on the camera...it doesn’t matter. I was just messing around with the camera and took a picture of you.”

Makoto chuckles, “alright, alright. I was just curious. I’ll go make us some tea and maybe some popcorn. I’ll see what you have stocked in the kitchen. Hopefully that will give you enough time to finish your editing project...and then maybe we can watch a movie together?

The brunette turns around, walking towards the bedroom door as he says, “I brought a couple DVDs with me. I’ll bring them over with some yummy sustenance.”

Sousuke listens to Makoto’s words, lightly frowning, _‘it was because you were smiling that I decided to take your picture. I wanted to take a picture of the laugh just before, but I missed it. I don’t think you realize how many pictures I take of you. Che, I didn’t notice it myself until Kawamura-sensei mentioned it in class.’_ He turns his head to find Makoto walking out the bedroom door, “wait, Makoto.”

The brunette turns around to find Sousuke standing up, “hmm?”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows lightly, “I’m surprised to see you.” He looks away, rubbing the back of his neck, “what brings you here?”

Makoto’s stomach flops, _‘crap! I knew he would ask this question...umm...’_ He looks down at his white socks, “well, you usually text me back and so...I got a little worried when I didn’t receive a text from you. So I came by to see you.” The brunette winces, _‘it’s not a lie, but it’s not the complete truth either.’_

The brunette laughs nervously, “sorry, sorry. I know I’m such a worrywart. Anyway, why don’t you finish your project and I’ll find something for us to snack on.”

Sousuke watches Makoto leave, finding the whole situation to be a little peculiar. He looks back at his desk deciding to finish up editing the photo.

Makoto runs his hand through his hair as he walks into the kitchen, _‘I should have told him the truth. Lying doesn’t really sit well with me.’_ The brunette sighs softly shaking the lingering thoughts out of his mind and focuses on preparing some snacks for them.

As Makoto takes out a bowl for some microwave popcorn he found in the pantry, his phone starts ringing. He places the silver bowl down on the counter next to the teapot before fishing out his phone, “hello?”

“Are you with Sousuke right now?” Haru’s voice asks nonchalantly.

Makoto chuckles, “yeah, but he’s finishing a project right now. So, I’m in the kitchen making popcorn and tea.”

Haru is silent for a moment, “ah.”

The brunette smiles, “I missed you today. How is your art project coming along?”

Haru sighs lightly, “It’s coming along. Why are you at Sousuke’s apartment?”

Makoto sighs dramatically, “I don’t understand why you get so upset when it’s just me and Sousuke. It’s not like we’re...”

Haru interrupts, “because it’s obvious. People will get the wrong idea.”

Makoto blinks as he processes Haru’s words, _‘huh? Obviou...no way! Do I look at him funny!?!?’_ He sputters, “wa-wai-wait a minute!? It can’t be that obvio...”

Haru nods, “it is. You’re coworker, Eiji, knows.”

Makoto face-palms, groaning, “Ha~~ru! How did you figure that out?”

Haru sighs, “he laughs when he sees you staring at Sousuke. He even snorts when you say corny things to Sousuke too. You should be more careful.”

Makoto leans his ass against the counter as he whines, “Ha~~ru! You’re so mean! I’m going to ask Eiji about this lat...”

Haru interrupts, “how come he didn’t visit you?”

Makoto is silent for a moment and says, “he had dinner with his family.”

Haru is quiet on the other end for a few seconds, “hm...”

Makoto tilts his head to the side, curious, “hey, did Rin tell you something?”

Haru replies quickly, “not really. He just said that he was worried about him. He didn’t text him back. Rin said he tried calling him before he called me.”

Makoto frowns, _‘Rin is worried too...’_ He breathes out slowly, “I’ll text Rin or something. Don’t want your boyfriend worrying too much.”

Haru huffs silently, “that’s his problem...”

Makoto chuckles, “oh? Are you jealous, Ha~ru~?”

Haru remains silent refusing to answer Makoto’s question.

The brunette smiles to himself, “I’m kidding! Rin loves you! You know that painting you sent him for Valentine’s day? The one you’ve been working so hard on? He called me, crying about how lucky he is to have a boyfriend like you. He even sent me a pic of it too. I can see why he was so moved.”

Haru flushes on the other end, knowing exactly what Makoto is talking about. Makoto had seen the canvas once, but it was hard to tell what it was without asking him about it. The painting he sent Rin was a personal project, hence why he’s a bit behind with his current art project at school, “i-it was nothing. I...”

Makoto huffs, “Haru! Don’t say that. Rin was really moved by your art. He loved it. Did he give you his Valentine’s gift yet?”

Haru’s eyes widen, “he told you?”

The brunette sputters, “u-u-uh, uhmm, no-not really. Ri-Rin sorta asked me for...advice. So, I gave him my input. I thought it...”

Haru interrupts, “he showed you first?”

Makoto makes a face, embarrassed and guilty, “u-uh...well...yeah. Ha-Haru it was for you. He just wanted it to be perfect for you! I really had no idea you guys were getting into that...kind of thing.”

Haru face-palms, feeling his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, “how much did he show you?”

Makoto chuckles sheepishly, “um...well...maybe he showed me more than I should have seen?”

Haru is silent on the other end.

The brunette sputters, “a-ah! Ha~ru~! I don’t think he meant to show me much! He wasn’t sure! Really we just wanted to know if he looked like your favorite thing in the whole world! Well, kinda, anyway...but really! It was sweet! Don’t be angry Haru! Rin wanted it to be perfect for you! He didn’t know anyone else besides me that knows you so well.”

Haru sighs deeply, “ok. I understand.”

Makoto sighs in relief, “oh, thank goodness.”

Haru quirks a smile, “what should I wear for him?”

The brunette balks, “h-ha-haaa!?!? W-we-wear? F-for Rin? H-Ha~~ru~~! How would I know?”

Haru chuckles on the other end.

Makoto’s eyes widen, _‘huh? Ha-Haru! You’re joking with me.’_ He pouts, but he ends up laughing the next moment, “Haru! You’re horrible! If you’re serious, we can go shopping sometime. Besides, Rin needs some punishment, ne?”

Haru nods, “mm. When he least expects it.”

Makoto laughs, “alright. We’ll have to go shopping sometime.” 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

Sousuke finishes up editing the picture then saves the image, and before he closes the application, he stops to admire the picture. It may have not been the expression he wanted to capture from Makoto, but the smile on the brunette’s face is full of grace and compassion. His emerald eyes sparkle with generosity and kindness, they are Sousuke’s favorite feature, _‘he’s beautiful. I don’t even remember what he saw outside the window but it would be nice to see that expression directed towards...’_

Sousuke shakes his head, what is he thinking. He closes the application and moves the file into the folder titled, ‘photography.’ He puts his computer to sleep, picks up his phone. He notices that he has a few messages.

[ To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Dude, chill! I know what time it is! I’ll go to bed, don’t worry about that, bro. Besides, I still need to talk to Haru tonight. Damn, that sucks man. Maybe you should cut back on the family dinners. You always seem to be in a grouchy mood afterwards. Sometime this week, we should talk or Skype. It’s been like two weeks or something. ]

[ To: Sousuke

From: Makoto

I’m doing ok. ^_^ Eiji was kind enough to cover for me tonight, he cleaned up since Tadanori came by. I bet you don’t remember him, we went to Iwatobi high together and we live in the same apartment complex. Rei and Tadanori are close friends, since Rei used to be on the track team, and Tadanori was the track captain. We decided to walk home together. How are you doing? I hope dinner was ok. ]

[ To: Sousuke

From: Rin

Oi! Pick up your phone. I wanna talk to you. ]

[ To: Sousuke

From: Rin

>.> Bro! You better not be ignoring me again! Call me when you have some free time. ]

Sousuke groans lightly. He didn’t notice that he had missed calls. He checks his logs and realizes that Rin must have called him when he was coming back to his apartment. He pulls out the charger for his phone and plugs it in, writing a message to Rin.

[ To: Rin

From: Sousuke

I’m not ignoring you. I’ll call you Wednesday. Let’s decide a time tomorrow and you better be in bed. Don’t text me back until the morning. ]

Sousuke puts the phone down on his desk, gets up and walks down the hallway towards the kitchen. He can hear Makoto’s voice, “Haru! There is nothing happening between us. I promise. Why are you so skeptical?”

Sousuke stops, knitting his eyebrows as he watches Makoto leaning against the counter as he talks on the phone.

He walks closer to the kitchen, and just when he’s about to call out to the brunette he hears, “I, I know I told you my feelings about him. Just because I like to spend time with him, doesn’t mean we’re gonna start dating, Haru. Besides...he doesn’t like me like that.”

Sousuke stills, _‘he likes someone.’_ The raven-haired teen feels his heart sink and he pushes his feelings away as he says, “Makoto.”

The brunette jumps and stares at Sousuke, “So-Sou! I, I, mean Sousuke!” Makoto feels his cheeks heat up in embarrassment, _‘oh my god! He heard me! Did I mention that I like him? I didn’t, right? I didn’t say his name, right?’_ He hears Haru say, “Makoto. Are you ok?”

Makoto quickly replies to Haru, “yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Let’s talk more tomorrow. Make sure to lock your door before you go to bed, Haru.”

Haru sighs before he says his good-byes to Makoto and hangs up the phone.

Makoto looks at his phone after ending the call. With hesitation he turns his head towards Sousuke, smiling sheepishly, “uh, sorry. I think I got a little carried away talking to Haru. I’ll make some tea.”

Sousuke doesn’t know what to say to Makoto, he didn’t mean to eavesdrop on his conversation with Haru, he just heard it. He watches Makoto avert his gaze away from Sousuke, turning around to grab the teapot, walking across to the other side of the kitchen to pick out a kind of tea to steep.

Sousuke takes a deep breath, feeling his insides rattle with uncertainty. Ever since he told Rin that he likes Makoto, and confirming it with himself after that incident with Makoto’s ex during the Christmas break, Sousuke has been watching Makoto more closely. He’s never noticed Makoto paying attention to anyone that would give him a hint of who he could possibly like, except maybe his co-worker, Eiji. 

The raven-haired teen takes a few steps into the kitchen, leaning his hip against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches Makoto scoop out some tealeaves from a tin and into the teapot, ‘ _I can’t seem to stop thinking about it. I want to know who he likes. Is it that guy, Eiji? Che, it really isn’t any of my business, but dammit! Ugh, Haru is damn lucky.’_

Sousuke frowns deeply feeling jealousy fill the pit of his stomach, similar to the times he would stare at the free-swimmer with Rin, that feeling of his best friend slipping through his grasp. This time, he’s jealous of the secrets Haru shares with Makoto. It makes sense that Haru and Makoto would share secrets with each other, they’ve known each other all their lives. His teal eyes shift to the side, away from Makoto, feeling left out, just like how he felt with Rin and Haru in the past, _‘dammit. Why does this always happen to me? This is pathetic. There is no way I can tell him...I like him. Che.’_

Makoto decides on lavender white tea and places the teapot under the water heater, pressing the button on the top of the machine to dispense the water, _‘take a deep breath. Everything is fine. Sousuke doesn’t know I like him. Gosh, that would have been horrible...a horrible confession. I do want to tell him, but...wouldn’t it make it weird? Especially if I move in with him? Eiji thinks I should tell him, but Haru thinks I shouldn’t, that it’s too soon.’_

The brunette watches the tea steep, _‘I don’t know what to do, but I need to put this all aside. I’m here for Sousuke.’_ Makoto turns around slowly to find Sousuke’s eyebrows knitted harshly, his lips forming a thin line, _‘oh...Sou...’_ Makoto asks hurriedly, “so, what kind of snack would you like? I noticed you have some arare crackers. Or I can make some popcorn.”

Sousuke shifts his teal eyes from the floor to a soft emerald gaze. It makes his heart skip a beat for a moment, the gentle twinkle of Makoto’s green eyes doing strange things to him again. He looks away, uncrossing his arms, “whatever you want is fine with me.”

Makoto bites the inside of his lower lip, _‘he’s upset about...something.’_ He sighs silently, turning around to grab a black tray, he pulls out the mesh strainer filled with wet tealeaves, and places the strainer on the small plate he pulled out earlier. Delicately, he places the teapot and teacups on the tray. Makoto walks over to the pantry, grabbing a bag of arare crackers.

Sousuke notices movement and watches Makoto move around the kitchen, _‘why did he come by again? Usually he texts me when he comes by. This time he just came in and surprised me. Hmm, something is, off.’_ The raven-haired teen grabs Makoto’s wrist, preventing the brunette from placing the bag of arare crackers on the tray, “you usually text me when you come by. What’s going on Makoto? Did something happen at your apartment?”

Makoto gasps when Sousuke grips his wrist, causing him to stare into those teal eyes. Makoto observes how serious those teal eyes gaze at him, determined, contemplative, and slightly cold, _‘Sou-Sousuke.’_ He’s silent for a few moments, unsure of what to say to Sousuke, a part of him afraid, a part of him worried.

Makoto looks at Sousuke’s long fingers around his wrist and says meekly, “Sou. Nothing is wrong at my apartment. I...well...please don’t be angry.”

Sousuke’s eyebrows knit in confusion, _‘don’t be angry? Mako...’_ He releases his hold on Makoto, “what’s wrong?”

Makoto puts the bag of arare crackers on the tray, “I should have told you the truth from the beginning. Yumiko visited me at my apartment this evening. She’s worried about you, Sou. So I came to check on you.”

Sousuke huffs, turning away from Makoto, walking towards the sink and placing his hands on the counter, _‘goddammit! Yumiko! Worried!? About me? Bullshit! She’s fuckin’ leaving! Why the hell would she care? She never cared from the beginning! If she did, she would have told me herself! Not from my dad. Dammit! I don’t want to think about any of this! All this bullshit!’_ His hands grip the counter harshly, anger bubbling within the pit of his stomach.

Makoto stills as he watches Sousuke’s retreating back, _‘Sou...’_ He can see Sousuke’s shoulders tensing, and worry builds in his chest as he continues to gaze at the raven-haired teen. Makoto’s spirit deflates, feeling regretful for mentioning anything about the evening. He shouldn’t have mentioned anything, and just kept to lighter things.

Sousuke barks in a fury, “it’s none of your business, Makoto! Don’t listen to anything she tells you, it’s all a lie!”

Makoto’s eyes widen, not expecting such an answer from Sousuke. Slightly confused by the remark, he asks questioningly, “Sou...what are you...”

Sousuke turns around, taking a few steps to close the distance between them, getting right in Makoto’s space, snarling lowly, “you heard me. This is none of your business. This is between Yumiko and me. I don’t care what she told you. Leave it alone.”

Makoto’s eyes shimmer with a flicker of fear as he stares into icy cold teal eyes, burning with fire. It makes his heart leap in his throat and he freezes on the spot, listening intently. He holds his breath, apprehension and distress filling his chest as he swallows audibly, _‘holy...shit. He’s pissed.’_

They stand there for a couple of moments before Sousuke adverts his gaze, a glimpse of misery reflected in those teal eyes as Sousuke turns to walk away towards the bedroom.

Makoto caught that small sight of melancholy in Sousuke’s eyes and says without much thought, “she didn’t say anything, Sou. Only that she was worried. I don’t know anything.”

Sousuke stops mid-step, as Makoto speaks, frowning. He turns around, a harsh glare on his features, “that’s eno...”

The brunette turns to face Sousuke, a sad frown on his face, “you’re angry, Sou. I know you don’t want me to get involved, but I can’t leave you alone. I...”

Sousuke interrupts, his hands forming fists, “stop, Makoto. This is none...”

Makoto interjects, “yeah, I know. None of my business. I have been staying out of your business. Whenever you say you don’t want to talk about it, I leave it alone. But...”

Sousuke takes one step toward Makoto, shutting him up, “leave it! She only cares about herself, so whatever she told you to get you to come and check on me is bullshit.”

Makoto eyes waver, _‘Sou...’_ The brunette looks away, rubbing his arm with the palm of his hand, suddenly feeling insecure. He doesn’t understand where Sousuke’s anger is coming from but one thing is crystal clear, it’s all directed towards Yumiko. As he ponders, he comes to the conclusion that Yumiko hasn’t lied to him, and tonight is no exception. The tears he saw in the black sedan were real, Yumiko was holding back her tears, her frustration, her guilt. She knew Sousuke was upset with her, and instead of explaining her side of the issue, she withheld information so Makoto could hear Sousuke’s side with no influence from her.

The brunette sighs, “we don’t have to talk about this, Sousuke.” He halts his palm from its soothing pressure on his arm, looking up to find those indifferent teal eyes, fear grasping his heart as he stares into them. He doesn’t like these frigid eyes, they feel like a barrier between them. Makoto wanted see Sousuke’s teal eyes soften, twinkle with amusement, glint when he smirks at him, anything but these uncaring ones.

Sousuke’s anger starts to dissipate as he observes Makoto rubbing his arm. He knows what that means, he’s seen it before whenever the brunette feels conflicted, troubled, or fearful. He frowns as he continues to watch Makoto’s palm move up and down, feeling himself becoming more and more liable for putting such a sad and scared expression on Makoto’s face.

Suddenly, Makoto sighs heavily, pausing his movements as their eyes meet. Sousuke doesn’t know what kind of expression he dons, but those green eyes tell him that it’s not friendly. He looks down at the cream colored carpet, “I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Makoto hears the indifference in Sousuke’s voice, but underneath there is vulnerability. He finds the courage to take a few steps toward Sousuke, standing in front of him, looking down at their toes. Sousuke’s feet covered in black socks and his own covered in white socks, “okay. I can tell you’re upset, Sousuke. What can I do to help you through this?”

Sousuke lifts his head to find Makoto looking down, almost as if he’s ashamed, but from the words he heard, the brunette is not. More like tentatively supportive, and maybe scared of rejection. It makes his heart skip a beat, and he feels like his mouth form a small curve, a smile, but he’s not sure if it’s really there. Sousuke’s heart softens and he murmurs, “you’re an angel.”

Makoto’s eyes widen, not sure if he heard the other teen correctly, Sousuke whispered the words with a velvety tone, his breath hitches in his throat. As he holds his breath, he closes his eyes, knowing that he didn’t mishear Sousuke, _‘An angel? Sou...oh god! This isn’t the first time you called me that...’_ Makoto can feel his ears burn, warmth blaring on his cheeks as he lifts his head up. He opens his green eyes and sees teal ones waver, that barrier of indifference and coldness broken, almost as if it was never there in the first place.

Sousuke blinks a couple times as his own words reverberate in his head, _‘eh? what? Did I just...say that? Shit, I...’_ Emerald eyes peer into his and the way Makoto’s eyes sway, leaves him speechless. The flush on Makoto’s cheeks sends his heart pounding in his chest loudly, _‘fuck. You are so beautiful.’_

Makoto’s eyes dance with a mirth, before it disappears as the brunette gives him his trademark smile. Makoto chuckles lightly, “I remember...you said the same thing to me when I was...lost in my own thoughts, feeling too many things all at once. I swam in the pool downstairs, but it was capricious and volatile. You saved me from myself.” The brunette opens his eyes, his smile smaller as he continues, “do you remember?”

Sousuke feels his heart leap in his chest, of course he remembers. How could he forget, he’s thought about that incident several times, even when he was taking a bath with Rin during Christmas break. Makoto was swimming like an idiot and he pulled him out of the water. At the time, he didn’t know what happened that evening, but Makoto was upset. Sousuke’s mouth parts as realization hits him, _‘he was upset, emotional and I pulled him out. Even when he didn’t want me to, I pulled him out. Is that what he’s trying to do here? Pull me out? I was angry, and he...’_

Makoto notices the change in Sousuke’s eyes, showing recognition of the event he’s talking about, “I will never forget that, Sou.” The brunette looks away, feeling their closeness in the moment, and the reminiscence of the event at the pool downstairs makes Makoto feel like he needs space, otherwise he may just fall prey to his feelings for Sousuke and do something reckless. 

Sousuke responds, “resilient and wondrous.”

Makoto’s eyes snap back towards Sousuke, he can feel his temperature rise and he must look like a complete idiot just staring up into those soft teal eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

Sousuke smiles at the deep flush and stunned expression on Makoto’s face, _‘heh, cute.”_ He feels a little warmth on his cheeks and clears his throat, “I remember, Mako. I, I think I understand what you’re trying to say. I’ll talk to Yumiko...sometime soon. Not tonight.”

Makoto nods thoughtlessly, he heard Sousuke’s words but the mild pinkness on the raven-haired teen’s cheeks surprised him, _‘did he just...’_

Sousuke smiles amusingly and says as he takes a step to the side walking back into the kitchen, “better get that movie, Mako. The later it gets, the later we sleep.” He places a hand over his chest, rubbing the palm over his heart, _‘damn, I need to calm down. Why does my heart pound so hard when we have meaningful... intimate talks like that?’_

Makoto follows Sousuke’s movements with his eyes, turning around on the spot as he continues to watch Sousuke’s retreating back, _‘Sou...’_ He rubs his cheeks, _‘I need to stop blushing so hard around him. He’ll figure me out too easily!’_ Makoto smiles, “yes! I’ll go get it!” Makoto quickly trots over to the entryway to retrieve his backpack. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 20th, Friday, 5: 01 pm **

****

Makoto, Sousuke, and Haru are sitting at a table together at _Momento Café._ Sousuke was the first to stop by, ordering hojicha tea before grabbing a table, waiting for Haru to arrive before Makoto finished his shift. The free-swimmer stopped by just when Makoto was finishing up, settling into one of the seats next to Sousuke. Makoto joined the group after changing his clothes and grabbing everything he needed from the staff room in the back.

Haru and Makoto were amidst studying for their psychology exams together, going over important theorists and theories. Sousuke had promised to look over Makoto’s 15-page paper for his Education class, since it’s due next week. Together, Makoto and Haru go over Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development, memorizing the terms and details of each stage until Makoto hears Sousuke typing on his computer.

He looks up from his notebook to find Sousuke’s visage scrunched up in concentration as his determined eyes focus on the computer screen, _‘he’s typing a lot. Did I write something that needs elaboration?’_ Makoto smiles as he admires Sousuke’s hard work, _‘he’s so cute when he’s so focused on something. He frowns slightly, and looks so serious. He tilts his head to the side a bit. Is he confused?’_

Haru writes down a few notes down in his notebook and looks up to find Makoto staring at Sousuke with a smile on his face. His nonchalant gaze becomes obdurately apprehensive due to the lucid entanglement Makoto displays. Haru heaves a silent sigh, shifting his gaze elsewhere. He catches sight of Eiji placing a coffee cup in front of a customer. As Eiji walks back towards the counter, their eyes meet briefly.

The short man smiles at Haru, scanning the café quickly as he walks over to Haru, bending down at the waist as he says into Haru’s ear, “I see Makoto’s at it again.”

Haru side glances at Eiji, noticing the smirk on his face, “humph.”

Eiji chuckles lightly, “take a break while he just stares. Mackerel, perhaps?”

Haru’s eyes widen, gleaming with desire at the mention of the most delectable and desirable protein to exist. Without much thought, he bends down to open his backpack, fishing out his wallet to order some food.

Eiji smiles as he walks back to the counter knowingly. The times Haru had come in to the café, the violet-eyed man noticed every food item he orders had mackerel. He blatantly asked if he loves mackerel one day, after Haru made his order and he said yes with no hesitation. Since the trio studied at the café at least twice a week, Eiji quickly realized that Haru would do anything for mackerel.

Haru quietly slides out of his chair, leaving Makoto to his staring while he gets some food.

Sousuke runs a hand through his raven locks as he continues reading Makoto’s paper, finding the content to be interesting, but there were a few parts that needed to be condensed as the sentences seemed to be more like run-ons. He made notes, using track changes on the word document, and Sousuke made some recommendations for the expansion of certain concepts. He looks up from his laptop screen to find emerald eyes gazing at him.

Makoto places his elbow on his notebook as he rests his chin on his palm watching Sousuke. When the ex-butterfly swimmer is distracted or focused, he doesn’t seem to notice his surroundings, giving Makoto opportunities to admire his handsome face. Makoto focuses on certain features of Sousuke’s visage that he relishes in, like the curvature of the shell of his ears, his pliably soft earlobes, his defined jawline, the pout he makes with his delectable-looking lips, the shape of his nose, his droopy eyes, and how his eyebrows define his face.

Makoto watches Sousuke sigh softly, running a hand though his hair, his eyebrows becoming more relaxed. He smiles lightly until Sousuke gazes at him. He lifts his head up from his perch, ears flushing red, “u-u-uh, sorry. I was, um, worried that I made too many mistakes.”

Sousuke quirks his eyebrow wondering why Makoto was staring at him before he scans his immediate surroundings, “where did Haru go?”

Makoto quickly snaps his head to the side to find Haru’s chair empty. He looks around the café frantically until he finds the navy-haired teen ordering something. He closes his eyes, hand on his chest as he sighs in relief, “thank goodness.”

Sousuke chuckles, “what? Afraid Haru would get lost?”

Makoto opens his eyes, smirking lightly, “Haru? Lost? I don’t think so. But, I may know someone else who gets lost easily.”

Sousuke frowns, he has an inkling on who this mystery person could be, “che. I don’t know who you’re talking about.” He crosses his arms over his chest, looking out the window as if he’s disinterested in the current conversation.

Makoto smiles knowingly, _‘aww! Sou! I was just kidding!’_ He chuckles to himself, “so...did I make a lot of mistakes?”

Sousuke side glances at the brunette, noticing the adorable smile playing at his lips. He bites the side of his tongue, lightly cursing himself for admiring the display before him, “no. Not a lot. I’m almost done going through your paper. I have about...” He looks down at the computer to check, “four more pages. It’s pretty good so far.”

Makoto smiles with relief, “okay. Well, why don’t we take a break?” He looks up to find Haru coming back with a number, “we should eat something before continuing.”

Sousuke nods, “alright.” He saves his progress on the document before closing the lid to his laptop, putting it away in his backpack.

Makoto quickly says as he’s putting away their notebooks, clearing the table, “you took care of my dinner last time, it’s my turn to get yours. You want your usual? The tonkatsu sandwich?”

Sousuke stops his movements, his backpack in his lap as he gently places his laptop into the sleeve, “ha? I don’t remember doing that?”

Makoto quirks an eyebrow, disbelief glinting in his green eyes, “yeah, right. Just take care of our stuff. I’ll be right back.”

Before Sousuke could protest, Makoto quickly gets up, placing his backpack on the wooden chair, briskly walking away. He watches Makoto leave, his eyes darting from Makoto’s head down to his ass before he sees Haru from the corner of his eyes. He turns around in his chair as if he got caught taking a glimpse of something he shouldn’t have.

Haru makes his way back to the round table, sitting next to Sousuke. He places his number down on the glossy table, “Makoto is getting your dinner.”

Sousuke looks over at the free-swimmer, their eyes clashing together as he nods, “I know. He beat me to it.”

Haru’s eyes flicker with protectiveness, knowing how the two have been flirting with each other unknowingly. He saw Sousuke checking Makoto out, those teal-eyes lingered just a second too long on Makoto’s butt for Haru’s liking. Makoto has been going back and forth about telling Sousuke his feelings, and he has a strong sense of hesitance emanating from the brunette. Haru doesn’t want to see Makoto hurt again and he doesn’t feel confident with Sousuke. For some reason, it makes him nervous. Sousuke has been a good friend to Makoto, but now he’s questioning his intentions. Sousuke has a temper and he’s uncertain if Makoto can truly handle such intensity, especially after Makoto’s last boyfriend.

Haru looks away, staring at Makoto’s green backpack, “ah.”

Sousuke can sense the air between them thickening or becoming more muddled. He knits his eyebrows, unsure why Haru seems like he’s avoiding talking to him. However, every time they are all together, Haru would barge in unexpectedly, getting right in between him and Makoto. At first, Sousuke thought it was just a coincidence, but as it happens more frequently, he’s getting the impression that it holds purpose. Most of the photography-related weekend outings that Makoto had agreed to resulted in Haru tagging along.

He didn’t mind at first, but when Haru kept interjecting himself in front of the camera, Sousuke began feeling irritated. There were so many photographic moments that would have been perfect, or close to if it weren’t for Haru messing with the composition of his photo. Cropping him out has proved difficult, but he also has gotten some interesting pictures because of the navy-haired teen.

Sousuke rubs the back of his neck, looking out the window, “you busy later tonight? I thought maybe you would like to visit the pool at my place. I don’t want you to be a disappointment for Rin the next time he comes to visit.” 

Haru’s eyes widen with interest, glancing up to stare at Sousuke’s visage, _‘huh? I can swim at his place?’_ The free-swimmer’s eyes glisten at the prospect of being submerged in his beloved water, to feel that cool liquid over his whole body. It makes his heart swell with desire, but this is the third time Sousuke as offered his pool to him, _‘is he...trying to butter me up?’_ Haru’s eyes lose that shimmer of desire and is replaced with indifference as he looks down at his hands on the table, “are you going to swim too?”

Sousuke eyes shift towards Haru, confused why the navy-haired teen asked that specific question. He frowns, _‘what? Don’t you want to be alone in the water? I...I don’t understand him.’_ He says carefully, “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I want to see your progress. I can’t go to your practices in the morning to see how you’re doing.”

Haru listens but he doesn’t look up, he can hear the confusion in Sousuke’s voice, _‘I don’t know how I feel about you and Makoto being alone together...but it’s Makoto’s choice. But until he makes a commitment about you...’_ The navy-haired teen clenches his hands together, “why not?”

Sousuke’s eyes widen, _‘are you serious? I thought it was quite clear why I don’t swim!? How...’_

Haru continues, “you only swim with Makoto. When he visits you, he tells me that you two swim together.”

Sousuke looks down at the table, _‘ah. It should be obvious...’_ Before Sousuke could answer the question, Makoto comes back, moving his backpack from his seat to the floor before plopping himself on the red cushion, “it’s getting really busy up there. Maybe we should just eat and head to...”

Haru interrupts, “Sousuke offered his pool for tonight.”

Makoto blinks, gazing between Sousuke and Haru, “o-oh. Ok. That sounds good.” He chuckles, “that’s really nice of you Sousuke. I bet Haru has his jammers on too.”

Haru lightly scowls whispering, “you know I do.”

Sousuke remains silent, nodding, “I’ll finish up your paper in my room, so you and Haru can spend some time together downstairs.”

Both Haru and Makoto stare at Sousuke. Haru’s sapphire eyes gaze at Sousuke with indifference, but he can kind of tell there is something more behind those orbs, something he can’t read. Makoto’s green stare sways with confusion and he continues, “I have something I need to do, and I need to call Yumiko about dinner tomorrow night.” 

Makoto’s eyes widen as he recalls their conversation in the middle of the week, “ah! That’s right!” He turns to Haru and continues, “I can’t have dinner with you tomorrow, Haru. I can’t believe I forgot!” Makoto face-palms, “Sousuke invited me to his family dinner. His father wants to meet me.”

Sousuke notices Haru’s eyes widen, and he lightly tilts his head to the side, _‘hm. There’s some expression. Not what I was expecting. He almost looks, scared?’_

Haru can’t help but show his surprise, _‘what? You’re going to Sousuke’s family dinner? By yourself? What does that mean? Why you, Makoto? Do you have to go by yourself? I don’t think you should go by yourself, Makoto. I don’t like this.’_ The free-swimmer’s face contorts into a frown, his eyes gleaming with agitation. He says with a despondent tone, “oh.”

Makoto watches Haru’s face, noticing the anxiety in his eyes. He furrows his eyebrows with worry, _‘Haru. This is all my fault. I should have written things down, but this week was a bit overwhelming and I forgot.’_ Makoto feels his heartstrings being pulled and he looks up at Sousuke, his green eyes shimmering with concern.

He asks timidly, “um, would it be ok if Haru comes with us? I don’t want to be a bother or anything, but I don’t want Haru to feel left out. It’s really my fault, I forgot that I said yes to both of you for two separate occasions. I feel like such an idiot. If not, that’s ok.”

Makoto looks over at Haru who is still looking down at his hands. He places a hand on Haru’s back, “I’ll make it up to you, I promise Haru.”

Sousuke stares at Makoto, feeling himself being pulled in by those puppy-like eyes. He inhales silently, crossing his arms, considering Makoto’s proposition, _‘hm. I haven’t thought about asking Haru to come with us tomorrow. My dad wants to meet Makoto, but maybe Haru coming could be a good thing. Or it may bite me in the ass. I should ask Yumiko what she thinks about it.’_

Before Sousuke could respond, Eiji comes by with their orders, “hey. I have your orders. Made it myself.” He winks at the group.

Makoto smiles, “really? Usually Minami-san makes the sandwiches on Fridays. Did you guys switch tonight?”

Haru moves his hands to his lap as Eiji places the mackerel sandwich in front of him. Eiji responds, “yeah. He said that he’s feeling the espresso machine today. Whatever that means. Personally, it doesn’t matter, but since I’m now in charge of the food, I figure I’d make your sandwiches extra special.”

Haru looks up at Eiji with a blank expression, “you didn’t switch our orders?”

Eiji places the tonkatsu sandwich in front of Sousuke, “no. Why would I do that?” He looks over at Haru with a playful smirk, “I made a special sauce for all of your sandwiches. Something the boss approved of, but he wants some of the employees’ thoughts about it. Since you guys are regulars in a way, I figured it couldn’t hurt slathering some on your sandwiches.”

Eiji walks over to Makoto, placing the french dip sandwich in front of him, “if you guys don’t like it, I’ll make you another sandwich, on the house. I’ll be back with your drinks.” Eiji walks away, the brown tray under his arm as he goes behind the counter.

Haru looks at his sandwich with suspicion as Sousuke says, “let me ask Yumiko about that. I’ll let you know later tonight.”

Haru and Makoto gaze at Sousuke. The brunette smiles sweetly, “thanks Sousuke.”

Haru nods with affirmation, curious if Sousuke is taking the request Makoto made due to his feelings or something else. He places his thoughts aside as he takes a bite of his piping hot mackerel sandwich enjoying Eiji’s new sauce creation.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** February 20th, Friday, 7: 45 pm **

****

Makoto is sitting at the edge of the pool, his socks and shoes sitting on the tile floor of the indoor swimming pool under one of the benches. His dark grey jeans rolled up a little over his knees as he kicks his legs in the water, the palms of his hands behind him, resting against the cool tile floor. He watches Haru do laps from one end of the pool to the other as he ponders the events earlier in the evening.

After they received their drinks from Eiji, the three of them had dinner, talking about classes. Sousuke mentioned that he wanted to go to the aquarium on Sunday to take pictures for his class. Haru’s eyes sparkled at the mention of the aquarium and Makoto knew Haru wanted to join them. Makoto warned Haru that if he came with them, then he had to promise not to try and undress and find a way into all the exhibits, otherwise Makoto will have to do the unthinkable, cut the trip short carrying the free-swimmer out of the aquarium and possibly never going back.

Sousuke made a face at the pair, confused and averse. Sousuke watched the two converse with each other, staying out of the discussion. Eventually the raven-haired teen interrupted, rubbing his temples as the conversation started to draw out much too long, and said that he isn’t going to the aquarium because he wanted to, but because he needs to take pictures for his photography class. He bluntly mentioned that if Haru comes with them he better behave, otherwise the next time he asks Makoto to come with him to one of his outings, he would forbid the free-swimmer from coming with them. For some reason, Haru quickly agreed, promising to behave and even though Sousuke couldn’t see it, Makoto noticed the blatant pout in his eyes for being reprimanded by the other. Makoto thought it was cute, but he had noticed the two have been tense with each other, especially when they are alone together.

When Makoto asked Haru about the tension between him and Sousuke after they left the café, heading towards the train station, Haru shrugged, shaking his head. Makoto wasn’t happy with that answer and when he had a moment alone with Sousuke at the lobby of Sousuke’s apartment complex, he asked him the same thing only to be met with a quirked eyebrow and a mutter of how he doesn’t understand Haru.

Makoto sighs softly wondering if Sousuke is ok upstairs talking to Yumiko and going over his paper. He had asked Sousuke to take a break, but for some reason Sousuke shook his head saying that he doesn’t like to leave things like that undone for too long.

Haru reaches the end of the pool, panting as he pulls off his blue goggles from his eyes, resting them on top of his black head cap. He looks over at Makoto, noticing the contemplative stare into the water. After he catches his breath, he slowly swims towards the brunette, resting his elbows on the cool tile floor next to Makoto, “are you thinking about him?”

Makoto notices the ripples in the water, closes his eyes as he hears the water slosh next to him. He waits for Haru to say something, and when he does, his stops kicking the water, legs moving back to a resting position, “yeah. Um, Haru?” Makoto turns his head, opening his eyes to stare into a blue questioning gaze, “were you really upset earlier? For double-booking both you and Sousuke for tomorrow?”

Haru breaks eye contact, resting his chin on his forearm as he stares at Makoto’s black boots under the benches, _‘hm. I guess I was a little upset about it. I’m not sure if it was because he double booked as much as he was going to a family dinner with Sousuke.’_ Haru carefully replies, “yes. I don’t care about the mistake. We could always reschedule. Why are you going to a family dinner with him?”

Makoto tilts his head to the side when Haru looks straight ahead. He can tell Haru is thinking about his question and he waits patiently for his answer. Haru doesn’t look back at him, answering his inquiry thoughtfully, but the question that follows has Makoto wondering the same thing, _‘huh, Sousuke asked. He said that his father would like to meet me and that Yumiko thinks it’s a good idea. I...didn’t really question why. I’ve never met Sousuke’s family, I thought it would be good to see what he has been dealing with.’_ Makoto responds with hesitancy, “his father wants to meet me. That’s all Sousuke told me. I didn’t really think about it.”

Haru frowns, “how serious are you, Makoto? About him? Are you going to the dinner as a friend or...something more?”

Makoto holds his breath at Haru’s last question. He sighs heavily, looking at the pool water in front of him, “Ha~ru~ We’re just friends right now. Nothing mor...”

Haru interrupts, “you want more than just friendship. Unless you’ve changed your mind.”

Makoto remains silent, not sure how to reply to his best friend. His fingers curl into loose fists as he rests his palms on the tile, _‘change...my mind? Haru? Haru...what are you trying to say?”_ He takes a deep breath and says, “Haru. I like Sousuke. I...I would like to date him, but...I’m scared. Right now, we are friends and I really enjoy spending time with him. I don’t think he feels the sam...”

Haru closes his eyes waiting for Makoto to say something. He can feel something in the air change as he waits, and when Makoto speaks, Haru listens, keeping his eyes closed, hearing the emotion that echoes off the tile. Makoto sounds vulnerable, committed to his feelings.

Haru opens his eyes and interrupts, “what if he does? Would it change your actions?”

Makoto’s shoulder muscles tenses at the query, and he stares at the water with confusion, _‘Sousuke...actually like me back? I...I would love that. I would be so happy if he felt the same way I do, but...’_ He starts to doubt the situation Haru has presented him, remembering the conversation Makoto and Sousuke had months ago, in Sousuke’s apartment. Sousuke getting all teary, upset about his dream, his beautiful dream that he shared with Rin. A dream that shifted due to Sousuke’s physical abilities, but that he was able to fulfill during their last year of high school. However, he wonders if his true dream, the dream he originally shared with Rin still lingers, like a shadow of what ‘could have been.’ Makoto frowns, feeling a pang of sadness at the thought, but he figured out Sousuke’s feelings for Rin that day. It was so clear as Sousuke spoke of the past, about Rin, how much Rin means to him. Sousuke fell in love with the redhead.

Makoto sighs heavily, _‘I don’t even know if he will ever get over Rin. I’m nothing like him. Rin is so assertive, sometimes aggressively passionate, influential, charming, tenacious, and expressive. We’re nothing alike. I don’t even know his type...’_

Haru patiently waits until he hears a weighty sigh from the other. His eyes frown at the sound, knowing that Makoto is thinking about something unpleasant. He moves his head to the side, looking up at the brunette to find Makoto’s visage scrunched up with glum. Haru repeats the question, “would it change your actions, Makoto?”

Makoto turns his head to meet a blank blue stare. On the surface, Haru appears unconcerned, but he can see beyond the surface and sense that Haru is solicitous, waiting for the answer to his query, _‘change my actions? I haven’t told hi...oh. If I knew he liked me, would I tell him my feelings?’_

Haru keeps his gaze on Makoto, noticing the gears in his head processing the question. Makoto’s emerald eyes change with clarity, understanding the true question he was asking him. His blue eyes dance lightly with a smile, glad that he doesn’t have to find another way to express the question to him. His fixed stare remains on Makoto’s face, waiting for him to reply.

Makoto breaks eye contact after a few moments, staring down at the tile between them. Haru’s gaze is supportive, waiting patiently, but he’s not sure if he can really answer the question honestly, staring at him. Makoto gives the question some serious thought before replying, “I can’t be certain, but...I think it would have impact on my actions if I knew he shared the same feelings I do. I don’t know if I would be able to withhold my feelings if I knew he liked me too.”

Makoto eyes shift up from the tile floor to Haru’s sapphire gaze, “I want to date him. I want to do romantic things with him and...if I fall in lo...”

The glass door hinge squeaks as Sousuke pushes the door open with a tote bag filled with a couple towels, “it’s getting late. You guys better be done...”

Sousuke missed the echo of a loud yelp, but he did see Makoto fling himself forward, splashing into the pool. He stops dead in his tracks, eyes wide, mouth hanging open as his mind process what just happened. He blinks as he watches Makoto spring up from the surface of the pool, coughing as Haru swims over to him, helping the brunette stay above water. He curses himself, _‘dammit. I forgot how jumpy Makoto could be. Did I really scare him that bad? All I did was walk in here. Maybe I should have knocked first?’_

Sousuke walks closer to the pool, eyebrows knitted together as he watches Haru and Makoto come closer to the edge of the pool. 

The abrupt creak of the door causes Makoto to quickly choke on the rest of his sentence, cutting himself off as he hurriedly turns around to look behind him. Makoto subconsciously pushes the wall of the pool with his foot, unbalancing him from his perch on the edge of the pool and falling forward. He wails in surprise as he falls into the water face first. Quickly he holds his breath as his body is submerged in water, moving his arms and legs to swim to the top. He breaks the surface of the water, taking in a big gulp of air, followed by a fit of coughs. Makoto feels a body next to him, clutching his arm and the body comes in closer to him, a hand on his waist as Makoto tries to catch his breath.

Haru’s eyes shimmer with surprise when Makoto mentions dating Sousuke, but his eyes dart towards the glass door, noticing Sousuke’s voice and image immediately. His head snaps to the side as he hears a clamor next to him, catching a flash of Makoto falling into the water. Haru quickly pushes himself off the edge of the pool as Makoto comes up for air.

Haru grabs Makoto’s arm, placing it over his shoulders as he places a hand on Makoto’s waist. He gives him a minute to recover from the sudden fall into the pool before gently leading Makoto over towards the silver ladder.

Sousuke drops the cream-colored tote bag on the tile floor, grabbing a towel before taking a few steps towards the silver ladder.

Haru helps Makoto up the silver ladder and he takes Haru’s lead. Makoto climbs up the ladder, seeing a hand extended to him, he takes it without thinking, coughing, “th-anks.”

Carefully, Makoto takes a few steps away from the pool when suddenly a towel is draped over his head. He lifts his head, looking past the edge of the cream colored towel to find teal eyes shift toward him.

Sousuke takes Makoto’s hand into his, leading him away from the pool. He releases the brunette’s hand to unravel the soft towel in his hand and envelops him in it. Out of the corner of his eye, he notices Makoto look up at him and his concerned gaze meets Makoto’s, “are you ok, Makoto?” He notices a strand of hair covering Makoto’s eye and he gently sweeps Makoto’s hair over his forehead and temple.

Makoto’s eyes widen when he feels Sousuke’s warm fingertips on his face and his ear burn, mouth hanging open as he just stares at him with awe. He has encountered Sousuke’s sweet side on several occasions, and his heart skips a beat capturing those concerned teal eyes on him seems to do funny things to his mind. Makoto wants to say ‘thank you’ but the words die somewhere between his mind and his tongue, he just stares into Sousuke’s eyes, treasuring this rare occurrence.

Haru gets out of the pool after Makoto, pulling himself out by the silver rails as he watches Makoto and Sousuke. His face gives away nothing, but his eyes gleam with reluctant curiosity as he watches the two interact. Taking a moment to himself, he pulls off his goggles and head cap, shaking his head back and forth. When he looks back at Sousuke and Makoto, he sees the two staring at each other. Makoto eyes say it all, how much he likes the other teen. That moment when time stands still and when there is a pause and the inability to say or do anything that you want to do during that interlude.

Haru frowns, the will to protect Makoto making him act. He quickly trots over to Makoto and Sousuke, gently grabbing Makoto’s bicep and pulling the other to face him as he says, “Makoto. Are you ok?” He keeps his gaze on Makoto, but he questions his own actions as he has done several times the last few months, _‘Why am I doing this? Am I trying to protect Makoto, or am I hindering him? Makoto, what if you have to make the first move? What would you do? Sousuke, you have bad timing. Maybe I would have a more concrete answer from Makoto if we weren’t interrupted.’_

Makoto doesn’t really know what happens, but he feels someone tugging him and he complies easily. His eyes are met with Haru’s and he blinks when the question is asked, “uh...um...ye-yeah. Yeah. I’m ok. Sorry. I-I don’t know what happened there.” He laughs sheepishly, bringing his hand up to rub the back of his neck and finds his hand rubbing the cream colored towel over him.

Sousuke watches the two teens before looking away. His eyes fall on the gleaming water of the pool, watching the water sway under the lights, remembering times when he dove in the pool. The conversation he had with Yumiko and Sakura lingering in his mind.

Haru says with his eyes, _“yeah. Well you need to take a shower first. Let’s head upstairs.”_

Makoto continues to laugh sheepishly, slouching forward, understanding the light scolding in Haru’s sapphire eyes, “yeah, you’re right. I guess I need one now.” He sighs heavily.

Haru raises his hands and lightly ruffles Makoto’s hair with the towel, trying to dry his hair a little bit.

Sousuke hears Makoto whining to Haru about drying himself, his eyes shifting over to the pair of best friends and says quickly, “you should take off your clothes, Makoto. Wring out the excess water. It will make things easier.”

Both Haru and Makoto turn their heads over to Sousuke. Haru nods, “take off your clothes, Makoto. I’ll wring it out and you can put them back on.”

Sousuke turns around, and says over his shoulder, “I have another towel in that tote bag. It’s for you, Haru.”

Haru replies, “nn.”

Sousuke’s eyes settle on the benches, walks over to it and picks up Makoto’s green jacket, and his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. His eyes shift over to Haru’s blue and red backpack and white duffle bag and wonders if Haru has enough stuff in his bags to stay overnight, _‘maybe I should ask Haru to stay over tonight.’_ He looks at his watch, _‘8:21. Both Haru and Makoto need showers, but he may find the invitation weird.’_

Haru notices Makoto constantly looking back to see if Sousuke’s is looking, relief lingers on the brunette’s face as he strips out of his jeans, sweater, and undershirt. Haru wrings out each item given to him, throwing it over his shoulder when he’s done before Makoto quickly gets back into his wet clothes.

Once Makoto is done, he turns around, “ok. I’m done. Sorry that took so long.”

Haru walks over to the tote bag, pulling out the white towel, to dry himself off.

Sousuke turns around and is met with Makoto throwing the cream colored towel over his head again, walking towards him. Before Sousuke could say anything, Makoto continues, “a-ah! You don’t have to carry my things, Sousuke.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, shrugging, “it’s not a big deal.” He looks over at Haru and says, “oi. Haru. You need help with your stuff?”

Haru looks over the fluffy towel over his head, and without responding he picks up the tote bag, walking over to the benches, looking at his stuff before shaking his head lightly, “no.” He puts his jacket and shoes into his duffle bag.

Makoto watches the two teens momentarily, picking up his shoes from under the bench.

Sousuke moves to the side, walking away and says over his shoulder, “Makoto, you shower first. Haru will have to wait.”

As soon as Haru pulls his black and blue hoodie over his body and grabs all his things, they walk over to the door. Makoto is ready to get out of the wet clothes, looking forward to a nice warm shower.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** February 20th, Friday, 8: 41 pm **

Sousuke glances over at Haru and Makoto, who are in front of the bathroom door, doing their crazy telepathic communication as he places the white ceramic teapot under the water heater. He tears his gaze away from the two teens as he pushes the button to dispense the water. It’s a wonder how the two continue to communicate that way, Makoto had said that he just figured out Haru with time, but he ponders on how much effort Makoto put into it and if Haru had done the same. By the looks of it, Makoto does most of the talking when he replies, but there are times when neither of them speak, silently staring at each other.

When the water gets to the top, Sousuke places the lid on it, moving the teapot onto a black tea tray with three white teacups and a small dish for the tea mesh when the barley tea is done brewing. He walks out of the kitchen, turning the corner and heads into the dining room, placing the tea tray on the wooden table. He sits down as he hears a door close. He hears soft footsteps walking towards him and he turns his head to find Haru pulling out a chair and placing a towel on the seat before seating himself.

Sousuke watches Haru sit down, their eyes meeting as he says, “it needs a couple more minutes.”

Haru nods, acknowledging Sousuke’s words before looking away, leaning forward as he places his elbow on the table, resting his chin in the palm of his hand.

Sousuke blatantly stares at the other teen, allowing the silence between them to stretch. The sound of the ticking clock breaks the silence every second that passes, and after a few moments Sousuke sighs heavily, “do you want to come to my family dinner? I asked Yumiko and Sakura about it. They seemed really delighted to hear that I’m possibly bringing another guest. So, you game?”

Haru shifts his sapphire eyes over to Sousuke taking in the words the other says and noticing the irritation that radiates out of him. Instead of answer the question, he asks, “would it be troublesome? For your family?”

Sousuke keeps his eyes on Haru, his stare becoming more vexed by the question, rather than a simple answer, “no. It wouldn’t be troublesome. If you’re worried about Makoto being alone with me and my family, I suggest you come with us.”

Haru lightly furrows his eyebrows before looking away, thinking about the situation.

Sousuke shakes his head and sighs silently, pulling the tea tray closer to him to check the color of the barley tea, _‘about one more minute.’_

Haru hears movement and he glances over to watch the other teen and says, “ok. I should go home after I take a show...”

Sousuke interrupts as he places the lid back on the teapot, “stay. Makoto has left some clothes here, I’m sure you can borrow his. You can go home tomorrow and grab whatever you need, and I suggest you wear something nice. My dad is judgmental about appearances. Nothing fancy, just no jeans or t-shirts.”

That got Haru’s attention, he lifts his head from its perch as he faces the other teen fully. He watches Sousuke cross his arms close to his body, leaning into the table as he waits for the tea to brew, “ok, and I’ll keep that in mind.”

Sousuke continues staring at the teapot as he hears Haru’s nonchalant voice and nods. The silence fills the room again and Sousuke counts the seconds before he lifts the lid of the teapot, taking out the mesh strainer and placing the lid back on the teapot.

Haru watches Sousuke intently, noticing how distant Sousuke has become. As Sousuke is pouring the tea into a teacup, he says, “is Makoto moving in with you?”

Sousuke almost flinches at the sudden question, he stops pouring the tea, looking up to find Haru’s eyes on him. A moment later he breaks eye contact, filling the teacups once again, “I think so. My dad wants to meet him first. Yumiko thinks it’s a good idea. Why do you ask?”

Haru nods, even though Sousuke isn’t looking at him, “nn.” He doesn’t answer the question just yet, giving the query some thought.

Sousuke puts down the teapot and as he puts down the teacup in front of Haru, the other says, “do you have feelings for Makoto?”

Sousuke’s eyes widen at the question, unexpected. He releases the white teacup and he’s not sure he wants to meet those sapphire eyes, just in case he can somehow read him, the same way he can read Makoto. He takes a deep breath and says as he grabs his teacup, “what does that have to do with Makoto moving in with me?”

Haru lightly frowns at the response. He watches Sousuke take a sip out of his teacup as Haru wraps his hand around the ceramic teacup given to him. He looks down at the pellucid bronze beverage and sighs softly, _‘is he avoiding the question, or is he stalling? This may not be my problem, but Makoto is important to me. I don’t want him getting hurt.’_

Haru raises his head watching Sousuke stare into his teacup intently, “do you still have feelings for Rin?”

Sousuke takes a sip of tea, enjoying the roasted, robust flavor of barley. He puts down the cup, keeping one hand lightly around the smooth ceramic surface as he lightly balls his other hand on top of the table, _‘why is he asking me this? Did Rin tell?’_ He frowns, knitting his eyebrows as he glares at his tea, _‘goddammit Rin! Do you have to tell Haru everything!?’_ He exhales as his features relax a little more, his anger waning as he continues wondering about Haru’s line of questioning.

Sousuke’s eyes widen and he turns his head to stare at Haru. He notices Haru slightly curious, but impassive gaze. He asks stiffly, “who told you about that?”

Haru blinks slowly, finding the question snapped at him unamusing, “you did. Right now.” He rests his chin on the palm of his hand once again, “I figured it out myself. You didn’t answer my quest...”

Sousuke quickly interrupts, “do you love him? Rin?”

Haru’s stares at the other. He can tell that his eyes have widened, shocked by the sudden question, and maybe a slight flush on his cheeks at the mention of love, _‘lo-love?’_ He stares at Sousuke, and he gazes at him diligently, waiting for Haru to respond truthfully. Haru’s gaze moves downwards, he knows the answer to this question and is well aware of his own feelings for Rin.

Sousuke watches the other teen intently, waiting patiently. He sees the surprise in his eyes, his cheeks staining a very light pink as he casts his eyes downwards in thought. He waits, continuing to stare at Haru, wanting to know his answer.

Several moments pass before Sousuke sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair, “nevermin...”

Haru replies, interrupting the other, “I love him. Rin. I won’t let you get between us.” He pauses, letting the words sink in, not just for Sousuke, but for himself. Haru hasn’t uttered those particular words to Rin, however he had thought about telling him or confessing his feelings through his thoughts, but never with his voice.

Hearing his own voice say those words, a declaration of love, makes him flush a little more than he would like to show the other teen, _‘Sousuke needed to hear that from me. Rin really should have been the first to know, but when the time is right, I will say those words to him. I’m not ready to say it, yet.’_

Haru shakes the thoughts of Rin out of his mind as he shifts his gaze back up to Sousuke rigorously, “what about Makoto?”

Sousuke drops his hand to the side as he hears Haru’s reply, _‘damn. I didn’t think he’d flat out say it like that. Shit. You love him...Rin, you lucky bastard. Che, not letting me get in between you two? You have no idea, how much I hated you for taking Rin away, not just his heart, but his attention. He never stopped talking about you. But I’m glad...you return his feelings.’_ He let’s those words linger in his mind, as he watches Haru’s face bloom with a blush, reinforcing the idea of Rin and Haru loving each other.

Haru’s sapphire eyes turn towards him with determined scrutiny, throwing his unanswered question back at Sousuke. He holds Haru’s gaze, his teal eyes wavering as he debates within himself, _‘Makoto? Of course I like him. More than just a friend. I want more in our relationship. But...’_

Sousuke looks away, closing his eyes as he sighs, “I don’t harbor those feelings for Rin, not anymore. I like him...Makoto. A lot. I know if he moves in with me, it will become harder for me to hide my feelings.”

Sousuke opens his eyes, turning his head to stare at his teacup, “maybe, I want more than just his company. I miss having him here...in this apartment.” Sousuke shakes his head and rubs his forehead, “forget it. It doesn’t...”

Makoto interrupts Sousuke, opening the bathroom door and says loudly, “Haru! Your turn. Don’t use the bathtub, as tempting as it may be. I don’t want you getting home too late.” He comes out with a blue towel wrapped around his waist and a white towel over his head. He looks over at the kitchen to find it empty as he rubs his hair. Makoto finds Sousuke in the dining room and trots over to that area, tilting his head lightly to the side, “eh? Is something wrong?”

Haru allows the words to sink in, his eyes wide with knowledge of Sousuke’s feelings. He knew Sousuke likes Makoto, but hearing the other teen say so, solidifies his thoughts. Sousuke’s last revelation about ‘wanting more’ and ‘missing him in his apartment’ makes Haru wonder what Sousuke means. Before Haru could contemplate those words further, he hears Makoto’s voice. He remains silent, staring at Sousuke’s face.

Sousuke flinches, his hand twitching around his teacup as he hears Makoto’s voice. His heart leaps in his chest, fear of being caught talking about his feelings. He closes his eyes, trying to calm his anxious heart, hoping that Makoto didn’t hear anything in regards to what he discussed with Haru.

As Makoto approaches, Haru gets up from his chair, answering his question, “no. Nothing’s wrong.” Haru looks at Makoto with his usual blank stare, “Sousuke made me some barley tea, but it’s too hot.”

Haru picks up the towel on the chair and says while he passes Makoto, “could you finish it for me, Makoto? After you’re dressed. Also I’ll be staying here tonight so there is no reason for me not to use the tub.”

Makoto turns his gaze over to Haru, turning around, “ah. No problem.”

Haru waves a hand in thanks as he heads to the bathroom to take a shower and a short bath as he does not want the two alone together for too long. Haru sighs thinking, ‘ _I will have to cut this short, my beloved water_.’

Makoto turns around and says, “I’ll be back Sousuke. I’ll go get changed and drink some tea with you.”

Sousuke shifts his weight in his chair to face the other teen and nods, “yeah. Take your time.”

Makoto smiles sweetly before turning on his heel, trotting towards the bedroom hallway.

Sousuke watches Makoto leave, the blue towel is snuggly wrapped around his waist, his hips slightly swaying as the blue fabric swishes gently. His eyes travel down to Makoto’s calves, admiring the shape of his smooth shaven legs.

Sousuke swallows, covering his mouth with his hand, _‘maybe I’ll be in more trouble than I thought. Especially if I’m seeing this everyday. Damn. How the hell am I gonna keep my hands to myself.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** February 21st, Saturday, 4: 33 pm **

****

Sousuke interrupts Yumiko’s story, asking, “ne, Yumiko. Who is serving dinner tonight?”

Yumiko looks up from her cellphone with a surprised stare. Once she composes herself, she answers, “oh. Mom insisted that she cook and serve dinner tonight. She gave the maids the night off, after all this is a special occasion.”

Sousuke nods, slightly embarrassed at the mention of the maids, but Makoto interrupts, “maids?” He looks between Sousuke and Yumiko with a questioning stare.

Sousuke blinks, opening his mouth to say something, but then closes it promptly, _‘what do I say to that?’_

Yumiko giggles sheepishly, “um, yeah. I know that may seem like a bit much, but dad insists on the maids. Only two, mind you. My mom didn’t want a whole bunch of them in the house, but dad doesn’t want her doing too much manual labor, but from time to time, my mom convinces dad to give the maids time off. She actually likes cooking and washing the dishes.”

Makoto nods hesitantly, “oh. Well, ok.” He thinks, _‘maids? Wow...now I’m feeling nervous.’_

Sousuke looks out the window of the conventional limousine, trying to ignore the conversation between Haru, Makoto, and Yumiko. He can hear the sound of fabric rub against the leather seats and sighs. He figures that Haru is leaning forward, but instead of paying attention, Sousuke takes notice of the cars that pass by as the drizzle of rain hits the window.

When they got into the car, the sky was grey, giving off that hue of rain verging on falling down later in the evening. Sousuke wasn’t expecting the rain to fall during their ride to his father’s house, but found the gentle rhythm and thrum of the light drizzling rain soothing.

He can hear Yumiko excitedly showing pictures of their dad and Sakura to Makoto and Haru as well as random photos of her and her previous boyfriends. Sousuke frowns at the scenery outside the window, internally sighing as he mentally prepares himself for the upcoming dinner.

Sousuke folds his arms over his chest as he recalls the events earlier in the day. Haru got up early, going to the supermarket to pick up some mackerel. When Haru got back to the apartment, Sousuke was in the kitchen, in the process of making a frittata. The two bickered about everything from their breakfast menu, how Haru left the apartment and took Makoto’s keycard without saying anything, to where they physically stood in the kitchen.

Makoto heard the ruckus, waking up from his slumber and walking towards the noises to find Sousuke and Haru arguing. Sousuke cursed under his breath and bit his tongue, feeling slightly guilty for possibly waking up the beautiful brunette.

The three teens enjoyed their breakfast of mackerel frittata, as odd as it was, and after cleaning up they finished getting dressed. Haru asked Sousuke to come with him to his apartment to help pick out what he should wear for dinner, and Makoto asked Sousuke to help him too, not wanting to give Sousuke’s father a bad impression on their first meeting. He agreed to go to both Makoto and Haru’s apartments to help them pick out their outfits.

Sousuke figured he wouldn’t have time to come back to his apartment to change clothes and decided to wear something more formal earlier in the day. Both Makoto and Haru stared at Sousuke in awe. Makoto gulps audibly as he sees Sousuke wearing a white and navy vertical striped dress shirt with the button unfastened at the top, a navy colored vest, a white leather belt with silver buckle, and navy single pleated dress pants. He’s also wearing grey leather square toe dress shoes with a matching silver buckle. Sousuke just stared at the two teens with confusion, wondering why they were looking at him strangely. 

They went to Haru’s apartment first and Sousuke had an easy time figuring out what the navy-haired teen should wear. He handed Haru the items, leaving the bedroom so the free-swimmer could have some privacy. For a few moments, Makoto and Sousuke were in Haru’s living room and Sousuke could tell that Makoto was nervous. He tried his best to help the other relax and not stress too much with meeting his father, and reminded him that Haru could take some of the focus away from him if things got too awkward.

Haru came out dressed in a black V-neck cashmere sweater with an argyle print in black, white, and red, a crisp white dress shirt with black buttons, and coffee trousers with a satin stripe down the side.

Sousuke went over to the navy-haired teen, buttoning the very top button of Haru’s dress shirt and nods, deciding that it looks more polished with all the buttons showing. Sousuke looks over at Haru’s collection of shoes and decides that a pair of sleek black boots would be fine. Haru decided to wear Makoto’s brown parka jacket before leaving his apartment, deciding that going back into his bedroom to pick a more appropriate jacket would be too bothersome since Makoto is wearing the green jacket he had gotten him for his birthday. 

The trio headed to Makoto’s apartment after the brunette made sure that Haru’s front door is locked. Sousuke pulled out an outfit for Makoto, leaving the bedroom so the other could get dressed. Haru followed Sousuke out of the room, unbuttoning the top button once again giving Sousuke a look before sitting down at the table. The two were silent the whole time, lost in their own thoughts. Makoto opened the door, coming out in a white dress shirt, a solid emerald green tie, a black cardigan with a black and green horizontal stripes detailing that goes around Makoto’s neck and front, a sleek black belt with a chrome buckle, dark grey wool trousers.

Sousuke drank in the image of Makoto in the outfit he picked for him and noticed an orange watch on his wrist. He smiled as he admired how the clothes fit snuggly around his hips, chest, and shoulders, accentuating Makoto’s masculine and muscular frame so nicely.

Before Sousuke had a chance to look at Makoto’s face or even form a reply, he heard Haru clear his throat, causing Sousuke to turn his attention to Haru. Sousuke somehow could sense that Haru did that to deter him from who knows what. Sousuke slightly frowned as Haru helped Makoto into his pair of black leather oxford style shoes.

After picking out their clothes, the trio left Makoto’s apartment late in the afternoon and decided on a light lunch nearby before going to one of Yumiko’s favorite specialty food stores to pick up omiyage for Sousuke’s parents.

Makoto and Haru decided to buy a box of persimmons before meeting up with Yumiko at her apartment.

Sousuke pulls out of his reverie and glances over at Makoto, Yumiko, and Haru as Yumiko giggles. Sousuke raises an eyebrow as he notices Makoto chuckling and Haru smiling faintly. The car comes to a stop, and Sousuke looks outside to find that they are in front of his father’s home.

They get out of the car, the light drizzle of rain, now just small sprinkles of water every now and then. Sousuke takes a few steps, giving the others space to get out of the car.

Makoto is the last to get out of the car and just when he’s about to close the door, the chauffer says, “I got it, sir. Please head inside.”

Makoto smiles sheepishly and nods, “thank you.” He walks away from the car, noticing Haru carrying the omiyage they picked for the Yamazaki family, staring at the building in front of them. He fidgets with his hands, pressing his fingertips together as anxiety fills his stomach.

Makoto watches Sousuke and Yumiko bicker about how Sousuke should be giving her his arm like a gentleman before hitting his bicep for being a ‘meanie.’ Makoto smiles before his eyes shift over to the house in front of them, a two-story cream-colored house with a fence, a gate and a row of beautiful manicured red roses.

After Haru is done staring at the house, he turns his head to find Makoto fidgeting with his hands, _‘you’re nervous.’_ Haru takes a step forward, looking over his shoulder, “Makoto. Let’s go. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

At the sound of Haru’s monotone voice, Makoto peers into calm sapphire eyes and he smiles, “a-ah. You’re right.” He takes a step forward and the pair of best friends walk side-by-side down the pebble road leading to the front door.

Sousuke gets to the front door and turns around to find Haru and Makoto staring at the house. He wonders what the two are thinking briefly before Yumiko calls his name, interrupting his thoughts, “Sousuke. Stop frowning like that. You’re gonna get wrinkles if you keep that up. You’re much too young to be frowning like an old geezer.”

Sousuke’s frown deepens, “what is that suppose to mean?”

Yumiko sighs, “you are a lost cause sometimes. You worry too much. Stop it. Mom and dad will notice if you don’t hide it better. Sou...chan” Her caramel-colored eyes shift with concern before she continues, looking down to the floor, “um...you know, you can rely on me tonight, right? I know...this isn’t easy for you, but...know I’m here for you. That’s all I wanted to say.” She lightly chuckles, a bit nervously as she covers her mauve stained lips with her hand. 

Sousuke stares at Yumiko momentarily, noticing the softness of her eyes before looking away. The words that follow sounded lightly stifled, but vulnerable. She purses her lips before laughing softly, covering her mouth. Sousuke notices her hand tightly embracing the solid gold pendant over her chest. He mentally curses himself, exhaling, his eyes move to the side and downward as he says softly, “I know.”

Sousuke finds himself at a loss for words, uncertain as to what he should say to his stepsister, but then he notices Haru and Makoto’s shoes and he looks up, “you guys ready?”

Makoto smiles hesitantly, rubbing the back of his neck, “yeah.”

Haru just nods once.

Yumiko smiles at Haru and Makoto and says, “oh, you guys will be fine. Don’t worry. Mom will like both of you and dad...well I think he’ll like you guys just fine.”

Sousuke watches Yumiko ring the doorbell a couple of times, something Sousuke noticed over the school year when they visit their parents. Sousuke figures Yumiko likes to make sure that their parents know it’s her coming to visit.

Makoto takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

Haru turns his head when he hears Makoto exhale softly, _‘hm, Makoto is really nervous.’_ He looks up at the back of Sousuke’s head, _‘maybe this meeting holds more significance for Makoto than I thought. Is this some kind of test for Makoto?’_ Haru purses his lips slightly, but his eyes become more concerned as he comes to the conclusion that he needs to protect Makoto from Sousuke’s family, if need be.

The heavy white door opens and a woman with auburn hair opens the door widely, “Yumiko! Sousuke! I’m so glad you can visit us and...”

Yumiko steps in front of Sousuke giving her mother a great big hug, “mom! I’m so glad to see you too!”

Sousuke takes a half step back, giving Yumiko and Sakura some space to greet each other. He turns on his heel to look back at Makoto and Haru, “this is my stepmother, Sakura.”

Sakura’s attention moves from her daughter to Sousuke’s words and says, “oh! Please come in, everyone.” She releases Yumiko, moving to stand aside to allow everyone inside.

Yumiko smiles and enters first. Sousuke motions for Haru and Makoto to enter before him. Makoto is quick to catch on to the hand gesture followed with a tilt of the head. The brunette swiftly walks forward and before he could go through the door, Sousuke places a hand on Makoto’s shoulder.

Sousuke is met with confused wide green eyes, a small smile playing at his lips before he looks over at Sakura, “this is my friend, Tachibana Makoto. He’s...”

Sakura interrupts Sousuke, “oh! This is the young man that you would like to live with?” Her attention moves to Makoto, her caramel eyes soften, “thank you so much for taking care of Sousuke. I know he can be a handful.” She bows elegantly, her hands crossed over each other.

Makoto quickly bows deeply and says, “Sousuke is a wonderful friend. Thank you so much for having us tonight. I am grateful to meet you, Yamazaki-san!”

Sakura stands up straight, smiling gently at Makoto, “I’m so glad to hear that. Come in, Tachibana-san.”

Makoto raises his head, smiling, “thank you. Please pardon the intrusion.” Makoto walks in as Yumiko helps him with his jacket and gives him a pair of slippers to wear in the house.

Haru walks up to Sakura, standing next to Sousuke.

Sousuke looks to the side and says, “and this is Nanase Haruka. He’s...”

Haru interrupts bowing, “it’s a pleasure to meet you Yamazaki-san.”

Sakura bows at the introduction and as she’s comes back up, Haru continues, extending the paper bag with a woven cotton handles, “please take this as a token for your hospitality.”

Sakura takes the bag from Haru’s hands, “thank you very much. Is this from both you and Makoto?”

Haru nods as he walks in, “yes, it is. Please excuse the intrusion.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow at Haru as he walks through the threshold before Sakura places her hand on his bicep, gently rubbing his arm, “I’m glad to see you Sousuke. How have you been holding up?”

Sousuke looks down at the older woman wearing a simple white hairband, framing her auburn hair like a halo. He notices the gentle, yet worried smile plastered on her shiny coral stained lips. Sousuke looks away, “I’m fine. Nothing to worry about, Sakura.” He gently raises his hand to squeeze Sakura’s arm tenderly as he walks through the door. Yumiko is helping Haru and Makoto with slippers to wear in the house as he hears Sakura close the door. He shakes off his grey coat, hanging it up in the entryway closet, next to the jacket Haru borrowed from Makoto, the familiar brown parka jacket.

He takes off his shoes and he pulls out a pair of black slippers from the shoe storage cubby as Yumiko says, “Sou-chan, I’m gonna give Makoto and Haru a tour of the house. Would you like to come with us?”

Sousuke shakes his head, “go on ahead. I have to talk to dad before dinner. Might as well get it over with while you show them around.”

Makoto’s eyes glimmer with worry as Sousuke turns his head away, putting the slippers on his feet, but before the brunette could move towards him, Yumiko clasps her hand over his wrist.

Yumiko smiles at Makoto, “c’mon. Let me show you around. I can show you Sou-chan’s old bedroom and my mom’s beautiful garden. She has a pond with koi fish.”

Haru’s eyes gleam with delight at the mention of a pond and hastily replies, “I want to see the pond first.”

Yumiko giggles as she gently leads the two boys by the wrist, “alright. This gives me a chance to feed the fish too.”

Makoto follows hesitantly, looking back at Sousuke’s profile, wondering what kind of conversation Sousuke and his father are going to have.

Sakura waits with Sousuke, smiling at the two boys being led away into the house until their voices become muted mumbles. Her smile fades as worry fills her features once again, “Sousuke. Your father is waiting for you in his office.”

Sousuke sighs as he nods, “ok. I’ll go see him now.”

Sakura walks up the wooden step into the hallway, “I’ll take you to him.”

Sousuke nods as he follows Sakura down the hallway, a feeling of uneasiness filling the pit of his stomach. His lips form a thin line, frowning at the prospect of talking to his father before dinner.

He passes by the living room, dining room, kitchen, and a small office that Sakura uses for work before he gets to his father’s office. Each step closer causes a swell in his anxiety.

Sakura gently raps on the door, and waits for a muffled, “yes, come in,” before she turns the knob, opening the door.

Sousuke walks in, whispering to Sakura, “thank you,” before she closes the door behind him.

Yamazaki is wearing his usual attire, a suit, without the jacket on, but with a dark grey vest as he looks down at his phone, typing something.

Sousuke walks over to one of the leather seats in front of the mahogany desk with a small stack of books on one side and a pile of neatly stacked files on the other.

Yamazaki looks up from his phone, setting it aside next to his laptop as he says, “you failed to mention that you had an argument with your mother during the winter break.”

Sousuke holds his father’s gaze, physically unfazed by the topic of the current discussion, but his chest tightens with anxiety at the mention of his mother and the argument they had. He says as he continues to stare at his father stoically, “since you skipped out on the lunch mom planned during the winter break, I didn’t see a reason to mention it.”

Yamazaki’s eyebrows furrow as he says sternly, “I had business. Your mother knows that my business comes first. Have you apologized for your behavior?”

Sousuke looks away, staring at the bookcase in the room, _‘che. Yeah right. You left me to deal with mom and her fiancé, hell, you’re even skipping out on the wedding. Having Yumiko take your place. Coward. I doubt you want to see mom with another man...how do you think she felt when you left her for another woman? And you’re asking me if I have apologized for my behavior?’_

He glares at one of the books in the bookshelf, one of his hands forming a fist as he remains silent, knowing if he tells his father the truth, he’s going to get a speech about how inappropriate his behavior was and that he needs to apologize right away. He did apologize, but it wasn’t the best approach. Sousuke really should have called, but he emailed his mother instead. He tried calling, but every time he attempted to call, the anger he felt that day would resurface and he’d back out. His mom did reply back after a few weeks, but she never acknowledged the apology, instead she prattled on about her vacation with her fiancé and her excitement for her wedding, showing pictures of her adventures.

Sousuke didn’t know how to reply back to his mother, and eventually he just responded to the topics she mentioned, never going back to the argument or the apology, almost as if it never happened. In a sense, a dull ache about the whole thing still lingers, but Sousuke would rather not dwell on that.

Yamazaki watches his son’s face, he can see irritation in those teal eyes and he gives Sousuke a couple of minutes to formulate an answer. However, his impatience gets the best of him and he sighs heavily as he says with authority, “call your mother and apologize appropriately. I understand that you don’t want to give her away on her wedding day. I’ve made arrangements with Koushi, your uncle, in regards to that specific detail. He will attend the wedding and give her away. I’ve made sure to put him on a different project later in the year just so he can be present for the event. Everything has been finalized, and I’ve put someone else in charge of the project Koushi was in charge of.”

Yamazaki rubs his temple as he mumbles, “if he just came to me sooner, this whole situation could have been avoided. Koushi was being courteous, a good employee, keeping his work and family life separate. You’re lucky, Sousuke.”

Sousuke listens, albeit a bit unwillingly, but when his father mentions his uncle, he turns his head to stare at his father. He takes a moment to process the information before replying, “uncle Koushi. He heard about all of it?”

Yamazaki stops his movements, bringing his hand down, “yes. Koushi told me what happened, from your mother’s perspective.” He gets up from his black leather chair, walking around his desk to stand next to Sousuke, “just apologize properly. Call her and apologize. Your mother is one to hold grudges for a long time, don’t test your luck.”

Sousuke hears his father get up from his chair and loom over him as he speaks. His eyes shift down to his lap, internally sighing as he listens to his father, _‘shit. She’s still pissed at me.’_ He nods, not lifting his head up feeling shameful for his outburst during the winter break, but mostly because his father is cleaning up one of his messes. Even though his father didn’t have to help out with the situation, he did. He placed his uncle on a different project just so he could attend and participate in the wedding.

Sousuke fishes his phone out of his pocket, “I’ll call her now.”

Yamazaki smiles lightly, “take your time. I’ll just finish up some paperwork before dinner.” He walks back to his desk. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** February 21st, Saturday, 6: 46 pm **

Everyone is sitting at the dinning table in the middle of dinner. Yamazaki sat at the head of the oval table, Sakura on his right and Yumiko on his left. Sakura asked Makoto to sit next to her and Yumiko asked Haru to sit next to her leaving Sousuke to figure out where he should sit. His first inclination was to sit next to Makoto but after thinking about it, he’d rather stare at Makoto throughout dinner and opted to sit next to Haru. Sousuke can keep an eye on Makoto, and if for some reason the topics of conversation become overwhelming for the brunette, Sousuke had a better view of Makoto and possibly steer the conversation in another direction if need be.

They have already had their appetizers and are currently working on the main course. Makoto complimented Sakura’s cooking skills, bringing out appetizer dishes like, boiled edamame with yuzu salt, miso soup with mussels, agedashi tofu, kale, scallion, and beef negimaki, and a specialized blend of green tea from one of her friends who owns a tea plantation. Sousuke brings his white cup of tea to his lips wondering if Haru has been pouting because they aren’t having mackerel tonight. Regardless, the miso-glazed black cod over a bed of sautéed broccoli shouldn’t be too far off for the free-swimmer.

Sousuke is surprised that Haru has been quite civilized during dinner, answering questions his father or Sakura asked about his family and his upbringing. Honestly, if Sousuke was being grilled about his life story, he would be irritated, but it seems that Haru has been more talkative than usual. Makoto has done most of the talking and Sousuke wonders if Haru noticed how full Makoto’s plate was and attempt to give the brunette a reprieve so he could have the chance to eat.

A lot of the questions that were asked Sousuke couldn’t answer, and he learned more about Makoto and Haru’s families and their friendship. He’s learned that Haru’s dad is an electrical engineer for a medical company and goes away for long periods of time due to field service. Haru’s mother used to work at a supermarket part-time, but when Haru got older, she began to travel with her husband and works as a freelance graphic designer. Haru’s mother was born and raised in Iwatobi, and Haru’s father was born and partially raised in Izumo, moving to Iwatobi when he was in secondary school.

Sousuke also learned a lot about Makoto’s parents. His father is a marine biologist and works at the Iwatobi Aquarium while his mother is a preschool teacher. Makoto’s mother took eight years off her job when she had Ren and Ran, knowing that managing twins would be a fulltime job in itself. Makoto’s father and uncle were friends and had a senpai and kouhai relationship, Makoto’s uncle being the senpai of the two. They were teammates for their baseball team, Makoto’s uncle was the catcher and his father was the shortstop for the their team. Makoto’s parents met through his uncle, his parents went to the same college, and eventually his father asked her out on a date and they have been inseparable since then.

Sousuke found Makoto lightly flushing as he told the story of his parents meeting, dating, and marrying; he couldn’t help but smile as Makoto scratches his cheek. Sousuke can actually picture younger versions of Makoto’s parents doing cute things together, the stereotypical things a couple do together with smiles on their faces. Sousuke quickly takes a bite of his cod, hoping no one saw the smile on his face.

Sakura chuckles, “aww. Your parents are so sweet, Tachibana-san. They must be so proud of you.” She looks over at Haru, “and your parents must be proud of you too, Nanase-san.”

Makoto glances over at Haru and smiles, answering for the both of them, “thank you, Yamazaki-san.”

Yamazaki puts down his glass of water and asks, “Tachibana-san, Nanase-san, I’m curious about your majors. What are your aspirations for the future?”

Sousuke gently places his fork down on the table, glancing over at his father and finding those blue eyes staring at him. He keeps his face nonchalant, but he can sense that his father asked the question to prove a point. Sousuke looks away, knowing Makoto and Haru’s answers.

Makoto glances over at Yamazaki and smiles, “I’m majoring in education. I want to become a swimming coach for children. I helped out at a swimming center back in Iwatobi and I really enjoyed my time teaching kids how to swim.”

Yamazaki nods, taking in the information, “I see.”

Sousuke frowns, looking down at his plate, not liking the tone his father uses. Subtly disapproving of Makoto’s dream, but who is he to judge?

Yamazaki looks over at Haru and says, “what about you Nanase-san?”

Haru looks up, chewing the cod in his mouth and swallows before answering, “I was scouted and received a scholarship to swim. I’m on the swim team. I’m majoring in art.”

Yamazaki raises an eyebrow, “a scholarship? Impressive.”

Haru nods before he takes another bite of his cod.

Makoto smiles, chuckling as he continues for Haru, “Haru swims freestyle. Haru is a beautiful swimmer. He inspires me to continue practicing swimming.”

Yamazaki’s eyes shift over to Makoto, “ah. Is that how you met Sousuke?”

Sousuke quickly replies, “yes. We met because we competed against each other when we were kids. Makoto and Haru went to the same swim club.”

Yamazaki blue eyes shift over to his son. There is a moment of silence before Yamazaki continues, “and what about Rin? You two used to be friends when you were younger, do you still keep in touch?”

Sousuke frowns lightly and answers his question cautiously, “we keep in touch. Rin goes to university in Australia. Both Rin and Haru are working hard towards their dreams.”

Yamazaki gently places his fork down on his plate, “I see. Seems that your friends already have ambitions for the future and goals to uphold to themselves and their families.” He looks down at his teacup, picking it up with one hand and just as he’s about to continue, Yumiko interrupts, “you’re right father. Sousuke’s friends certainly have some wonderful goals for the future.” She turns her head to smile at Sousuke and his friends, “I hope you are all successful, fulfilling your dreams.”

Sakura smiles, gently grasping Yamazaki’s hand, “Darling, I think we need to schedule you in for a massage. You worry so much about your business and your family, and now Sousuke’s friends. You’re always looking far into the distance, you have a tendency to miss the present. I don’t want to lose you to stress, dear.”

Yamazaki turns his head to stare into his wife’s caramel eyes, noticing the tender reminder that he needs to take better care of himself. He smiles, chuckling lightly, “ah, Sakura. Do I worry you? If we make changes to one of our dinner dates, maybe we can go to the spa together, would that suffice?”

Sousuke watches the whole scene with Yumiko, his father, and Sakura. Yumiko is quick to pick up on subtleties, especially when it comes to their father. This isn’t the first time Yumiko interrupted their father in hopes to smooth things over between them, and Sousuke knows what his father was getting at. Ever since the school year started, his father has been persistent about his major, wanting him to take up sports medicine and become a doctor or something just as prestigious, like taking over his business. 

He wonders if his father is disappointed in him. His father has been telling his friends and colleagues that he was trying to become an Olympic star, and ever since Sousuke told his father about his dream as a child, his father had held him to it.

After his injury, Sousuke’s father seems to hold a more judgmental look with him, insisting Sousuke to do something worthy of his investment. His father has given him speeches about how success and money require discipline, that one must be sedulous, industrious, and ambitious. Sousuke looks away from his father and Sakura, slicing a chunk of cod with his fork, _‘I have till the end of the semester before he decides to take action.’_

Makoto notices a sigh of relief from the young woman sitting across from him. He glances over at Yamazaki and Sakura, smiling to himself, _‘they are really sweet with each other.’_ Makoto looks over at Haru and finds him drinking some tea and he notices Sousuke’s frown just as he’s taking a bite of food. The brunette’s gaze lingers on Sousuke and he realizes that he doesn’t seem all that happy, _‘Sou...’_ Makoto wonders if Sousuke is somehow hurt watching Yamazaki and Sakura interact with each other.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** February 21st, Saturday, 7: 31 pm **

Makoto is in the kitchen helping Sakura put the dishes in the dishwasher and washing pots, pans, and wooden utensils that cannot be placed in the dishwasher. Yamazaki left the dining room, taking a business call.

Yumiko turns in her chair, facing Haru and Sousuke, asking , “so, was dinner that bad?”

Haru puts down his teacup, taking the last gulp of tea before he responds, “your mother is an excellent cook. Although, I would have preferred mackerel.”

Sousuke snorts lightly, “figures. Next time you come to one of my family dinners, I’ll remember to mention it to Sakura.”

Haru raises his eyebrows, “next time?”

Sousuke stills as he turns his head to stare at Haru for a moment before he rubs the back of his neck, “che. It’s not...”

Yumiko giggles, “awww! I think that’s a good idea, Sou-chan! I think mom and dad like Makoto and Haru. In fact, I think Makoto left a pretty good impression on dad, and mom really, really likes him. I wouldn’t be surprised if mom starts hinting at the prospect of me dating Makoto in the future.” She looks over at Haru and continues, “and you too, Haru-chan!”

Haru frowns at Yumiko, his eyebrows scrunching up together, “drop the ‘-chan.’”

Yumiko giggles, before she pouts playfully, “awww! Is it that bad? I feel like I learned a lot about you tonight, Haru-cha...I mean, Haru. I can’t believe you and Makoto were friends since you were babies. Neighbors too! How close are you two?”

Sousuke crosses his arms as he listens to Haru’s answer. Haru takes a moment to respond, taking the question seriously, _‘hmm. How close? We’re very close. Like family, I guess. Makoto understands me.’_ Haru says nonchalantly, “close.”

Yumiko waits for something more, but Haru stares at her seriously. She waits a few more moments before she raises her eyebrows, “eh? Is...is that it?”

Haru nods, “nn.”

Sousuke chuckles, “you aren’t gonna get anything else out of him, Yumiko. That’s just the way Haru is. I’m surprised he’s talked so much tonight.”

Yumiko looks over at Sousuke, “eh? Are you serious?”

Sousuke eyes shift over to Yumiko and before he could respond, his father comes back from his phone call, looking over his schedule on his phone as he takes his seat at the head of the table, asking, “where is Tachibana-san?”

Yumiko turns around and says, “he’s in the kitchen with mom. I’ll go check on them.” She gets up and heads into the kitchen.

The three men wait until the kitchen door slides closed before Yamazaki says, “Sousuke, your friend, Tachibana seems like a good roommate for you. He’s personable, courteous, and responsible. I think he will help you maintain your regimen at home. I approve of your request, he can move in with you. However, I will leave it to you to determine the financial arrangements. I have no need to have him pay me, instead, he will pay you. Since I’ve been paying for your utilities, I see no need to continue once he’s settled in. Will that be sufficient for you?”

Sousuke uncrosses his arms, a bit taken aback by the sudden answer to his question about Makoto moving in with him. He takes a few moments to consider the conditions before he nods, “yes, thank you, father. I will talk to Makoto about this and let you know the outcome.”

Yamazaki nods, before his eyes shift over to Haru, “is this sufficient for you as well, Nanase-san? Since you and Tachibana are close, I assume you have an opinion about these circumstances.”

Haru stares at Yamazaki, considering the question asked of him. He has his worries about Makoto moving in with Sousuke, mainly due to their developing feelings for each other. To his understanding, Sousuke offered his place of residence to Makoto and he accepted. Makoto wants to move in with Sousuke, but he wonders if it’s because of their friendship or his desire for Sousuke. Regardless of the reason behind Makoto’s intentions, Haru knows that Makoto wants to move in with Sousuke.

Haru nods, “yes.”

Yamazaki smiles lightly, “good. I’m glad to hear that. If you want to move in with Sousuke as well, I’d be more than happy to agree. The apartment is big enough for all of you.”

Haru shakes his head before bowing his head, “thank you for the offer, Yamazaki-san. As much as I would like to take you up on that offer, I will have to decline, I’m used to living on my own.”

Yamazaki nods, “I understand. Well, if ever you change your mind, I’m sure you can make arrangements with Sousuke.” He looks over at Sousuke, noticing the mild surprise on his face, “Sousuke, is something wrong?”

Sousuke quickly shakes his head, “no, nothing is wrong. Just a little surprised by your generosity.”

Yamazaki smiles, “ah. I wouldn’t go so far to say that I’m generous with my offers...reasonable, yes. It gives you an opportunity, Sousuke. Remember, you have certain deadlines.”

Sousuke eyes become cold, knowing exactly what his father means, _‘che. I was too quick to respond. I should have known there was an ulterior motive behind his offer.’_

Haru glances between Sousuke and Yamazaki through his peripheral vision, _‘hm. There is tension between these two. Seems Sousuke has a lot to deal with too.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

****

** February 21st, Saturday, 9: 58 pm **

****

Makoto washes his hands and just lets the warm water wash over his skin for a moment before turning off the faucet and drying them. He looks in the mirror briefly before he walks out of the bathroom, turning off the light. He walks over to bedroom hallway in Sousuke’s apartment and decides to take a peek into the guest bedroom to check on Haru.

Makoto slowly pushes the slightly ajar door open and notices Haru on the phone, _‘I wonder who he’s talking...oh...it’s Rin. I should have known. I’ll give him some time alone.’_ Makoto quietly retreats back into the hallway, closing the door. He turns around and notices Sousuke’s door is halfway open and decides to check on him.

After dinner with Sousuke’s family, Makoto noticed Sousuke’s silence and he appeared to be in deep thought. During the drive back Sousuke announced that his father liked him and thought it was a good idea for him to move in with Sousuke. Makoto was happy to hear that, but Sousuke seemed to be concerned, content with the news, but worried about something else.

Makoto pushes the door open, walking in partway to find Sousuke doing one of his shoulder exercises by the closet door mirror and the file cabinet. He’s seen this scene before, but something about the way Sousuke sharply goes through the movements has Makoto moving towards him. The frown on Sousuke’s face, almost looks angry and Makoto wants nothing more than for Sousuke to stop.

Makoto gets right behind Sousuke, lifts his arms under Sousuke’s arms and presses the other into him. One hand resting on Sousuke’s right shoulder and the other hand on his stomach, “Sou...” He tightens his hold on Sousuke, trying to find the proper words to say, _‘please stop. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.’_

The brunette closes his eyes and just holds him feeling the words that ring in his head as unwanted words for Sousuke. Regardless of what his head is telling him, he feels his heart race being so close to Sousuke and he bites his bottom lip as he tries to calm his nerves and the surge of electricity that courses through him.

Sousuke doesn’t notice Makoto’s entrance, instead he focuses on his shoulder exercise, roughly going through the motions, _‘dammit. Why do I feel so restless? I should be relieved about the whole thing, shouldn’t I? Things could have gone much worse...in fact it was better than I expected. Ugh, I’m just agitated and it pisses me off!’_

****

Without warning, he feels someone embrace him from behind and his body stiffens with surprise. Sousuke releases the elastic stretch band he was using for resistance as he shifts his gaze into the mirror. He sees someone facing away from him, almost as tall as he is and shaggy brown hair embracing him, _‘M-Makoto...’_

Makoto says his name with hurt laced in his voice and his heart stops. His eyes widen as Makoto tightens his hold and he can feel Makoto’s other lightly calloused hand wrapped around his torso. For a moment he just stares at the image of Makoto holding him from behind and his heart skips a beat. He lifts his hand, cupping Makoto’s hand with his, hoping the brunette can’t feel his heartbeat as he says, “Mako. Is...something wrong?”

Makoto shuts his eyes tighter, feeling himself take in a sharp breath and holding it as Sousuke grasps his hand on his stomach, _‘oh god!? Why is this making me react so...much. He’s just holding my hand.’_ Sousuke’s deep voice mutes his racing mind. Focusing his attention on Sousuke’s voice seems to ground him, reminding him why he entered Sousuke’s room, “I...you don’t seem like yourself tonight. Did something happen, Sou? Do you need to play a game or something?”

Sousuke continues to watch Makoto through the mirror, waiting for an answer. He swallows audibly as his eyes zero in on their connected hands. He feels his heart beat loudly in his chest and he takes in a shaky breath. When he hears Makoto’s voice, he catches on to the slight quiver in his tone, almost as if he’s hiding or afraid of something. Either way, it causes Sousuke to tighten his grip on Makoto’s hand, “you worry too much. I’ll be fine, Mako. I don’t...”

Makoto tightens his hold with a strong grip, but Sousuke notices a modest tremble in his squeeze, causing Sousuke’s throat to clam up.

Makoto knits his eyebrows, his eyes slightly open when he hears Sousuke’s words and he finds himself unintentionally squeezing the tall teen in his arms and says tenderly, “Sou...I’m here when you need me. Don’t forget that.”

Sousuke smiles and his chest swells with a feather light joy at hearing Makoto’s words. After all the time they’ve spent together, he still finds himself pushing people away when things get rough, yet somehow, Makoto reminds him that he doesn’t have to do that with him. It makes him feel wanted and needed, something he hardly feels when he’s with others. The only other person that he ever wanted to give him that feeling was Rin. Sousuke lifts his other hand and places it over Makoto’s, squeezing gently, “you’re right...Mako.”

Sousuke tenderly peels off Makoto’s arms around him and turns around. He places his index finger under Makoto’s chin, lifting the other teen’s face and peering into those beautiful emerald eyes. Sousuke takes a moment to bask in Makoto’s stare, and he can see worry written all over him. But, there is something more, something Sousuke can’t quite figure out, _‘Mako...if things keep going like this...I will fall in love with you.’_ He swallows, “thanks. I guess I needed to hear that.”

Sousuke feels himself becoming more heated and looks away, like he is embarrassed, _‘you really are something, Mako. Damn, I really am in trouble. I don’t know how long I can keep this to myself.’_ He looks down at the floor, releasing Makoto as he rubs the back of his neck.

Makoto opens his eyes as Sousuke pulls his arms away, releasing Sousuke from his secure hug. He notices Sousuke turning around and he looks down, feeling his ears burn in a flush, _‘So-Sou! Why, why are you turning around! Oh my god! This is so embar...’_ He feels a pressure under his chin, and his chain of thought breaks. Without much resistance, he allows Sousuke to guide his face up towards him. Makoto’s mouth parts as he gazes into those teal eyes.

Makoto notices how Sousuke’s eyes seem soft, staring straight at him and his heart beats faster. He feels transparent under Sousuke’s stare, and his mind seems slightly hazy, wondering if somehow Sousuke can read his heart and mind, _‘you are gorgeous, Sou. You’re eyes...they glisten. No one has ever looked at me quite like this. What are you thin...’_

Sousuke’s deep voice interrupts his thoughts and he listens intently, trying his best to evade the sound of his heart beating in his eardrums. The words Sousuke says linger in the air for Makoto, like an echo. He smiles sweetly at the lightly abashed statement of gratitude and before Sousuke looks away, Makoto notices a small flush on Sousuke’s cheeks. 

Makoto stares at Sousuke’s face, noticing how he knits his eyebrows with confusion before his muscles relax into his casual expression, but failing at the same time. His smile widens as he silently chuckles at the thought of Sousuke trying to play it cool. Suddenly, Sousuke releases his hold on him, rubbing the back of his neck as his other arm rests by his side. Sousuke takes a step back, slouching forward as he looks down at the floor and Makoto furrows his eyebrows, a bit confused, and slightly desperate for Sousuke’s touch, _‘Sou. No, please don’t. I want you...’_

Makoto reaches out for Sousuke, grasping the dark blue cotton tank top Sousuke wears as he takes a step forward. He rests his forehead on Sousuke’s right shoulder and says, “please...take better care of yourself, Sou. Otherwise I will have to be the ambassador of this shoulder of yours. You’ll worry me to no end and I doubt you want to see me cry, so promise me...promise me that you will try your best, Sou.”

Makoto tightens his hold on the cotton fabric, _‘I want you, Sou. I wish I could make you feel better. I wish I could kiss you...but I’m too afraid. I’m afraid I’ll lose you...I’m such a coward.’_

Sousuke feels a pull on his left side and he straightens before a more forceful pull has him taking a step forward. He feels a light thump on his right shoulder and he brings his hand down from his neck, _‘huh? Wha..’_ He hears Makoto’s mumbled words and he strains his ears to hear his exact words.

Sousuke stills as he listens, taking the request seriously, _‘ambassador? Mako...I don’t want to worry you. I guess I looked reckless...doing my exercises. I admit, I wasn’t paying close attention to my form. How can I refuse you, Mako?’_

Sousuke wraps his arms around Makoto’s shoulders and says, “I promise...I promise, Mako. I’m sorry, I wasn’t mindful of my form and worried you.”

Makoto lightly smiles, “good. I’m keeping you to your word, Sou. I forgive you, I won’t worry...don’t give me a reason to revoke this and take on the role of ambassador.”

Sousuke chuckles, “whatever you say, ambassador Mako.”

Makoto lifts his head to find Sousuke’s face just mere inches away from him, but more importantly, he sees his smile, _‘I love your smile, Sou.’_ He gives Sousuke his trademark smile with a giggle, “I’m happy to hear you say that, Sou-chan!”

Sousuke’s eyes widen before he pouts, “oi! Don’t start using ‘-chan’ after my name, like Yumiko and Nagisa do.”

Makoto straightens, taking a step back and reluctantly releasing Sousuke’s tank top from his grasp as he tilts his head, “eh? Why not?”

Sousuke looks away, “I don’t know. It doesn’t work for our relationship. I prefer just ‘Sou.’” He thinks, _‘I don’t want to associate you with Yumiko. She’s the only one who calls me that. Besides, Nagisa...I still find that a little odd, but I don’t think he’ll ever call me anything else. I like it when you call me, ‘Sou.’’_

Makoto can’t help but gawk at Sousuke before he breaks into a chuckle, _‘Sou, I prefer ‘Sou’ too, but...I was just teasing you.’_

The brunette smiles, “ok. I’ll remember to use that...sparingly.”

Sousuke lifts his gaze to find Makoto smiling playfully and he scrunches his face with disapproval, “sparingly? What’s that suppose to mean?”

Makoto chortles, “it means , seldom, infrequently, sporadically, occasiona...”

Sousuke face-palms with a chuckle, “I know what it means, Mako. I meant what do you mean by tha...”

Haru knocks on the wall as he stares at Makoto and Sousuke, interrupting the couple, “Makoto. I thought you were tired?”

Sousuke looks up to find Haru staring at them curiously.

Makoto turns around to find Haru staring at him, “oh! Yeah. I was, well I am still tired, I was just...” He chuckles nervously, “I-I was just checking in with Sou...I mean Sousuke.”

Makoto looks between them before he sets his gaze on Sousuke, “goodnight Sousuke, sleep well. And I’ll see you tomorrow. The aquarium will be so much fun, I can’t wait.” He waves goodnight to Sousuke before trotting out of his bedroom with Haru in tow.

Sousuke watches Makoto leave with a smile plastered on his face. His eyes travel down Makoto’s body, lingering on his buttocks. Sousuke runs his tongue between his lips before he catches Haru looking back at him with a curious gaze before the two fade out the bedroom door.

Sousuke runs a hand through his hair, _‘he caught me. Dammit. Haru is perceptive.’_ He looks at his reflection in the mirror, noticing the resistance band hanging on one of the handles of his file cabinet. Sousuke unties the resistance band, deciding it best to call it quits on the exercises, _‘maybe I should consider talking to Haru about my feelings for Makoto. But, that could backfire.’_

Sousuke folds up the resistance band, putting it on top of the file cabinet, _‘asking Haru for permission to date Makoto may not be a bad idea. I like Makoto, a lot. Haru is important to him and I don’t think Haru would like Makoto to date anyone without his knowledge.’_

Sousuke walks over to the end of his bed, sitting on the edge as he stares at his reflection in the mirror, mulling over his recent thoughts, _‘would that be weird? Asking Makoto’s best friend? Haru isn’t like Makoto’s parents or anything, but they are close.’_

Sousuke sighs heavily, feeling himself getting lost in his thoughts. He looks down at his feet, wiggling his toes into the plush cream-colored carpet as he continues pondering, _‘hmm. Makoto did say that his partner has to accept his relationships, including his friendship with Haru. Maybe I will ask Haru...well, at least say something about it. Rin said that Haru is quite protective of Makoto, especially after what happened in Iwatobi. I can’t blame him. I would be too.’_

Sousuke bends at the waist, resting his elbows on his thighs as he massages his scalp, closing his eyes. He takes in deep breaths as he recalls the events in Iwatobi, especially that night they all went to eat out. It was suppose to be a fun evening filled with smiles and laughter. He exhales swiftly as he remembers that evening faded into hurt feelings and sad, gloomy faces. Makoto cried that night and he fought with the stupid idiot. Sousuke brought him home, wanting nothing more than to erase that night away.

Sousuke opens his eyes, unfurling his fingertips from their hold on his raven locks as he lets them down between his knees, _‘Mako...you have no idea. You take care of everyone and they want nothing more than to take care of you, but I...I’m selfish. I want something more from you. Would you ever see me as a possible love interest, Mako? Because I...’_

Sousuke’s eyes widen as he lifts his head up to stare at his reflection. He swallows audibly as realization hits him like a ton of bricks, _‘shit...I think I fell in love with you.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so sorry for the huge delay with this chapter. There were so many things happening over the past couple of months that it got more delayed than I thought it would. I just want you all to know that I won’t abandon this story, even if it seems like I go “poof!” for a while ^_~ I really appreciate your ongoing support and I hope you like this chapter. 
> 
> I hope you all were okay with the time skip. I was really concerned about that and I think that was one reason why I wrote so slowly. Also I took quite a few liberties with the characters’ families since I needed to embellish a little further with their histories. I hope that’s okay. I tried to follow the resources as best I could ^^|| But there are definitely creative liberties here...yeah...*sweatdrop* ^^||
> 
> And omg I can’t believe I wrote “your eyes, they glisten!” and if any of you know what that references you get a billion virtual cookies and a huge hug because I love that game so much hehe. Good stress relief. 
> 
> I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer so far (or winter if you are further south). Also I will try to reply to comments soon!! Comments mean the world to me and always help me to be motivated and supported ^///^ Thank you so much!


	19. Chapter 19

** February 22nd, Sunday, 8: 02 am **

****

Haru rubs his hair with a white fluffy towel draped over his head as he steps out of the bathroom. He wiggles his toes against the soft carpet below him, missing the cool tile of the bathroom, _‘I miss the water.’_ He takes one hand off of the towel over his head and moves his body to turn off the light in the bathroom. He makes a mental note to deal with his recently wrung-out wet jammers that he left on the metal towel rod later. He brings his hand back up to the terry fabric over his head, gently rubbing his damp hair as he looks down the hallway. His blue eyes focuses on his bag on the floor, against the wall and he remembers that he had plopped Makoto’s “borrowed” keycard on top of it, _‘I’ll have to give that to Makoto when he wakes up.’_

Slowly Haru moves his feet, heading in the opposite direction towards the guest bedroom in Sousuke’s apartment. He continues rubbing the towel against his navy locks as he takes in a deep breath, a small smile appears on his face as he recalls his earlier morning activities.

Haru had woken up early, needing to use the restroom and as his sleepy mind started to piece together his surroundings, he quickly remembered that there was an Olympic size pool downstairs, patiently waiting for some company.

He went back into the guest room, finding Makoto’s keycard on the desk, changing from the pajamas he wore with his familiar black, purple, and white jammers. Haru grabbed his bag, and quickly brushed his teeth and washed his face before bolting out the door to visit the cooling water.

Haru spent about an hour and a half in the pool, doing some laps, before he just floated in the water, becoming one with it. After spending a sufficient amount of time in the pool, Haru headed upstairs to soak in the bathtub. His thoughts had gone to Rin and their conversation the night before. They talked about their experiences with their rigorous training, being in the water during practices, competitions between teammates, and their rivalry in regards to times swimming freestyle. Rin currently has him beat by 10 milliseconds, but Haru will not allow the redhead to be ahead of him, no, he will train harder. 

Haru could hear the excitement and frustration of Rin’s experiences in his voice, but whenever they talked about each other, Rin’s voice would shift to happiness and sadness. Every time Haru heard it, he’d swallow a lump in his throat or bite the inside of his lip. The sadness was more like longing, longing to see him, and there were so many times he’d wish he could say, _‘I miss you too,’_ but somehow his voice always failed him.

Haru stayed in the bathtub until the water got cold, unsure of how long he stayed with his beloved water. Haru sighed softly, _‘Rin...I miss you. I know, we will see each other again soon.’_

Haru is pulled from his reverie when he hears a beeping sound coming from the guest bedroom. He pulls his towel down over his shoulders and heads into the room. He closes the door swiftly and quietly, not wanting to wake Sousuke up from his slumber before he looks around the bedroom to find Makoto’s cellphone lighting up on the nightstand. He walks over towards the nightstand, shutting off Makoto’s alarms.

In the darkness, Haru gently shakes Makoto as the brunette furrows his eyebrows. Light mumbles escape Makoto’s lips along with a groan before turning on his side, grasping the pillow.

Haru turns on the lamp on the nightstand, noticing that Makoto is sleeping with one leg out of the covers and the other hidden beneath the sheets. He turns around allowing Makoto to sleep just a little longer as he gets dressed.

Just as Haru puts on a pair of blue jeans he hears Makoto voice, “Sou...mmm, Sousuke. Tastes so good.”

Haru zips up the pair of jeans and turns around, eyes widening with surprise. He knows that Makoto has a tendency to talk in his sleep when he’s exhausted, but it always manages to catch him off guard anyhow. He furrows his eyebrows, _‘Makoto. Are you having impure thoughts...about Sousuke?’_

Haru walks over to Makoto, placing his knee on the mattress, leans over the other and pushes Makoto onto his back as he shakes him.

Makoto smiles carelessly, mumbling, “Sou...what are you doing? You’re gonna get it all over me.”

Haru frowns lightly, shaking Makoto a little more vigorously. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Makoto walks into a dark corridor looking for something. He can’t remember what he is looking for or why he is here, all he remembers is that it’s important. He continues trotting through the darkness, scanning his obscure surroundings as distress starts to build in his stomach.

Suddenly he sees a dim light at the end of the corridor and he starts running, faster, harder, reaching out towards the light. The dim light becomes brighter and brighter as he continues sprinting. He can feel his breath becoming more labored, his muscles start to ache, but he continues struggling to run towards the light until it envelops him.

Makoto covers his eyes with his forearm, closing his eyes as he rests his other hand on his knee, coming to a complete stop as he pants heavily, trying to fill his lungs with much needed air.

The fragrance of aromatic vegetables being cooked in a large pot wafts into the air. Makoto straightens up, relishing in the rich, spicy fragrance and slowly opens his eyes. He looks around to find himself in Sousuke’s living room, standing behind the latte-colored suede couch. The T.V. is on with the _Guilty Gear_ logo on the screen.

Makoto breathes in the scent again, this time he can smell stewed vegetables with beef and spices. He smiles as he recognizes the smell, _‘curry...green curry. Mmmm.’_ He walks out of the living room and into the kitchen to find Sousuke in front of the range nursing a large pot of curry.

Makoto chuckles, smiling, “Sou. Are you making curry?”

Sousuke turns his head to the side at the sound of Makoto’s laugh, his teal eyes gleaming softly, “yeah, but it’s not ready yet.”

Makoto walks over, standing next to Sousuke as he brings his hand up above the pot, circling his hand to waft the aroma towards his nose. He closes his eyes, breathing in the delicious, mouth-watering scent, but before he could say anything about it, Sousuke grasps his wrist.

Makoto opens his eyes, finding Sousuke standing in front of him. He stares into those teal eyes, and he feels like he is somehow immersed in a sea of water. Falling, falling deeper and deeper into the sea until he feels a firm, yet gentle grip on his wrist.

Makoto blinks, shaking his head as if he were in a daze. He looks up and finds Sousuke’s eyes half-lidded and bringing his hand closer to Sousuke’s mouth. Makoto parts his lips as he takes in a sharp inhale at the intimacy of the action. Sousuke presses his lips against his wrist and Makoto swallows as he notices how gentle and soft the raven-haired teen’s mouth is.

Makoto closes the distance between them; Sousuke’s head turning to the side as their clothed chests bump together, sending a jolt of electricity through Makoto’s body, stemming from his chest. He swallows, finding his throat dry but manages to whisper, “Sou, I want more.”

Sousuke smiles at the soft, wavering request and responds by placing a wet kiss on Makoto’s wrist.

Makoto shivers at the contact of Sousuke’s open mouth upon his skin, his knees feeling weak and wobbly. He moans lightly, embarrassed by the sound he’s making, Makoto covers his mouth with his hand.

Sousuke opens his eyes to find Makoto flushing deeply with his eyes closed. He smiles, shifting his gaze toward Makoto as he wraps his arm around his waist. He brushes his thumb over the soft, moist flesh of Makoto’s wrist in sweeping motions as he says deeply, “you can have me, Mako...”

Sousuke leans in as close as he can get with Makoto’s hand in the way as he rumbles softly, “cuz I want more too. I want more of you, Mako. Would it be presumptuous of me to take this further, Ma~ko~to?”

Makoto inhales sharply as he feels an arm snake around his waist, bringing their bodies even closer together. He bites his bottom lip as he hears the velvety words from Sousuke, feeling his heart beating quickly in his chest, but when he feels Sousuke’s skin on his arm, his eyes fling open and he moves his hand from his mouth to Sousuke’s shoulder as he listens to Sousuke’s deep voice filling his ears, _‘no, please...I want this to go much further. So much further.’_

Makoto gently pushes Sousuke’s shoulder so he can look into those beautiful teal eyes. When their eyes meet, Makoto smiles warmly and says in a breathless murmur, “would it be presumptuous of me to kiss you, right now? I want to feel every bit of you, Sou.” He pushes his knee in between Sousuke’s legs, gently caressing his knee on a sensitive spot for the other teen.

Sousuke leans his forehead on Makoto’s shoulder, his breathing becoming more uneven as Makoto continues fondling him. He releases Makoto’s wrist, placing his hand on Makoto’s round bottom, squeezing with his fingertips as he says with desire, “Mako...let me make that wish come true.”

Makoto moans as he feels Sousuke’s hand on his ass as he places his hand on the base of Sousuke’s head and his lips graze against the crook of Sousuke’s neck as he feels himself becoming heated and aroused. Just when he’s about to say something the room shakes, and a rumbling sound reverberates throughout the kitchen. 

The two teens stop what they are doing, and look around the room while keeping their hands on each other. Before either of them have time to respond, the room shakes again, but this time the ground disappears and both teens fall.

Makoto finds himself alone as he falls down in the darkness. He looks for Sousuke, his heart panicking until his body is slammed into a pool of liquid. It’s warm and thick. Makoto can’t see anything in the liquid and swims up to the top, breaking the surface of the liquid as he takes in gulps of warm air. With his eyes still closed, he feels a solid floor at his feet and he shakes his hair back and forth. He rubs his face, moving the liquid off as he runs his hands through his hair.

Suddenly Makoto feels a pressure around his waist, two arms squeezing him tightly and a voice in his ear, “Mako. I thought I lost you! I’m so glad you’re here. With me.”

Makoto opens his eyes and his sense of smell is smacked with the comfort of curry spices, beef, and vegetables. Without much thought, he hugs the slightly taller person in front of him, knowing exactly who it is, “Sou! I’m so glad it’s you, Sou!”

Sousuke holds him a little more tightly and Makoto smiles, understanding that Sousuke doesn’t want to let him go. Something catches Makoto’s gaze, chunks of potatoes, carrots, onion, mushroom, and beef float in the olive colored liquid, _‘huh? Are we...in the curry?’_

Makoto pulls back a little as he says, “Sou, let me make sure you’re ok.”

Sousuke sighs softly and hesitantly loosens his grip on the brunette, looking into his emerald gaze.

Makoto inspects Sousuke’s appearance. He doesn’t sense that the other is injured in any way, but the way the white v-neck t-shirt sticks to Sousuke’s body, gives Makoto a clear outline of Sousuke’s delicious muscles, particularly his biceps, pectorals and his nipples. He licks his lips as his eyes settle on Sousuke’s face.

Makoto can see a curious teal gaze on him, but his eyes move upward as something green dangles, and he notices a leafy green garnish on top of Sousuke’s head.

Makoto chuckles as he reaches up and plucks the leafy green by the stem, “seems like you are my perfectly completed dish.” He playfully twirls the leafy green stem between his thumb and index finger before he plops it in his mouth.

Sousuke’s face contorts to one of surprise to a slight bashful happy expression. He laughs, “oh? Well, how do I taste?”

The brunette swallows the leafy green, recognizing the flavor as cilantro before he flushes deeply at the innuendo of Sousuke’s question. For a few moments he just stares at Sousuke, he can feel his ears burn and for some reason his body heats up. Makoto gulps as he wonders if the pot is simmering. The pot appears to be steaming with white wispy puffs of mist drifting in the air around them.

Sousuke looks away after a couple of moments, a smirk playing at his lips as he rubs the back of his neck, “that good, huh? Didn’t realize I had the kind of appetizing taste that would leave you speechless.”

Makoto eyes focus on Sousuke’s lips, the smirk dancing on his lips somehow heat things up for Makoto and he raises his hands to cup Sousuke’s cheeks, guiding him back to face him. Makoto moves forward, opening his mouth to lick Sousuke’s chin up to the side of his mouth before he envelops his lips.

Makoto feels Sousuke’s arm still wrapped around his hip move, snaking around the small of his back and pulling him flush against him. Makoto moans as the sweet, salty, and savory flavors of curry blend and mingle with Sousuke’s taste. He feels like he’s floating as he continues sliding his tongue over Sousuke’s, deepening the kiss.

After several moments, Makoto breaks the kiss, panting heavily. He suddenly regrets disconnecting from Sousuke. The kiss tasted heavenly and Makoto wants nothing more than to press his lips against Sousuke’s once again.

Sousuke pants next to him as he wraps his arms around Makoto and breathes in his ear, “you...taste healthy.”

Makoto raises one eyebrow at the statement and before he can question Sousuke, the other replies, “like cilantro.”

Makoto chuckles, wrapping his arms around Sousuke’s neck, “Sou...mmm, Sousuke. Tastes so good.” 

Sousuke laughs as he tightens his hold, “I should have expected that. You do love curry.”

Makoto smiles, “maybe...bu~~t, you make curry taste so much better.”

Sousuke smirks, “is that so? Shall I serve myself in a pool of curry for dinner when you move in?”

Makoto flushes at the prospect of having curry covered Sousuke in the near future and he bites his bottom lip. He nuzzles the side of his face against Sousuke’s cheek before he licks his neck in a long drawl.

Sousuke holds his breath for a second before releasing a hungrily shaky breath, “damn, you’re so hot!”

Makoto’s heart skips a beat, but then suddenly the pot shakes violently. The two teens somehow release each other, but Sousuke quickly grabs Makoto’s hand, pulling him close.

Makoto is sloshed with curry as Sousuke pulls him in close. He closes his eye, raising his other hand to his face, “Sou...what are you doing? You’re gonna get it all over me.” He smiles playfully at Sousuke.

Sousuke’s eyes fall on the trail of curry sauce on Makoto’s face, bringing his hand up to wipe it off and licking it off his finger, “maybe that’s what I was trying to do, Mako. I want a proper ‘Mako curry’ taste.”

Again, the pot shakes violently and Makoto jumps forward, wrapping his legs around Sousuke’s middle as Sousuke grasps Makoto’s back and ass.

Sousuke says with a small smile, “I’m not letting you go until I taste you.”

Makoto looks down into Sousuke’s teal eyes, mesmerized by how blue they look, like the sea. He tries to say something but it dies on his tongue, almost as if his voice box decided to conk-out. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Makoto groans as his body is being shaken. He lightly frowns mumbling, “ok...ok...I’ll give...give you...a taste...be patient...every...thing is...moving...so fast.”

Haru knits his eyebrows as he continues to shake Makoto, “wake-up Makoto.”

Makoto opens his eyes slowly, rubbing the inner corner of one of his eyes as Haru ceases his shaking. The brunette smiles as he sees curious blue eyes looking down at him, _‘Sou.’_

Haru sighs as he sees Makoto open his eyes, relieved that he was able to pull the other teen out of his slumber, however before Haru could move, Makoto’s hand sloppily caresses his cheek as the other cups the back of his neck.

Makoto chuckles as he says, “let me give you a taste.”

Haru furrows his eyebrows for a second before his eyes are blown wide as he is quickly pulled down towards Makoto, _‘wait, what? What!? Taste!? Oh...’_

Makoto closes his eyes, but instead of soft, plush lips, he feels pressure on the center of his lips and the tip of his nose, _‘huh? That’s not right. What is happening?’_ He pouts before he opens his eyes.

Makoto sees blue eyes staring at him with a mixture of panic and relief, _‘huh? Sou...oh. That’s not Sou. Oh! Haru? Haru!?’_ Hurriedly he releases Haru and Haru moves away, getting off and standing next to the bed.

Makoto pushes himself into a sitting position on the bed, turning his head to the side, staring at Haru. His green eyes wide with uneasiness, “H-Ha-Haru? What happened?”

Haru looks away, calming his frightful heart, _‘he almost...but he didn’t. I stopped it from happening. That was close. If I didn’t use my fingers, things would be different right now.’_ Haru stares at the white wall as he says calmly, “I was waking you up. You were talking in your sleep.”

Makoto places a hand over his mouth, brushing his index and middle fingers on his lips as he says, “did I...kiss you?”

Haru side glances over at Makoto, “no. I stopped you. What were you dreaming about?”

Makoto sighs in relief, closing his eyes as he places a hand over his chest, _‘oh thank goodness. I thought he was...Sousuke.’_ He rubs his face with his hands and says truthfully, “Sousuke.”

Makoto freezes momentarily feeling like his brain isn’t quite fully awake. He sighs softly as his mind recognizes that he answered the question openly, but lying to Haru had never been a good idea from his experience. He hopes that Haru won’t take it too hard as he continues trying to shake sleep out of his mind and body.

Haru’s head turns fully towards Makoto for a moment before he heads back over towards the desk to put on an undershirt and a sweater, “I thought you were dreaming about food.”

Makoto slides over to the side of the bed, planting his feet on the cream colored carpet. He chuckles with embarrassment, “a-ah. Yeah. I was dreaming about curry too.”

Haru nods and says, “I’m gonna head out for a bit. I want mackerel for breakfast.”

Makoto ears perk up at the mention of Haru’s most treasured fish, _‘again? Ha~ru~! Can’t you eat something else for breakfast?’_ He sighs heavily, turning his head to stare at Haru’s back, “Ha~ru~ Can’t you go one morning without...”

Haru shakes his head, and says with indifference, “I’ll be back soon. You should take a shower and cool off from your dream.”

Makoto’s eyes widen slightly, tilting his head to the side as he watches Haru leave the guest bedroom, _‘huh? How much of my dream did you hear, Haru? You couldn’t have heard...’_ Makoto face-palms, groaning, _‘it’s possible he heard something. Me and my big mouth.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 22nd, Sunday, 11: 51 am **

Sousuke takes picture of the beautiful coral reef scene with sea anemones, clownfish, tangs, cardinalfish, triggerfish, dwarf angels, dottybacks and gobies. They are at the aquarium, checking out the different tanks of aquatic life.

Sousuke stands in front of a large rectangular-shaped tank that can be viewed from every direction. He focuses his camera, fiddling with the manual focus, taking a picture of some red and purple coral with a peach-colored sea anemone, a yellow tang, and an orange clownfish with black and white stripes swimming next to the coral until he sees Makoto and Haru on the other side of the glass.

Sousuke smiles to himself, readjusting the composition of the picture he’s trying to take to incorporate Makoto and Haru on the other side. He takes a few pictures just for practice, Makoto and Haru admiring the life within the tank, their eyes darting back and forth from the different life forms. Sousuke moves his face away from the viewfinder momentarily to look up at Makoto and Haru on the other side.

He finds Makoto talking to Haru with his hand on Haru’s shoulder as Makoto points at the different coral reefs in the tank. Haru’s eyes sparkle as his eyes follow an orchid dottyback swimming in the water, his hand pressed up against the glass. Sousuke laughs to himself, _‘he reminds me of a kid with that look on his face. It’s innocent and full of fondness. I wonder if he looks at Rin that wa...whoa. M-Mako...to.’_

Makoto’s emerald eyes shift over to Sousuke and he waves at him with a stunning smile. Sousuke just stands there stupidly, his heart skipping a beat as he swallows. Caught staring at Makoto and possibly Haru, Sousuke wants to look away to hide his embarrassment, but the gleam in Makoto’s green eyes makes him stay focused on the other teen. Sousuke waves back with his free hand, a small smile on his lips, _‘damn, Mako...to. You’re too much.’_

Haru notices Sousuke’s smile and looks between Sousuke and Makoto. He lightly frowns as he looks back at the tank in front of him, wanting to strip out of his clothes and jump into the tank, but he knows he shouldn’t. Haru sighs as he tries his best to restrain his bubbling desire, _‘the water...is so beautiful. I want to swim with everyone.’_

Makoto’s ears burn lightly at the small wave and smile returned to him by Sousuke. He chuckles to himself, finding the other teen to be quite adorable at the other end of the tank until he hears Haru’s deep sigh. Makoto breaks eye contact with Sousuke, shifting his gaze to Haru asking him if he’s ok.

Sousuke watches Makoto fawn over the other teen, a little disappointed that their moment was interrupted again. Since they entered the aquarium, Makoto has been making sure to keep a close eye on Haru. There were a few instances when Makoto had to hold Haru back from the exhibit tanks and Sousuke was surprised how impulsive Haru can be about getting into almost any body of water that was big enough to soak in. No matter how many times Sousuke witnesses it, he can’t seem to get used to it, it’s hilarious, embarrassing, and a little disheartening all at the same time.

Sousuke frowns lightly, as his mind settles on instances when Makoto and Sousuke’s eyes would meet, either Makoto was staring or he was staring at Makoto, and they would smile at each other or acknowledge each other with some kind of hand gesture, but there was a lack of dialogue between them. Each time, Haru somehow distracts Makoto and the windows of opportunity to talk disappear. Makoto’s smiles during these moments seemed to be smiles just for him, stunning, beautiful and something else that Sousuke can’t pinpoint quite yet. Sousuke continues to wonder if he is somehow seeing Makoto through a different lens since his revelation of his feelings for Makoto.

Sousuke shakes his head lightly, _‘I’m probably wrong about this. I’m not good with his kind of thing. I doubt Makoto’s smiles are just for me. He smiles at everyone like that. I shouldn’t make assumptions.’_ Sousuke raises his camera up to his face, getting back behind the viewfinder, wanting to take a proper picture of Makoto and Haru viewing the coral reef and fish display.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 22nd, Sunday, 12: 22 pm **

Sousuke releases the button on his camera, bringing down the viewfinder from his face as he’s certain that the last picture he took may have been blurry, lightly chuckling at the scene in front of him.

They are currently in the indoor open pool tank, viewing the penguins that live there. As soon as they walked into the area, Haru bolted towards the big room, running towards the railing and slightly leaning over it. Makoto quickly sprinted after Haru, calling after the other teen as Sousuke raised his eyebrows in a middle of a text to Rin. Sousuke pocketed his phone, following after them.

Sousuke observed the two teens, Makoto chastising Haru to not do anything outrageous, but as they continued down the ramp, Haru didn’t seem to take his eyes off the large tank, and Makoto quickly moved to the other side of Haru preventing the navy-haired teen from descending down the ramp.

Sousuke smirked as he brought up the camera to his face, taking pictures of Haru and Makoto arguing, well, more like Makoto pleading and contending with Haru. As Sousuke was taking pictures, he caught shots of Haru unzipping his jacket, Haru trying to undo his jeans while Makoto tries his best to prevent Haru from undressing, Makoto pushing Haru away from the railing, standing in front of the railing and blocking Haru’s view of the open tank below as Makoto places his hands on Haru’s shoulders sighing heavily with an exhausted expression on the brunette’s face. Makoto whines about how Haru promised not to undress and swim in the water if they went to the aquarium together. Haru doesn’t appear to be listening as he cranes his neck to the side, trying his best to get a view of the water behind Makoto.

The thought of Haru acting like a desperate child with a reprimanding parent preventing him from his desired object makes Sousuke laugh a little, causing him to have a bit of camera shake.

Sousuke slings the camera strap around his shoulder, deciding that he should help Makoto with his attempts of chiding Haru from inappropriate behaviors. He walks over to Makoto and Haru and says, “Haru. If you don’t stop, we’re leaving. You won’t be able to see the water up close and personal if you continue trying to get in it. Also, if you can’t contain your impulses here, I will restrict your usage of **my** pool.”

Haru hears Sousuke’s voice call for him, but he refuses to look at the other teen until he mentions the pool at his apartment. Quickly, Haru turns his head towards Sousuke, lightly glaring, but slightly fearful at the consequences.

Makoto looks between Haru and Sousuke, noticing the seriousness of Sousuke’s face and the anxiety brewing in Haru’s eyes. Makoto swiftly cuts in, “Haru...Sousuke won’t do anything if you behave. I know it’s really hard with such a beautiful open pool of water, but that is where the penguins live. Please, Haru. I don’t want you to lose anything important.”

Haru sighs, closing his eyes before he opens them again. He turns his head towards Makoto a pout forming in his eyes.

Makoto bends down a bit, keeping his hands on Haru’s shoulders as he gets a good look at Haru’s eyes. He smiles lightly, “I know, Haru. I know you love the water so much, but please...promise me that you won’t go swimming in the water here. I would like to see more of the aquarium, wouldn’t you?”

Haru shifts his gaze to the side, his eyes continuing to pout as he says with his eyes, ‘ok. I’ll try my best. But only because of you, Makoto. Besides, I’m not wearing my jammers. I left them in the bathroom to dry.’

Makoto gives his trademark smile, “thanks Haru. I know you don’t feel right without your jammers. Maybe you can go swimming later today.” He straightens as he hugs Haru gently before he helps Haru with straightening out his clothes.

Sousuke watches Haru and Makoto, sighing softly when Makoto speaks words of gratitude. He rubs the back of his neck as he looks around finding a few bystanders staring at them before walking away. Some look back towards them but Sousuke doesn’t really care what others think. His eyes shift back to Makoto and Haru and he scratches the back of his head as he says, “are we good?”

Makoto and Haru look up at Sousuke. Haru’s eyes stay on Sousuke for a handful of seconds, noticing how Sousuke is indifferent in his tone, but also solicitous. He looks away wondering, _‘is he concerned about me or Makoto? Hmm...he’s attentive when it comes to Makoto. Even this morning, he kept looking at Makoto hesitantly. Why? I know why Makoto kept looking at him like that...he was dreaming about him. Did he have a dream about Makoto? Hmmm.’_

Makoto releases his hold on Haru, bringing his hands down to his side as he smiles sweetly at Sousuke, “um, yeah. I think so. Sorry, Sousuke...” Makoto scratches his cheek, as he continues, “this, um, kinda thing keeps happening. Haru really loves water. I hope you understand. Anyway, are you getting some good pictures for your project?”

Sousuke stares into those emerald eyes, noticing how they gleam with embarrassment and guilt. He looks between Makoto and Haru, observing how Haru is once again craning his neck to the side to see the water behind Makoto. He huffs with slight amusement before his eyes shift back to those gorgeous green eyes, “no kidding. Honestly, I don’t understand it, but I’m getting used to it. Don’t worry about that Makoto. I’ve been taking pictures nonstop since we got here. Half of them have both you and Haru. If I end up using pictures with either of you in it, are you ok with that?”

Makoto smiles, “you have my consent, Sousuke, as long as it’s helpful. I have to say, being a model for your projects still embarrasses me.”

Haru listens as he catches a glimpse of the water behind Makoto. He turns his head to stare at the tall teen, “for your project?”

Sousuke smirks at Makoto, _‘even if you get embarrassed, you are a great model, Makoto. I don’t think you have any idea how expressive you are. I could take pictures of you all...’_ His thoughts are interrupted when he hears Haru’s question. His gaze moves to the shorter teen and nods, “yeah. Would you be ok with that?”

Haru looks down for a moment, deep in thought before he replies with a small nod, “nn. Only if you use it for your project.”

Makoto chuckles, “oh? What if Rin asks Sousuke about the pictures?”

Haru looks up at Makoto’s playful gaze before looking away, “Rin doesn’t know.”

Sousuke softly chuckles to himself as his gaze shifts over to the open tank below them. He sees some employees in wetsuits and pails of what he assumes to be fish for the penguins. Sousuke points to the open tank as he says, “hey. They’re feeding the animals. Take a look.”

Makoto turns around to face the open tank, resting his elbows on the railing as Haru moves in between Makoto and Sousuke. Haru places his hands on the railing, watching the water, the employees, and the penguins with awe.

Sousuke takes his camera and takes some pictures of the employees in wetsuits feeding the sea creatures before he looks over to the side to find Haru holding onto the railing tightly. Sousuke’s eyes move up towards Haru’s face and he once again sees that ardent, bona fide, innocent yearning in those sapphire eyes. It reminds him of all the times he had small windows of opportunity to witness Haru staring at a pool without getting in it, or when he’s just about to get in it. In the past, Sousuke never really lingered further than the thought of Haru being a weird water obsessed nerd.

Sousuke remembers Rin’s words about Haru being a monster when it comes to swimming, that Haru has an innate talent for it. He really dislikes people like Haru, with his intrinsic talents for swimming, seldom working hard, without pouring much effort, blood, sweat and tears, yet somehow, Sousuke can’t shake the feeling that there is something more to Haru that makes him interesting.

Sousuke takes a step to the side, away from Haru as he brings up his camera trying to capture the emotion that lies in Haru’s eyes, and the minute facial features that display his desire. Sousuke is uncertain of the exact emotion Haru is demonstrating, hopefully he can capture the expression now, on digital film, so he can maybe understand the mysterious free-swimmer a little better.

Makoto looks over to the side to check on Haru and Sousuke. When his eyes focus on the raven-haired teen, he finds Sousuke with the camera in front of his face, and for a moment he thinks that he’s taking a picture of him, until he sees that the focus isn’t on him, but on Haru.

He smiles to himself as he looks at Haru’s expression and the gleam in those blue eyes are a wonder, _‘ah, Haru. You have no idea how passionate you look when you stare at the water, it really shows when you look for it. I’d take a picture too, but I don’t want to disrupt the moment. It’s moments like this that just feels magical. I’m not the only one that feels that way...Rin, Nagisa, Rei...and so many others.’_

Makoto shifts his gaze back to the open tank, his mind hazily rewinding time, reminiscing events back in his hometown with his friends in Iwatobi, particularly the last few years. Even though there were struggles, pain, and hurt, there were also marvelous experiences between all of them, centering around a pool of water, uniting them always.  


With a retrospective sigh, Makoto shakes his head, pulling his mind away from the past and back into the present. He pulls out his phone to take a picture of the tank with the intention to send a picture to Nagisa, Rei, and Rin.

Haru swallows a dry lump in his throat as his grip tightens on the railing as he watches the water surround the penguins and employees. He feels this sudden need to be in the water, to be one with the water, but his mind tells him that he can’t, it’s not appropriate. He bites the inside of his bottom lip, his eyes swimming with captivation, _‘It’s beautiful. I want to feel it. No matter how many times I step into the water, it never feels exactly the same. It’s always different. It’s mesmerizing and alive.’_ A small smile curves unto his lips before realization hits once again. He pouts, his eyes fluctuating with admiration, craving, and heartache. 

Sousuke stops shooting with his camera, surprised that he actually saw a smile on Haru’s lips. His eyes shift over to Makoto and he notices that he’s snapping a few pictures on his phone, _‘oh, yeah. That’s what I should be doing. Damn...he’s laughing.’_ He swallows finding Makoto’s smiling face astonishing. Quickly, he brings up the viewfinder up to his face, zooming in on Makoto’s profile, a smaller smile still plastered on his face with a twinkle in those green eyes. Sousuke focuses the lens on Makoto, and takes a few pictures of him.

After he captures the few moments on camera, Sousuke brings it down from his face, hitting a button to check his previous photos on the LCD screen. He smiles to himself, happy with the picture that he’s taken. He knows that the picture isn’t anything that he can use for his projects, but the expression on Makoto’s face is one he hasn’t snatched before. Even though Sousuke has taken quite a few pictures of Makoto’s smiling face, he never tires of seeing the various delighted visages of the brunette.

Sousuke’s gaze lingers on the LCD screen, brushing his thumb over Makoto’s face, _‘Makoto seems to be thinking about something special here. It reminds me of a reverie. Do penguins have a special meaning? I want to know more about this.’_

After Makoto takes lots of pictures on his phone, he looks over to the side to find Haru still staring at the water. He can see the struggle and he sympathizes with him, _‘aw, Haru. You’re trying so hard. I’m gonna have to make it up to you somehow.’_ He looks over at Sousuke staring at the screen on his camera. He’s notices the smile on Sousuke’s face and he wonders what kind of picture he took.

Before Makoto could ask Sousuke about his picture, Haru once again is unzipping his jacket in a flash. Makoto’s eyes zoom towards Haru as he moves his feet to hold Haru back, “Ha~~ru~!”

Sousuke looks up from the camera to find Makoto holding Haru, Makoto’s arms firmly under Haru’s arms to prevent him from moving. Sousuke quirks an eyebrow when he notices that Haru had unzipped his jacket and part of his pants before Makoto was able to stop him. His eyes widen briefly before he slings the camera strap over his shoulder, sighing deeply.

Makoto notices that Haru isn’t struggling, lets him go as he once again fixes Haru’s clothes, lightly chiding Haru for his behavior.

Sousuke face palms as he watches Makoto and Haru together. He looks down at the floor and notices Makoto’s phone. He picks it up and places it in his jean back pocket as he walks over to Haru and Makoto, “oi. Haru. Makoto.”

Makoto and Haru look at Sousuke as the teal-eyed teen grasps their hands, dragging them farther down the ramp, “c’mon. Let’s get a closer look at the tank. I need more pictures.” Sousuke thinks, _‘if we’re closer to the tank, Haru can’t get into it. Not without trying to climb the walls of it.’_

Sousuke side glances at his connected hand with Makoto’s and squeezes. He feels a light jolt of electricity with their contact, _‘Mako...’_ Sousuke inwardly shakes his thoughts of how nice it is to hold Makoto’s hand and how he doesn’t want to let go.

Haru eyes shift down to the firm grip on his hand, staring at their connected hands, _‘eh. He grabbed my hand.’_ Haru follows, lightly resisting as he doesn’t like the firm grip on his hand, but at the same time he wants to take a closer look of the water.

Makoto feels his ears burn instantly as he feels Sousuke’s hand envelop his. A tingle flutters through his senses, stemming from their joined hands. He looks up at Sousuke’s profile and he can see that serious look on his face. He follows Sousuke’s long strides down the ramp as he continues ogling at Sousuke’s face, biting the inside of his bottom lip, _‘Sousuke. I’m sorry about all this. At the same time, you wouldn’t have taken my hand. It...it’s warm. I really like it when you hold my hand like this...securely.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 22nd, Sunday, 2: 11 pm **

Sousuke, Haru and Makoto are in line at the café in the aquarium. Makoto scans the menu on the wall and once he has decided his own choice for lunch, he turns his head to glance at Sousuke and Haru.

Haru’s blue eyes seem to be fixated on one item on the menu, _‘Haru...really? You just had mackerel for breakfast.’_ Makoto sighs internally before he turns his head to stare at Sousuke. He can see that the taller teen is still scanning the items on the menu and asks, “have you decided what you’re gonna order?”

Sousuke’s attention shifts when he hears Makoto’s voice. He side glances at the brunette next to him. He can see curiosity in Makoto’s eyes and he smirks lightly before he shifts his gaze back to the menu, taking a couple of moments to decide on his lunch, “set A, katsudon. What about you?”

Makoto smiles as he answers, “I also want set A, but instead of katsudon, I’ll get oyakodon.”

Sousuke chuckles with a beaming smile, “I bet you can eat two sets.”

Makoto watches Sousuke and he softly gasps, _‘So-Sou. You, you smiled.’_ It takes Makoto a couple of moments to realize what Sousuke said after witnessing such a rare smile on the other’s face. He blinks before he raises his eyebrows, surprised by the comeback, but when he hears Haru’s voice, ordering for himself, Makoto moves closer to the free-swimmer. He’s not surprised to hear Haru order set A as well, and a sabadon, _‘ah~~ Ha~ru~! You really need to open up your options. Mackerel isn’t good for every meal.’_

He resignedly smiles to himself, knowing that there is nothing he can do about Haru’s choice. When the female cashier asks if Haru would like anything else, Makoto speaks up with his trademark smile and gesturing with his hands, “we’re all together. Um, I’d like set A, oyakodon and my friend here would like set A, katusdon. And, we’d like to share a pot of barely tea, please.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows when he hears Makoto order for him, _‘huh? Why is he...’_ He says close to Makoto’s ear, “oi. What are you doing? I thought we were...”

Makoto’s breath stops when he hears Sousuke’s voice right in his ear, _‘a~ah~! So-Sousuke! Uhhh...’_ He rubs his other ear, hoping that they don’t spike with redness as he says, “I-I I’m taking care of it, Sousuke. Please don’t argue.”

Haru watches Makoto and Sousuke momentarily before taking out his wallet to pay for the meals.

As Makoto turns his attention back to the smiling cashier, he notices Haru pulling his wallet out and he puts his hand over Haru’s gently pushing it downwards. Makoto asks the cashier, “and it comes to?”

The woman says, “that will be, 3500 yen.”

Sousuke says, “I’ll take care...”

Makoto interrupts, “thank you.” He pulls out his wallet before Sousuke can protest and pulls out the exact amount of cash on the counter.

Sousuke sighs as he pulled out his wallet to pay only to find Makoto has beat him to the punch, _‘oi, Makoto...’_

The woman gives them a number card to take to the their desired table. Makoto takes the yellow plastic card, as he puts his wallet in his pocket.

Haru looks around at the empty tables and notices one that would give them some privacy, right at the corner of the café. He walks over to the sand colored table and takes his seat right against the walls.

Makoto notices Haru’s retreating back, grasps Sousuke wrist, “Haru found us a table.” He feels like his gentle grip on Sousuke’s wrist wobbles as that tingly sensation burst through their connection. Makoto looks up at Sousuke who’s giving him a frown. He swallows as he lightly pulls Sousuke towards the table, pushing down the oscillating sensation out of his mind, “c’mon. Is it that bad that I bought you lunch?”

As soon as Makoto’s hand envelops Sousuke’s wrist, his head immediately shifts downward, gazing at their contact. His breath halts momentarily as a benign quiver palpitates in his chest. His eyes remain on Makoto’s hand as he feels a tender tug. Sousuke follows Makoto and replies, “no. It’s not bad. But, why?”

Makoto looks over his shoulder with a nervous, yet heartwarming smile, “because you’re working really hard today. Besides, I don’t think you realize how difficult it is for Haru to keep away from the water and I’m sure you found it quite annoying. Hopefully you have some pictures to work with for your upcoming project.”

Sousuke looks up when he hears Makoto’s answer, noticing the worry in those green eyes. He shifts his eyes to the side as he continues following the other, _‘Makoto. You really didn’t have to do that. Weren’t you more troubled by Haru’s antics? Trying to undress and get into the water...geez. That guy. He can be so weird.’_

Sousuke replies with uncertainty, “it’s ok, Haru is Haru. I think I have some pictures to work with.”

They get to the table and Makoto releases his hand. Sousuke misses the warmth of the other as Makoto takes a seat next to Haru. Sousuke sighs softly as he takes the strap of his camera off his shoulder, gently placing it on the table while he takes off his backpack and places it on the chair farthest away from him.

He pulls out the chair closest to him and says, “I guess I’ll have to make you dinner sometime, Makoto.”

Haru watches Sousuke take his seat, wondering what Makoto and Sousuke were talking about before seating themselves.

Makoto places the yellow card on the table as he hears Sousuke’s comment, “eh? You don’t have to. But...I won’t be one to turn down dinner if you make it, Sousuke.”

Sousuke looks up to find Makoto smiling at him sweetly. He can’t help but smiles back with a chuckle, “is that so? I take it your stomach will determine what’s best for you.”

Makoto stares at Sousuke, wide-eyed, finding something about their banter to be familiar, yet at the same time unexpected, _‘e-eh? I feel like we’ve had a similar conversation, but I don’t remember...oh. Oh! My dream. This morning...y-yeah.’_

Makoto bites the inside of his lip to arrest his thought process from reminiscing inappropriate things. He smiles and laughs sheepishly, “ye-yeah, it does. You know...if you guys really want to make it up to me...you two could cook together and make gyuudon again. That was so good!”

Sousuke and Haru stare at Makoto before they stare at each other. Haru gives Sousuke a blank look before shifting his gaze down towards the sandy table.

Sousuke stares at Haru with uncertainty, trying to figure out what is going on in Haru’s mind before those blue eyes steer away from him. He sighs, “I don’t know, Makoto. I still think that was a one time deal.”

Makoto’s smile fades as a light pout takes it’s place. He looks between Sousuke and Haru, his gaze stays on Haru as he asks curiously, “ne, Haru-chan?”

Haru closes his eyes and sighs deeply, “stop with the – ‘chan.’” He’s silent for a few seconds before he replies, “I’ll think about it.”

Makoto takes a few seconds to take in Haru’s answer. His eyes widen before he gives Haru his trademark smile, “nn. Thank you, Haru.”

Haru shifts his eyes over to Makoto and nods, “nn.”

Makoto hears the number on the yellow card being called and gets up. Sousuke watches Makoto get up from his seat and attempts to push himself up from the table, but Haru gets up and says, “Sousuke. Put away your camera. Makoto and I will get the food.”

Sousuke looks up at Haru, their gazes fixed on each other as Sousuke freezes. The two remain that way for a few moments before Sousuke complies and nods, “yeah.” He sits back down, watching Makoto and Haru walk away to pick up their meals.

Sousuke turns in his seat to face his backpack next to him. Before Sousuke puts his camera away, he turns it on to check his memory card. He notices that it’s almost full, _‘I guess I took a lot of pictures. I didn’t realize I took that many. Maybe I still have a set of pictures on it? I’ll check when I get home. Maybe I’ll send Rin a couple pictures of Haru. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it, damn romantic sap!’_ Sousuke lightly smiles to himself. 

Sousuke puts the camera down on the table as he pulls out an extra memory card and switches it with the one in the camera. After replacing the practically full memory card with an empty one, he carefully puts away the camera in his backpack as Makoto and Haru retrieve the food in two trips.

Sousuke serves the tea for the three of them, placing the cups on each of their trays. Besides the different kinds of donburi that each of them ordered, the set of food also came with miso soup, and a salad with a light sesame dressing. The three teens eat in silence for several minutes before Makoto asks, “how’s your food?”

Haru chews with a mouthful as he looks over at Makoto and just nods simply. His sabadon is cooked nicely considering he didn’t cook it himself, and the cute cut outs of fish, jellyfish, and dolphins of his steamed vegetables make it visually appealing. 

Makoto smiles at Haru before he turns his attention towards Sousuke, “how about you, Sousuke?”

Sousuke freezes, his teacup in hand, raising it up to his mouth when Makoto directs the question at him. He shifts his gaze towards Makoto, keeping his cup in midair, “it’s good. How’s yours?”

Makoto smile widens gently and says, “it’s pretty good.” He notices Sousuke eyes soften with his response and he asks, “have you ever made oyakodon?”

Sousuke gives the question some thought as he takes a generous sip from his teacup. He sets it down and says, “I haven’t made it in awhile. I guess I could try and see how it goes.”

Makoto chuckles, “when you need a taste tester, I would be more than happy to oblige.” He shifts his eyes downward, towards his donburi and picks up a yellow scrambled fried egg cutout of an octopus with his chopsticks. 

Sousuke observes Makoto a smile playing at his lips as he says, “oh? Just a taste tester, huh? Somehow I doubt that.” He picks up a crispy panko breaded, shark shaped cutlet with his chopsticks and takes a bite, fin side. Sousuke watches Makoto lightly laugh at his comment, his eyes glimmering with delight.

Makoto glances at Sousuke, noticing the half bitten pork cutlet with an amused glint in his teal eyes. He looks away and shifts his gaze over at Haru, “last time Haru made oyakodon, he substituted the chicken for mackerel. I wasn’t expecting that...it really surprised me.”

Haru finishes chewing as he stares at Makoto, “it was better. Everything is better with mackerel.”

Sousuke chuckles, “yeah, you would say that. I don’t think you could call that oyakodon, Haru.”

Haru moves his head to look at Sousuke, staring at the taller teen, “what would you call it?”

Sousuke stiffens at the question, knitting his eyebrows for a few moments as he rests his wrist with chopsticks on the table, _‘what would I call it? Heck if I’d know? But, it can’t be called oyakodon without the chicken. If it was pork or beef then it would be called tanindon, but fish? Would a fish be an acquaintance to an egg?’_

Sousuke shrugs, “probably sabadon. You can put almost anything in a donburi, but oyakodon is just one of those things. It can’t be called oyakodon without the chicken and egg combination.”

Haru gives Sousuke a nonchalant look, _‘hmm. That’s a good point. Even if I cooked it the same way, it still doesn’t reflect its namesake. Then...tanindon would be ok.’_ He says calmly, “tanindon.”

Sousuke ignores Haru’s stare after a couple of seconds, deciding that Haru’s probably not happy with his answer and resumes eating with his chopsticks. He plops a piece of steamed broccoli in his mouth when he hears Haru’s unabashed statement and chokes on his food a bit.

Sousuke coughs, finishes chewing properly, swallowing his food as he quickly takes a sip of tea before speaking, “tanindon? I doubt you could call it that.”

Haru chews a piece of steamed carrot as he tilts his head slightly to the side, “why not?”

Sousuke puts down his chopsticks, face palming, “you know what it means right? Tanindon? It means acquaintances to the chicken egg. Fish hardly are an acquaintance. Beef and pork, yes, but not fish.”

Haru barely frowns, looking away as he says, “why not? Eggs and fish can be acquaintances. It depends on where the farmer lives.”

Makoto watches Sousuke and Haru lightly bicker amongst themselves as he continues to eat his food. He picks up a piece of chicken thigh, plunking it in his mouth. He laughs to himself, _‘they can argue about anything, can’t they? I was a little worried. Since they haven’t been talking to each other a whole lot.’_ He looks down at his bowl as he takes another bite of rice, _‘is it my fault? Haru. He knows how I feel about Sousuke. I can tell...Haru has reservations. He doesn’t want me to get hurt again...but Sousuke won’t hurt me the same way Takeshi has. I think Haru knows that, but he worries. I wonder...if there is anything I can do to reassure him. Maybe he thinks it’s too soon? Hmm...’_

Makoto puts down his chopsticks as he picks up his teacup and takes a careful sip, _‘I wonder if I’ve changed?’_ Makoto keeps the rim of his teacup on his lips, tilting it back to prevent the liquid trapped inside from spilling all over him as he shifts his gaze back to Sousuke. He notices how Sousuke argues with Haru, but his face isn’t so serious as it is when he’s troubled by something. It almost reminds him of how Rei would argue with Nagisa from time to time, different perspectives, trying to get to the right answer, but holding no severe consequences, like a clash between friends.

Makoto smiles behind his teacup, _‘Sousuke...you really are one of us. The more time we spend together, the more and more I see you with us. Not a stand-in for Rin. Rin is Rin. You are you, Sousuke. I really...can see you beside me. You are so wonderful, Sousuke...I want mor...’_

Makoto’s thoughts are interrupted as he spills the tea on himself. He quickly puts down the teacup and takes a couple of napkins next to him to dry off.

Haru and Sousuke notice Makoto’s brusque movements and they stop their bickering to stare at Makoto. Haru is first to grab some napkins and help Makoto with his mishap.

Sousuke gets up and asks, “Are you ok?”

Makoto looks up at Sousuke with an abashed stare, “oh, I...I just spilled tea on myself.”

Sousuke looks around the table and picks up more napkins next to the teapot and extends his hand to Makoto, “here.”

Haru takes the napkins from Sousuke extended hand, giving some to Makoto and using the rest to continues blotting Makoto’s clothes.

Sousuke exhales, almost like a sigh a couple moments after Haru took the napkins that he meant to give to Makoto. He sits back down, watching Haru and Makoto, _‘Hmm, Haru.’_ He says as he gets back up, “I’ll go get more napkins.”

Makoto looks up with concern but just before he’s about to protest, Sousuke leaves the table to retrieve more napkins if necessary. He sighs heavily, “I’m sorry.”

Haru’s eyes shift to Makoto, “you were thinking about him.”

Makoto’s eyes widen, “e-eh? Wha-what?”

Haru breathes through his nose slowly, “you wouldn’t have spilled your tea like this, Makoto. Were they dirty thoughts?”

Makoto looks away embarrassed, shoulders slouched as he exhales, “Ha~ru~~ What makes you think I was having...inappropriate thoughts?”

Haru grabs all the wet napkins and places it next to his tray, “you said he tasted good this morning.”

Makoto stiffens as he whips his head towards Haru and just stares flabbergasted, _e-e-eh?!? I...I said...I...oh my god! I said that!?’_ As he just sits there, eyes wide open, his face quickly explodes into a full on blush, embarrassed beyond recognition.

Haru looks around the table for any more napkins, noticing there aren’t any, _‘Sousuke is getting more.’_ He turns his gaze back to Makoto’s clothes, noticing the darker spots on his sweater and jeans before he raises his head to gaze at Makoto. He blinks, _‘hmm. Why is he blushing like that? Maybe he doesn’t remember.’_

Haru looks away, “that’s what you said. You also said something about Sousuke getting stuff all over you too. Before you tried to...”

Makoto face palms with both hands, slinking down in his chair, “Ha~ru~~ Oh my god! This is so embarrassing! I can’t believe you heard all that. Please tell me that’s all you heard...Ha~~ru~~?

Sousuke walks back with a stack of napkins and he stops when he hears Makoto’s gripe, causing him to pause in his tracks. He looks over at Makoto with his hands over his face. He quirks an eyebrow with curiosity, _‘huh? What’s going on?’_ Sousuke carefully takes the few last strides towards the table, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.

Haru blinks as he watches Makoto, on the outside he looks disinterested, but his eyes smile at how easily embarrassed Makoto gets, _‘oh? Hmm. It probably was a dirty dream.’_ Haru watches Makoto for several moments until he catches movement in his peripheral vision and he shifts his gaze towards Sousuke, _‘why is he walking so slo...oh. He heard.’_

Sousuke notices Haru’s gaze, but doesn’t sense any kind of threat in his eyes. He places the napkins in the middle of the table, slowly sitting down in his chair until he accidently bumps knees with Makoto.

Makoto jumps in his seat, jolting into an upright position as he stares straight ahead of him meeting surprised teal eyes, _‘oh no! Sousuke?’_ He freezes, his face burning bright red.

Sousuke opens his mouth to say something, but finds himself at a loss, _‘oh, shit. What do I say? I didn’t mean to, damn. I like it when he blushes, but this is too much for me. If I look away, he’ll think something is wrong. Shit! Think of something!’_ Sousuke releases the breath he was holding, not realizing that he stopped breathing. He closes his mouth, slightly embarrassed for his inability to talk and looking like an absolute fool in front of Makoto.

Haru slowly moves his gaze from Makoto to Sousuke, finding the pair utterly hopeless. He waits a couple of minutes to give them a chance to act before he sighs softly, “Makoto. I didn’t hear anything else...except your moaning.”

Both Sousuke and Makoto turn their heads, fixing their eyes on Haru. Makoto is the first to respond, face-palming with a groan and a soft whimper, “Ha~ru~ Now, you’re just trying to embarrass me.”

Sousuke raises his eyebrows, _‘hah? Moaning? Makoto was moaning?’_ He tilts his head a smidgeon, “what are you talking about?”

Haru shrugs, “Makoto was dreaming last night. Something about...”

Makoto quickly reacts covering Haru’s mouth, “Ha~ru~~!” He hesitantly looks in Sousuke’s direction, taking only a glimpse of surprised teal eyes before shifting his gaze, avoiding eye contact, “it’s nothing Sousuke. I just said some things in my sleep last night. I...I didn’t realize I actually said anything. Just...” Makoto sighs heavily, shoulders slumping as he mutters, “this is so embarrassing.”

Sousuke gives the pair of friends a perplexed expression, _‘oh. Makoto talks in his sleep? That’s...cute. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.’_ Sousuke smiles and says carefully, “it’s alright. Must have been one nice dream if you’re that embarrassed about it.” He looks down at the table, the napkins that he brought over catching his eye, “I brought more napkins. If you need more I don’t mi...”

Sousuke stiffens as he feels something in his back pocket vibrate and there is a jingle that he hears, _‘what the...’_ He shifts in his seat, putting his weight to one side to pull out whatever is in his back pocket. When he finally grasps the solid item, he takes a look at it, recognizing it, _‘oh. Makoto’s phone. His uncle is calling.’_

Sousuke extends his hand, “oh. Your phone Makoto. Here. You’re uncle is calling you.”

Makoto’s eyes widen, _‘oh! Why does Sousuke have my phone?’_ He moves his hand forward, taking his vibrating phone with a simple beeping jingle from Sousuke. Makoto is about to take the call, sliding his finger over the touch screen, but as he gets a third of the way through, he notices that he missed the call.

He looks up at Sousuke, “thanks. I missed the call. But, um...why did you have my phone Sousuke?”

Sousuke rests his arm on the table, watching Makoto until he asks him a question. He replies, “it must have fallen out of your pocket or something. I found it on the floor with the penguin exhibit and picked it up.”

Makoto rubs his cheek with his other hand, checking to see if it’s warm, and to his dismay, it is. He smiles at Sousuke, “ah. Sorry about that. But, um...”

Makoto shifts his gaze from Haru and Sousuke, “would you guys be okay if I called my uncle back? I’ll just step out for a bit and see...”

Haru interrupts with a nod, “nn.”

Sousuke answers after Haru, “it’s no problem. Come back soon. Don’t want your food to get too cold.”

Makoto nods, slightly relieved that he can reclaim his composure out of Sousuke’s view, “ok. I’ll be right back.” He gets up slowly, a little worried about Haru and Sousuke being alone together. Makoto gazes between the two before he turns on his heel, leaving the café, calling his uncle back.

Haru looks over at Makoto’s tray, noticing that the brunette had eaten all of his salad, most of his miso soup, and about half of his oyakodon. He looks down at his own tray, picks up his chopsticks, and continues eating.

Sousuke watches Haru for a moment before he turns his head to watch Makoto leave the café, hoping that he’ll come back soon. He continues staring out the café entrance until he can no longer see Makoto’s retreating back and his mop of brown hair. He turns his gaze back to his bowl of katsudon, picks up a piece of pork and rice with his chopsticks. As he is in the process of feeding himself, a random thought enters his mind, _‘what about asking Haru?’_

Sousuke’s chopsticks hover in the air as his eyes shift over to Haru. He notices how Haru keeps his gaze downwards, eating his meal. Sousuke continues to stare, gently putting down the food into his bowl as he ponders, _‘asking Haru for permission? Would that be a good idea right now? That would mean, I would have to tell Haru about my...feelings.’_

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, looking down at the middle of the table, _‘can I really do that? Should I consult Rin about these kinds of things? He’s the romantic after all. He’d know what to do in this situation...he did tell me to just tell Makoto about my affections. I haven’t done that yet. I wanted to give Makoto enough space, but...I have no clue how long ‘enough’ is. I don’t even know if he’s over that idiot. He doesn’t talk about him and I’m sure that bastard has been pestering Makoto at school.’_

Sousuke places his chopsticks on his tray, glancing over at Haru, _‘he’s still eating. Maybe I should just do it. Ask Haru.’_

Sousuke opens his mouth to say something, but loses his nerve suddenly. He glares down at the food in his bowl as he stews with his thoughts. His frown deepens, _‘wait. I would be admitting that I have feeling for Makoto...and Haru would be the first to know besides Rin. Not Makoto. Can I really tell Haru that I’m in love with Ma...’_

Haru feels a gaze on him as he eats his delicious sabadon, he ignores it the first time, waiting for Sousuke to say something. The stare seems to be gone and he looks up as he chews his food, finding Sousuke concentrating on the napkins in the middle of the table. Haru watches him for a moment, curious what Sousuke is contemplating, _‘hmm. Does he have something to say? Maybe it’s about Rin. He should just ask me.’_

Haru looks down at his delicately flakey mackerel once again, gently picking up pieces of fish and rice, enjoying the salty flavors that meld together on his tongue. Suddenly he feels that gaze back on him and he chews his food a little more slowly, waiting for Sousuke to ask him about whatever is possessing his mind.

The gaze once again is gone and he looks up, lightly furrowing his eyebrows, mildly annoyed, _‘why is he hesitating? He’s not one to hesitate. He has confronted me in the past...when he found it necessary. This...this is strange.’_

Haru quickly says, “if you have something to say, say it.”

Sousuke’s thoughts halt as he processes Haru’s words. He shifts his gaze up to meet aloof sapphire eyes. He frowns, _‘is he upset? I can’t tell. Dammit.’_ Sousuke stares at him for a few moments, finding his resolve in those piercing blue eyes. He leans forward, his hands on the edge of the table as he says, “Haru.”

Haru waits, keeping his gaze steady, ready for whatever Sousuke has to say to him, expecting nothing. He’s learned not to have too many expectations from conversations, as it’s difficult to predict the path a discussion could take. He hears Sousuke’s voice, calling his name, but nothing else comes from it. He inwardly sighs, resting his chopsticks over his bowl as he replies, “yes...Sousuke.”

Sousuke balls his fists, feeling anxiety build in his stomach, “I like Makoto.”

Haru’s eyes never leave those teal eyes peering into him. Sousuke’s tone was harsh, but those teal eyes waver with a bit of fear and it catches Haru off-guard. His eyes fluctuate at the confession as he continues staring at Sousuke silently.

Sousuke notices Haru’s blue eyes softening, almost as if he’s shocked. Uneasiness grips his heart, warning him to stop but his mind refuses to submit. He’s come this far, he needs to finish this before Makoto comes back. He continues, “may I have your permission, Haru.”

Sousuke closes his eyes as he tightens his fists, digging his hands into the edge of the table, “I know...how important you are in Makoto’s life. I, che...I think I love...” He knits his eyebrows lightly. He can’t take back the words once he’s said them and he can feel regret on the edge of his resolve, trying to poke holes into his will. He looks down at the golden-crusted pieces of his katsudon in his bowl, hoping and waiting for Haru’s reply.

Haru watches Sousuke closely, his senses heightened with the intensity of Sousuke’s words. He senses anger in Sousuke, but it seems misdirected, almost as if the fear that he saw earlier in Sousuke’s teal eyes has somehow placed a mask over itself, trying to disguise itself as anger. His words are heavy in the air, filled with meaning and it shakes Haru’s core, _‘permission? He’s asking me?’_

When Sousuke closes his eyes, Haru notices the misguided anger seems to dissipate and the words that come next seem much more vulnerable, a statement from Sousuke’s perspective, about him.

Suddenly the words Sousuke speaks becomes broken like it’s too much for him to say. Haru looks at Sousuke’s face carefully, _‘Sousuke.’_

Haru peers over at the entrance of the café to check if Makoto is coming back yet, _‘hmm, not yet.’_ His blue eyes shift back to Sousuke as he says softly, “what about Rin?”

Sousuke hears Haru’s question, slightly taken aback, not expecting him to bring up his best friend. With his head still bowed, he lifts his gaze from his food to Haru’s eyes and he says delicately, “what about Rin?”

Haru looks down as he whispers loud enough for Sousuke to hear, “my answer...depends on this question.”

Sousuke hears Haru, barely and he takes the question with serious consideration, _‘I see. He knows about that. Do I still harbor feelings for Rin, that’s your question. Rin is important to me, that will never change. Rin is my best friend, and as much as I wanted to be his everything, he did not choose me in return. I wanted more from Rin, I wanted to be his lover, that is true...but it isn’t true anymore. Rin told me what you mean to him, you saved him, Haru. And once that swimming-idiot wants something, he’ll fight for it. Rin hasn’t told you, has he? Figures. No matter how romantic that idiot can be, he can’t be upfront about certain things. He loves you Haru.’_ He takes a deep breath, calming his senses as he stares at the other, “I no longer harbor feelings for Rin. The only one I see is...Makoto.”

Haru waits for Sousuke’s response patiently, wanting the other to answer the question candidly, but his mind races with thoughts, _‘he’s being considerate. He values Makoto’s relationships, friendships. I wonder if Rin gave him advice...asking me for permission. No. I don’t think so. This is Sousuke’s idea. He’s doing this for Makoto’s sake. For Makoto’s...’_ His thoughts halt as he hears Sousuke’s voice, his gaze moving up to meet teal eyes.

Haru stays silent momentarily, allowing the weighty words to seep into his mind. They stare at each other, not with animosity or defiance, but in a state of purgatory. Haru can see sense the nervousness from the other, and understanding hits him at once, _‘For Makoto’s sake. I see. I have a strong influence. He knows that. Makoto. I haven’t been fair. I have been too over-protective. I didn’t see how genuine things have been between the both of you. I...*sigh*...I’m sorry. I just didn’t want Makoto to hurt again. I didn’t know you were this serious. Sousuke...’_

Haru shifts his gaze to the side, a solemn and reflective expression on his face as he says carefully, “you don’t need my permission, Sousuke. I’m not Makoto’s parent.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, _‘what? Are you serious? That’s your answer!?’_ He retorts, “wait a minute. Did you not hea...”

Haru shifts his gaze towards Sousuke, seeing anger and confusion on his face. He raises his hand in the air, an indication that he wasn’t finished talking as he interrupts, “Sousuke. I wasn’t done. You don’t need my permission, but I...understand what you’re asking. It is up to Makoto to accept or deny your affections. Sousuke...”

Haru puts down his arm, leaning back into his seat and resting his hand on his lap as he smiles lightly, “you have my permission.”

Sousuke huffs quietly, irritated as he listens to Haru speak. The small smile that plays on Haru’s lips causes Sousuke to raise an eyebrow and before he can think about Haru’s smile, the words faze him. It takes him a moment to process the affirmation from the other. He stares at Haru, stunned, _‘he said yes.’_

Haru watches Sousuke, noticing the confusion, surprise, and awareness of his words. He holds Sousuke’s gaze for a few moments before he starts feeling uncomfortable with the silence. Haru shifts his gaze to his bowl of food, deciding to pick up his chopsticks and resume eating. Filling the slight awkwardness between them with something he loves, that sets his internal senses into his usual calm state.

Sousuke just stares at Haru, noticing how the other regains his usual cool composure and picking up the activity they were engaged in previously. He doesn’t know how long he just sits there staring at Haru, but when he hears a worried voice call him, he turns his head to find concerned emerald eyes gazing at him.

Makoto tilts his head to the side as he says, “Sousuke? Are you ok?”

Sousuke nods slowly, “yeah.”

Makoto gives Sousuke a skeptical look before he takes his seat next to Haru.

Haru finishes chewing and says, “Sousuke is upset that I won the argument. Mackerel is an acquaintance to eggs.”

Sousuke turns his gaze to Haru with consternation, “hah?”

Makoto chuckles, “you guys are still at it?”

Haru looks up at Sousuke and that nonchalant stare is back like the conversation they had never happened. Sousuke frowns lightly before he picks up his chopsticks on his tray, _‘che. You little shit.’_ He picks up some rice and a piece of golden-crusted pork in the shape of a whale as he smiles to himself, _‘thanks Haru.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So this chapter is quite a bit shorter than my normal ones (still about 13,000 words), but I felt it was a good place to stop before the next chapter. Thank you so much for all of your amazing and sweet comments. I really appreciate it and it always motivates me to sit down and write ^/////^
> 
> Also sending out lots of love and best wishes to those who were in Italy during the earthquake. I truly hope that you and your loved ones are safe and unharmed. Sending extra hugs to Jess90/Jess-chan.


	20. Chapter 20

** February 23rd, Monday, 8: 52 pm **

****

After cleaning the now pristine espresso machine, Makoto sighs as he slides the rag he had unceremoniously plopped to the side to clean the counters. A glum expression clouds Makoto’s typically jovial face.

Eiji turns around, climbing down from the stepstool, glancing at Makoto’s slouching back. He frowns watching Makoto’s movements, knowing how sensitive the other could be, he says with concern, “don’t give that guy any more thought, Makoto.”

Makoto stills, listening to the words of his co-worker. A part of him wants to protest, _‘how? How can I do that? He’s been on my mind since I took his order, I just...I don’t know. Why does he still get to me? You’re right, Eiji. You’re right, I just can’t shake the feeling yet_. _’_ He frowns, slouching even further.

Ever since Takeshi, Sugawara, that guy with the lavender eyes that he caught him with months before, and a couple of other people came into the café for a bite to eat, Makoto hasn’t been able to fully recover. That guy with the lavender eyes seemed to be boring a hole into his head, every time Makoto felt a gaze on him, he found that guy glaring at him. It didn’t help that Takeshi would put his arm around the guy in a possessive sort of way, as if the blond was provoking him. They just had to sit near him too, and he couldn’t help but overhear some of the stupid things they said.

Eiji places a hand on his shoulder, gently shaking Makoto, “oi! Oi, Makoto! Stop that. Stop thinking about that jerk and his posse friends! They were just trying to rile you up. I would have kicked the bastards out if they dared come bother you...you know that, right Makoto?”

Makoto turns his head to stare down at Eiji’s slightly angry, yet concerned eyes.

He gives the shorter man a small sheepish nod, “I know.”

Eiji quirks an eyebrow, “man, he really messed you up, huh?”

Makoto looks away, “I don’t know. Maybe...”

Eiji sighs heavily, looking down at the counter, “you need to let that guy go. He’s not gonna stop. I’ve met too many guys like that. They just gotta one-up you in some way, showing you that you missed something real good when they are nothing but assholes. Tells you how butt-hurt they really are about it...”

Eiji’s features twist into an angry frown, upset at the whole situation and mutters under his breath, “damn patronizing, egotistical, snobbish ass-hats.” He looks up at Makoto’s profile and continues with a worry, “You’re just gonna have to grow a thick skin about it Makoto. Besides, your darling love interest is a much better match for you...so, hurry up and do something drastic.”

Makoto feels a pat on his shoulder before the pressure of Eiji’s hand disappears completely. The sounds of shuffling shoes and the clank of cupboards opening fill the room. He lifts his head, and turns his body slightly to find Eiji walking around the counter with a bottle of glass cleaner and a rag. He heard Eiji’s unyielding yet hushed voice, and for once he didn’t feel a need to defend Takeshi in the slightest. His mind strays to the last comment and a small smile plays at his lips as he recalls Eiji teasing him.

He remembers certain sayings that the other would say during closing clean up, ‘your love interest swept you off your feet, huh?’ or ‘c’mon, you two are practically dating...just need to gently push Haru out of the picture,’ or ‘I’m gonna steal Haru for a night and teach him some cooking skills just so you and your boyfriend can have a bona fide date.’ Eiji has been constantly bugging him about Sousuke, teasing him, and even though it embarrasses him, it makes him feel cared for too.

Makoto continues to watch Eiji wipe down the display case, his thoughts steering away from Eiji’s teasing and moving on to the last time he had a conventional talk with Takeshi. His ex had come to visit him in Iwatobi, unannounced, talking to his family before he had a chance to. Things were confusing that first evening, but the second time they met, they argued. Makoto had said something he shouldn’t have, and he wonders if Takeshi had held on to those blurted words all this time.

Makoto saw Takeshi every now and then on campus, but he has avoided him whenever he heard him or saw him, not wanting to find himself alone with the blond. A part of him is scared after what happened in Iwatobi. He doesn’t regret what he did, but claiming that he likes someone else, was not something that he wanted to leave the other with. He knows how angry Takeshi could be, and even though he was able to take on his wrath from time to time, the situation has changed and there is no telling what Takeshi would do with their current status.

As the older man gets up from cleaning the display case, Makoto reveals, “the last time I saw my ex...I punched him.”

Eiji’s eyebrows shot up, surprised by the outburst. As the information processes in his mind, a bit of disbelief captures his thoughts, but Makoto wouldn’t lie or joke about something like that. He breaks into a smug smile, “dude! That is awesome! You punched him, huh. Wow, Makoto. I’m glad you found the nerve to stand up to him.”

Eiji walks around the counter, towards Makoto, “as much as I want to continue celebrating your achievement, Makoto...those counters aren’t gonna clean themselves.”

Makoto’s eyes widen, “o-oh! Yeah. Sorry.” He quickly scrubs the countertops with the damp, soapy rag.

Eiji chuckles, “no problem. So...how come your lover boy hasn’t come to visit today?”

Makoto stills momentarily before whining with no real bite to his voice, “E~i~ji! Stop calling him that.” He sighs softly, resuming his sanitary duties and continues, “he said he needed to do something at the computer lab at school. Probably his photography project.”

Eiji smiles to himself, liking the fact that Makoto is acting more like himself as he puts clean dishes away into the cupboards, “oh? Pictures of you, I bet.”

Makoto smiles lightly before embarrassment strikes his heart and blooms on the tops of his ears, “E~i~ji! Stop that. He doesn’t take actual pictures of me...I just end up in a lot of the photos because it’s for his class.”

Eiji roars with laughter, “yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that. Every time he brings his heavy-duty camera into the café, he’s taking pictures...and he seems to enjoy pointing that thing at you when you’re not looking. What? Can’t tell the guy is practically drooling over you?”

Makoto bites his bottom lip, glad that Eiji can’t see him, _‘you keep telling me that. Is he? Really? He has taken some pictures of me, but I bet they are test pictures. You’re just saying that, Eiji. Sousuke doesn’t drool...not over me anyway.’_ Makoto’s features become more solemn, ceasing his movements once again as he tightens his hold on the damp rag, _‘he likes Rin. But...Rin and Haru. They love each other. Sousuke knows that. But...I doubt he’s over him. Rin is...’_ Makoto frowns wistfully, silently sighing with defeat, _‘there is no way I can compete with him. Rin...it’s times like this I get jealous.’_

Eiji turns around to check on Makoto, but movement in front of the closed café doors catches his purple eyes. A woman wearing a light cream jumper dress and a matching suit jacket with pinstripes, a black turtleneck sweater shirt, a black and white pearl cluster necklace, black pumps with ankle straps is digging into her white handbag, looking for something.

Eiji quickly walks over to the front of the café, unlocking the glass door, “may I help you Miss?”

The young woman looks up from her handbag, a tendril of hair escapes from the confines of her French-twisted hair, “oh. Well, I...I was hoping to see Makoto. I was looking for my phone...”

Eiji gives the young woman a surprised look, “Makoto? He’s here. Please come in, Miss.” He opens the door widely as he turns slightly, “Makoto. There’s a pretty lady wanting to see you.”

Makoto looks up from the counter he was cleaning to find Eiji with the front door open and Yumiko picking up her briefcase, walking into the café.

Yumiko giggles eyeing the shorter man with interest as she hears Makoto say, “Yumiko!? What are you doing here?”

Makoto walks around the counter, trotting over to the front as Yumiko’s caramel eyes shift towards the brunette. She says, “well, I wanted to talk you about something. But before that, why don’t you introduce me to your friend here.”

Eiji closes the front door, locking it once again as Makoto says, “oh. This is my co-worker and friend, Eiji Kita.”

Eiji looks up at the slightly taller woman before bowing, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss.”

Makoto smiles as he gestures politely, “Eiji, this is Yumiko Yamazaki. She is Sousuke’s sister.”

Eiji raises from his bow, standing straight, “oh? Sousuke’s sister?”

Yumiko giggles lightly, grasping her handbag and briefcase handles in front of her with both hands as she twists her waist back and forth with amusement. She asks with a smile, “oh, my! It’s a pleasure to meet you Kita-san. How do you know my brother, Sou-chan?”

Eiji returns Yumiko’s smile before glancing over at Makoto with a grin, “he comes in to study with Haru, er, Nanase a lot. I serve them sustenance every once in a while. Sousuke seems to like the company here at the café.”

Makoto chuckles, slightly nervous, “E~i~ji!”

Yumiko tilts her head to the side, her eyes darting back and forth between Kita and Makoto, entertained by the pair of boys. She can tell that she’s missing something, and decides to let the boys have their little secret musings before her eyes settle on Kita. She notices how the slightly shorter man has really good posture before looking away.

Yumiko tightens her hold on her handbag and briefcase, “well, I’m glad to hear that Sou-chan is taking his studies seriously.”

She looks up at Makoto with apologetic eyes, “I’m sorry for bothering you after you closed up shop. I was hoping that I would catch you right before you closed. Do you think we can have a little talk? Maybe after you’re done? I don’t want to disturb your work dutie...”

Eiji looks between Yumiko and Makoto and interrupts, “I can finish up in here. Makoto can take you into the break room and...”

Makoto tilts his head to the side taking in Yumiko’s words, but when Eiji makes a suggestion he quickly interjects, “eh? E-Eiji? It’s my...”

Eiji interrupts, “it’s fine, Makoto. There are just a few more things to do behind the counter and then the floors. I think I can take care of that much. Go ahead. After all, a beautiful lady needs to talk to you.”

Yumiko lightly flushes, “ah...you really know how to make a girl blush, Kita-san. But really...I can wait. I’m the one imposing on...”

Makoto interrupts, “it’s ok, Yumiko. We can talk now. It must be important.”

Yumiko’s gaze moves from Kita to Makoto. She bites the inside of her bottom lip as her caramel eyes swirl with anxiety. Her smile fades, looking down at her hands, nodding slowly, “yeah. There’s been a lot on my mind. And, well, I have a lot of worries...about Sou-chan.”

Makoto stands still, listening to Yumiko’s words and he holds his breath watching her become so lugubrious and doleful.

Eiji wipes his hands on his apron hanging around his waist before gently gliding his fingers over Yumiko’s hands, smoothly grasping her handbag and briefcase, “Don’t worry about interrupting our work, I can cover the rest for Makoto. Please, head to the break room with Makoto.”

Yumiko stares into Kita’s purple eyes, the light-feather touches from the other’s calloused fingers, feeling slightly swept off her feet. Suddenly the weight she was carrying disappears, but her eyes never leave the shorter man as she just continues to stare wordlessly.

Eiji looks up at Makoto and places the briefcase and handbag in his hands, “go on, Makoto. I’ll finish up in here.”

Makoto takes the items given to him, carrying them with one hand, nodding at his co-worker, “thanks, Eiji. With all these favors, I’m starting to lose track.”

Eiji pats Makoto’s shoulder, “dude, that’s what friends do, we help each other out. Besides, you’ve covered for me last month, twice. I think we can call it even now.” He smiles up at the brunette before releasing his hold. 

Makoto smiles back at Eiji, grateful to have a friend in his workplace. He takes a step towards Yumiko, placing a hand on her shoulder, “Yumiko?”

Yumiko watched the two interact with each other and smiles to herself. She knew that Makoto was a kind person, but seeing him with Sou-chan, Haruka, and now Kita, she gets a better sense of Makoto’s value on friendship. She looks down at her things that Makoto had acquired from Kita, _‘Sou-chan, you are so lucky to have a friend like Makoto. I’m jealous.’_

She hears her name being called and Yumiko lifts her gaze, “yes?”

Makoto smiles gently, a bit concerned, “follow me, Yumiko.”

Yumiko nods, catching the glimpse of Makoto’s worried green eyes before he turns on his heel. She moves her head to find Kita smiling with a small bow. She quickly does the same and says, “it was nice meeting you, Kita-san.”

Eiji nods, “the pleasure was mine, Yamazaki-san.”

She follows Makoto behind the counter, opening a door and holding it open for Yumiko to enter. He closes the door, gesturing with his hands for Yumiko to head to the right and she notices a sign on a slightly ajar door that reads, ‘break room.’

Yumiko enters the room first, finding a round table with some chairs, counters and cabinets on one side with a microwave, and a small sink while the other end of the room has some lockers lined up with a bench in-between them.

Makoto interrupts Yumiko’s observation of the rest of the room, “please, sit down Yumiko. Tell me what’s going on.”

Yumiko does as she’s told, grabbing the back of one of the chairs, pulling it out just enough to slide into the seat.

Makoto takes a seat next to Yumiko, placing her briefcase and handbag on the top of the table carefully. He turns his body towards Yumiko, leaning one of his elbows on the table, waiting for Yumiko to say something.

Yumiko takes a deep breath, a sad expression on her face, “I...I’m sorry we haven’t had a lot of time to get to know each other better, Makoto. I wish I wasn’t leaving so soon.”

Makoto listens to Yumiko’s dejected voice, realizing that Yumiko must be having a hard time with the move to Osaka. He has been so busy with school, homework, work, and helping Haru and Sousuke that time slipped away from him. Yumiko is moving to Osaka a week after she graduates at the end of March, and February will be over in a handful of days.

He looks down, feeling helpless about the situation. Yumiko continues, “I-I...I’m worried. About Sou-chan. Dad and Sou-chan...they don’t know how to communicate with each other very well. And...I won’t be here to mediate between them. But...” She releases a shaky exhale, closing her eyes, “there’s nothing I can do really. I just...for the longest time, I wanted a sibling, and now I have one. I want...more time. To be a real sister to Sou-chan.”

Makoto frowns with sympathy. He understands the quandary Yumiko is facing. He knows the feeling of wanting to extend the time with others, not wanting things to change.

Makoto remembers Yumiko’s argument with Sousuke about helping him with his desire to go back to Iwatobi that last year of high school. She wanted to help her brother and she mediated between her parents to make it happen. Sousuke was able to be with them that last year of high school because of Yumiko’s aid. She lost that year with Sousuke, but she sacrificed that time to make him happy and if Makoto was in her shoes, he would have done the same.

Makoto looks down at his hand, noticing that it is now in a fist. He bites his inner bottom lip as he thinks about his time in Tokyo. Moving in, getting used to his surroundings, finding a job, getting acquainted with the commute and school settings, and finally balancing his time. Sousuke had to do the same thing, and Yumiko, being the big sister, helped him though the process. But it wasn’t just that, Sousuke had surgery, he needed help from his family.

Makoto wasn’t there during that time, and Sousuke and Rin had their problems before he was able to meet Sousuke in Tokyo. If it weren’t for Rin, Makoto would have never known that Sousuke was nearby, and they would have continued to be estranged friends.

Yumiko continues, shaking Makoto from his thoughts, “Sou-chan has a difficult time expressing himself. He...has a tendency to keep things to himself until he explodes. I’m afraid...of what that will look like if my dad has to deal with it. Sou-chan is sensitive about certain things, and my father is one that relies on results. Sou-chan needs to find a direction with his studies otherwise...” Yumiko sighs deeply, clenching her hands together on her lap, whispering, “I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen.”

Makoto hears the profound worry in Yumiko’s voice and he stares at her profile with uncertainty. He says timidly, “I...I’m sorry, Yumiko. I wish things were different, but I will try my best to watch over him.”

Yumiko smiles sadly, but her heart feels relieved hearing Makoto’s voice, regardless of how modest Makoto sounds. She turns her head to the side to stare into those anxious, yet steadfast green gaze and her sad smile shifts into an amiable one. She shifts her weight, moving her body to face Makoto as she clasps her hands over Makoto’s fist, “you really are a good friend, Makoto.”

She looks down, staring at her hands over Makoto’s, “I guess I wanted to be the one whom he came to for companionship...not just family, a friend who he can rely on. But, I can’t be that if he doesn’t reciprocate. I...”

Makoto’s eyes widen, _‘wait! Yumiko!’_ He quickly places his other hand over Yumiko’s, interrupting with uneasiness, “wait. I don’t think Sousuke doesn’t reciprocate. I think he views you highly. You two may not be full siblings, but he does view you as his sister. He...”

Yumiko shakes her head, interjecting, “Makoto. You are it. You are the one Sou-chan goes to when he needs someone. He may not view you like a brother, but you are precious...to...him...”

She blinks as her thoughts race in her mind, she takes her hands back from Makoto, her gaze shifting to the grey carpet on the floor as she knits her eyebrows together, deep in thought, rubbing the back of her ear with her middle and index fingers.

Makoto watches the older woman with curiosity, _‘huh? Wha...what happened? Hmm, maybe she’s trying to remember something.’_ He tilts his head to the side watching Yumiko’s caramel eyes waver with emotion that he can’t place. Instead he continues watching with a bit of worry, hoping that whatever is going through Yumiko’s mind is something positive.

After several moments, Yumiko’s caramel eyes quickly shift toward Makoto, lightly wavering with possibilities, some kind of comprehension, and uncertainty.

Yumiko smiles sheepishly, “sorry...you just...reminded me of something. I guess I’m being selfish. Makoto, you owe me no favors and honestly, no matter if I’m here in Tokyo or in Osaka, I’ll always worry about Sou-chan. He’s my baby brother and I want him to be happy. I guess I just wanted to be here and witness that happiness.”

Makoto listens to Yumiko’s words, at first she seemed so uncertain, but then she sounds emphatic, and he wonders if she’s hiding something. He smiles lightly, but his eyes give him away.

Yumiko notices skepticism in Makoto’s gaze and says, “don’t worry. I just realized that I wanted to be the important person in Sou-chan’s life, but that’s what I want. I’m certain I’ve imposed it on him on several occasions, but I can’t just claim it for myself. Hence the selfishness on my part.”

She moves her hand over Makoto’s, giving him a gentle squeeze, “just be his friend, Makoto. I really can’t ask you to do anything more. I don’t want you to keep tabs on Sou-chan...not on my behalf. Then I’m just like dad, and Sou-chan doesn’t need that.”

Makoto places his other hand over Yumiko’s wrist as he pries his hand out of her grip so he can hold her hand, “Yumiko. If there’s something else bothering you, I want you to know that I am more than happy to lend an ear. Please, don’t hold back. You are important to Sousuke.”

Yumiko giggles lightly, “no, no. There’s nothing else. I’m just...scared about the whole move. Being away from my mom, my friends...it will be the first time in my life that I won’t be coming home to my mom. I’ll have my own home far away from her and I’m insecure about a lot of things. Ever since she got a divorce, it was just me and my mom. I’m happy she’s found someone, and I’m happy that I finally have a sibling. I knew one day I could leave Tokyo, I...wasn’t expecting it to happen so soon.”

Makoto squeezes her hand, “you can contact me anytime you want, Yumiko. Whenever you feel lonely, you can call me. You’ll always have someone here thinking about you.” He gives her his trademark smile, “and I’m not the only one. Your mom, dad, Sousuke, and your friends...they all will miss you, and so will I.” 

Yumiko smiles widely, unclasping their hands as she throws her arms around Makoto’s neck, “thank you Makoto.”

Makoto is taken aback by the sudden gesture, his arms hanging in the air as he stares aimlessly in a stupor. He smiles when he hears Yumiko’s grateful voice and he gently pats her shoulder, “you’re welcome.”

Yumiko releases Makoto from her embrace, standing up, “I think I better go now. Thanks for your help, Makoto. Getting some of this off my chest...is nice.”

Makoto gets up, scooting the chair further back, “it’s no problem. I’m glad I can help.” He gives Yumiko a smile.

Yumiko returns the smile before she once again wraps her arms around Makoto’s middle, squeezing gently, “you really are a great guy, Makoto. Sousuke is lucky...really lucky to have someone like you. I’m sooo jealous.”

Makoto chuckles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, not sure how to take the compliment.

Yumiko smiles to herself, _‘I can’t believe I didn’t notice it sooner...well, that’s assuming if I’m right. Sou-chan...I just realized that you smile a lot more lately. And it’s usually when Makoto is around or when you talk about him. You hardly ever smile. You’re always frowning or sporting a neutral mask...it’s hard to read you sometimes. Sou-chan. I’m gonna have to pay you a visit. I don’t think I can leave without some kind of confirmation.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** February 24th, Tuesday, 7: 11 pm **

****

Sousuke is at the dining room table wearing blue sweatpants, a V-neck long-sleeved white shirt, and a towel over his neck. He scrolls through the pictures he’d taken at the aquarium, trying to see if any of the pictures can be used in his final project. He’d had taken a lot of photos during the trimester, and he has chosen a couple for specific lighting effects and post-processing effects.

He picks out several sets of photos from the slew of pictures, finding the composition, clarity, and emotion that were displayed from either Haru or Makoto to be contenders for his final project. Before he could narrow down the prospective sets of pictures, he notices his phone lighting up on the cherry wood table.

He knits his eyebrows as he halts, picking up his phone. He checks his notifications and realizes that Yumiko has been trying to contact him for the last two hours, _‘oh shit! I forgot to take my phone off silent. Dammit!’_

Quickly he dials Yumiko’s number waiting for her to pick up the phone.

Yumiko answers the phone on the second ring, “Sou-chan? Why aren’t you taking my calls? And my messages?”

He sighs heavily, “Yumiko. I accidently left my phone on silent. I didn’t know you were trying to call me.”

Yumiko sighs dramatically, “are you serious? Sou-chan!? Am I distracting you from your studies? Oh! Nevermind that... anyway, I’m in the lobby. Come escort me to your humble abode.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, “wait? You’re here?”

Yumiko huffs, “did you read my texts? I said I was coming over tonight. Besides, I decided to play hooky today.”

Sousuke gets up from his seat, checking his pockets for his keycard before he looks around his surroundings, “hooky? You? Is something wrong, Yumiko?”

There’s silence on the other end of the phone as Sousuke remembers that he plopped his wallet and keycard on his desk. He trots down the hallway into his bedroom, grabbing the keycard before retracing his steps down the hallway. 

As Sousuke heads towards the door, he hears a soft laugh from the young woman, “something wrong? Of course not. Things have been really stressful lately, that’s all. I just needed some breathing room, that’s all. Besides, it gave me an opportunity to spend some time with my friends. Oh! You gave me ample time to check out a few bakeries in your neighborhood and I bought a whole cake. You ate dinner right? Otherwise I’ll have to order some takeout. Sou-chan?”

Sousuke sandwiches his phone between his shoulder and his ear as he finds a pair of slippers and plops it down on the entryway floor, “I’m coming down, Yumiko. Wait for me by the elevators.” 

Yumiko giggles, “ok. I’ll be waiting.” She hangs up.

Sousuke slips his phone into his pocket, opening the front door and heading towards the elevators. He presses the button for the lobby, and looks up towards the lighted numbers wondering what could have prompted his stepsister to make an impromptu visit.

When the elevator reaches the lobby, he hears the ding before the doors open and he finds Yumiko peering in through the side with a smile.

She waves, “Sou-chan!”

Sousuke gets out of the elevator, noticing that she’s carrying a silver paper bag with a gold sticker logo of some bakery. He takes bag from Yumiko, stepping back as he takes in Yumiko’s appearance. She’s wearing snakeskin embossed leather ballet flats, faded blue jeans, some kind of white undershirt, a baby pink fuzzy crop sweater with a cotton-ribbed section around her waist, an oatmeal knitted cardigan, and a small black purse around her body.

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, a little confused as to why Yumiko decided to visit as he pushes the button for the elevator.

Yumiko watches Sousuke, curious why Sousuke seems a bit put off by her unannounced visit. She sighs silently, “Sou-chan...am I interrupting something important?”

He side glances at Yumiko, “not really. I was just going through some pictures.”

The ring of the elevator proclaims its arrival and both Yumiko and Sousuke enter as Sousuke uses his keycard and presses the number of his floor. He glances at Yumiko who is looking up at the numbers above the elevator door, almost carefree. He wonders if Yumiko is having a hard time saying goodbye to her co-workers at the company.

Sousuke looks away, staring at his hand firmly grasping the silver bag. He notices a shiny yellow box in it.

The ride back up to his apartment is filled with silence until the elevator dings once they get to their destination.

Yumiko is the first out the door, Sousuke trailing behind her. Sousuke opens the door for his stepsister. They take off their shoes before entering the threshold of the apartment.

Yumiko asks over her shoulder, “did you eat dinner?”

Sousuke quickly responds, “yeah. I got some takeout before coming home. I didn’t feel like cooking.”

Yumiko nods, “good.” She turns her head to the side and smiles, “I spent the day at Disneyland with a couple of friends.”

Sousuke stills before heading into the kitchen, “what? You went to Disneyland?”

Yumiko giggles, “yes. And I had fun. I took a lot of pictures. You know...it would have been really nice to bring a boyfriend or someone like that with me. Do you know if Makoto is single?”

Sousuke looks away, refusing to answer the question right away. He heads into the kitchen and places the silver bag on the counter. He asks reluctantly, “why do you want to know?”

Yumiko tilts her head to the side as she watches Sousuke retreat from her, _‘hmm. I wonder if...oh. He doesn’t sound thrilled with my question.’_ Yumiko looks around the kitchen as she goes around the island. She notices Sousuke’s laptop on the dining room table, “curious, I guess. Makoto is such a nice guy and he’s kind of my type. Tall, handsome, strong, and he has such stunning green eyes. Don’t you think?”

Sousuke takes out the yellow box from the bag, gently placing the covered dessert on the counter. He folds up the silver bag, but his hands stop in their tracks as he listens to Yumiko’s answer.

He knits his eyebrows, concerned about the direction of their conversation, _‘what? What the hell is this? No. Just...no. You can’t have him, Yumiko. I want him.’_

He huffs silently, annoyed with the concept of Yumiko thinking of Makoto as a possible boyfriend, _‘stunning...no. Makoto’s eyes are beautiful. They just make me feel...’_

Sousuke shakes the thoughts out of his head, focusing on unwrapping the cake in the yellow box. He places the silver bag on the counter as he takes off the tape from the sides of the box, “I guess.”

Yumiko sits down in Sousuke’s previous seat, swiping her thumb over the touch pad and she is met with different files that she assumes has to do with his photography class. She opens the files, looking through the pictures until she catches Sousuke’s grumpy voice. She stops, looking towards the kitchen, _‘ooooh? Sou-chan!? Let’s have a little fun...’_

Yumiko smiles to herself, “you think Makoto and I could have a long distance relationship? Your friend Rin has a long distance relationship with someone, right? I think you said it was working out. Well, you know how dad really wants me to marry in the future and I just think Makoto would make a wonderful father. What do you think?”

Sousuke finally unwraps the box, taking out the chocolate cake, _‘Makoto loves chocolate cake. If this bakery is nearby, maybe I can get him a slice...if it’s good.’_ He pulls out a knife and just when he’s about to cut a slice, he hears Yumiko’s response and he frowns. With a little more force than he intends, he makes the first cut, “I think that would make things weird between us. Makoto and I. Besides, dad wants you to marry a businessman. Makoto wants to be a swimming coach for kids.”

Yumiko notices a lot of pictures of Haruka and Makoto, but she pays close attention to the photos of Makoto. She hears Sousuke’s cool words, almost angry words. She makes a face, wondering if she may be going a little too far with her antics, “hmm. I didn’t think about that. Makoto and I haven’t talked about that before. You’re right...dad wouldn’t approve.”

She sighs lightly, “that’s too bad. Makoto is handsome.”

Sousuke huffs as he grabs plates for the slices of cakes, _‘Yumiko...don’t tell me...you like him.’_ His frowns deepens, not liking the idea of his stepsister liking one of his friends. If she liked Rin, he knows he would have a problem with it. Rin is his best friend, childhood friend, and Makoto has become a close friend, someone he deeply cares for. What if Yumiko liked Haru?

Sousuke gently places the first slice of cake on a plate, pondering, _‘I don’t think I would care if she liked Haru. He’s a weirdo, not very forthcoming, but he’s a good person. Now that I know him better, he wouldn’t hurt someone intentionally. But...why? Why am I ok if she liked Haru but not Rin and Makoto?’_

He gives the idea a bit more thought before setting them aside as he places the second slice on the plate, “why are you asking me all this? Are you interested in Makoto?”

Yumiko takes advantage of the period of silence, looking through more of the files on Sousuke’s laptop. She quickly notices that Sousuke has taken a lot of pictures of Makoto and if she saw a portfolio of Sousuke’s photos, she would make the assumption that Makoto was modeling for Sousuke. There is one picture that makes her hands still over the keyboard, awed by the feeling it invokes.

It’s a picture of Makoto sitting by himself on a park bench, his backpack by his side and a book in his hand. Makoto is wearing a heavy coat with a beanie on his head, reading a book in the winter. The expression captured is one that is difficult to take in the moment, and Sousuke had the opportunity to photograph it. Makoto’s facial expression is one of loneliness. Yumiko has never seen such an expression on Makoto’s face and it makes her wonder what kind of thoughts or situation could place such an emotion in him. She’s hardly ever seen him frowning without worry, but this photo showed no hints of worry, just sadness.

Her thoughts dissipate as she hears Sousuke’s voice, and she catches the last half of his response. Yumiko gives the question some thought before replying, “yes, I do like Makoto. He’s a great guy, and I think he would make a wonderful boyfriend...husband too. He has such a wonderful personality...he’s kind, generous, charitable, courteous, and thoughtful. He’s always looking out for others and I can’t help but find that charming.”

Sousuke places the rest of the cake back in the box, covering it up. He grabs a couple of forks, placing the items on a tray. Before he picks up the tray, he hears Yumiko’s answer and he holds his breath, _‘she...likes him.’_ He agrees with Yumiko, Makoto is a wonderful person. He clenches his hands into fists, _‘Yumiko...find someone else. I like Makoto...no, I love him. Stop. Stop telling me things like this.’_

He takes a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Sousuke doesn’t quite understand why the conversation bothers him so much, it’s not like he has any claim on Makoto, not that he wants to possess him, but he does feel protective over him. Sousuke picks up the tray, walking out of the kitchen and around the island. He stops when he finds Yumiko surfing through his laptop, _‘oh, shit! She’s going through my pictures! Yumiko!? What the hell are you doing!?!’_

He quickly shuffles towards the dining room table, placing the tray on the table with a clank.

Yumiko jumps in her seat, causing her gaze to look up at Sousuke’s angry face before she hears the laptop close. She blinks a couple times before she chuckles with embarrassment and guilt, “oh, um...ah, sorry. I didn’t mean to pry for too long.”

Sousuke grunts, “I can’t believe you went through my pictures without my permission.” He takes a seat at the head of the table, next to Yumiko and grabs his laptop moving it away from her.

Yumiko places her fingers over her mouth, ashamed for being so nosy, but mostly for getting caught. She gives Sousuke an apologetic stare, and says with her hand over her mouth, “I’m sorry, Sou-chan. I can tell you’ve been taking your photography class seriously.”

Sousuke huffs as he places a plate of cake in front of Yumiko, “well, what did you expect? If I don’t take my education seriously, dad would be all over my ass.”

Yumiko slinks into her chair a little at Sousuke’s harsh tone before conceding, “yeah. You’re right.”

Sousuke notices Yumiko’s guilt and fear and he shakes his head, sighing, “sorry. I didn’t mean to get so snippy with you.” He rubs the back of his neck, “I’m...having a hard time deciding on a major. I made an appointment with an advisor today, but I haven’t narrowed down my options yet.” He inhales deeply as he stares at Yumiko, “I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve talked about it enough for today.”

Yumiko listens, noticing the dilemma in Sousuke’s voice and posture. He seems irritated and annoyed, but she isn’t sure if it’s because he has to make a decision. She nods, “I understand, Sou-chan. We don’t have to talk about that. Besides, I didn’t come here to check on your major status. Not that it’s not important, it is important...I’m curious about something else.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, confused. He wonders what could have piqued her interest so much that she wouldn’t bother asking about his major. He watches her break eye contact with him, looking at the cake in front of her. Yumiko picks up the fork, gently tearing through the layers of dark chocolate cake and raspberry filling. He watches her take a bite, a smile playing at her lips indicating that she loves the dessert. Sousuke looks at the slice of cake in front of him as he asks, “what do you mean?”

Yumiko relishes at the delicious dense chocolaty layers of cake and the tart yet sweet jam of raspberries. Cool on the tongue, the flavors dance across her taste buds, the heaviness of the ganache having an intense caramel, bitter undertone with a nutty and molasses-like flavor profile. 

She swallows the delectable bite, her heart fluttering with delight with the treat of chocolate. Yumiko smiles when she finds Sousuke picking up the fork to try the cake in front of him. Before Sousuke could cut into the ganache, she places a hand over his wrist, bringing down the hand that was hanging in midair as she says delicately, “tell me something Sou-chan. Do you have a lover?”

Sousuke’s eyes widen momentarily, and he just stares at Yumiko. He holds his breath as he examines his stepsister’s expression carefully. Her caramel eyes seem genuinely curious and reflective. Her eyes glimmer as she inspects his eyes and his expression. Sousuke isn’t sure what kind of visage he is revealing, but he assumes bewilderment and shock must show on his features. He tries to make sense of this line of questioning, _‘what? I don’t understand this. She’s never asked me about a lover before, why now? Have I shown interest in someone? That would be obvious to her? I doubt it. She can’t know about my interest in Makoto. There’s no way.’_

He exhales slowly, putting down his fork, “that’s none of your business. However, if you must know, no, I don’t have a lover.”

Yumiko quirks an eyebrow, “oh? Ok.” She releases Sousuke’s wrist, taking another bite of cake, watching Sousuke through the corner of her eye, _‘I see. You didn’t correct me and say ‘girlfriend’ like most guys I know. So...it’s possible. Sou-chan, you really are a hard nut to crack, but since I’ve had time to think about it...and after talking to Makoto...the only person you talk about is Makoto.’_

Sousuke takes a deep breath, hoping that there will be no more queries about lovers, romantic partners, or girlfriends. He observes Yumiko go back to her slice of chocolate cake, enjoying the sweet treat. He sighs softly, picking up his fork and breaking through the gooey chocolate ganache and the rich layers of dense cake. He takes a bite, analyzing the flavor profile of the chocolate raspberry cake in front of him as he hears Yumiko’s voice, “so...no lover. How about a romantic interest? Do you have someone you like, perhaps?”

Sousuke almost chokes on his cake, swallowing carefully, _‘what the hell? Why are you so persistent? Wait a minute. Did Haru tell you? It can’t be Rin. Rin would never tell.’_ He puts down his fork and stares at Yumiko with apprehension, “did you talk to Haru? Did he tell you something?”

Yumiko blinks at the questioning assertion, swallowing the delicious treat before she answers carefully, “no. I haven’t talked to Haruka. Why? Does he know who it is?”

Sousuke opens his mouth to protest, but instead he just stares at Yumiko flabbergasted. He closes his mouth and huffs, looking away, replying defiantly, “what do you know?” 

Yumiko smiles and says with a sing-song voice, “well, if you don’t want me to ask Makoto out on a date, I think it may be wise to tell me to back off before I start dreaming of fantastical possibilities of imaginary dates and family-like situations.”

Sousuke grunts in a pouty-like manner, not liking the fact that he was found out by his stepsister. He crosses his arms, refusing to look at Yumiko as he mutters, “fine. Stop.”

Yumiko licks her lips before biting her lower lip. She can tell that Sousuke isn’t thrilled, and she understands. She puts down her fork, leaning back on the chair as she says seriously, “I’ll stop. Thank you for telling me Sou-chan. No one told me, so don’t worry about that. My lips are sealed.” She places her hands in her lap, crossing her legs as she rubs the back of her hand, “Makoto is a great guy. I think he will make you happy if you let him.”

Sousuke slowly moves his head, still looking down. His eyes falls on the cake in front of him, noticing that he only took one bite of it as he listens to Yumiko. Her tone is sincere, calm and affectionate. It soothes his nerves, making him feel more at ease, _‘Yumiko. Why are you thanking me? I should be thanking you.’_

He looks up to find Yumiko looking down at her lap, a fretful and languid expression on her face. Sousuke gets up and takes a few steps to stand behind her, he places his hands on Yumiko’s shoulders, “are you ok, Yumiko?”

She lifts her head a little bit, realizing that Sousuke’s hands are on her shoulders. Yumiko smiles sadly, _‘oh, Sou-chan.’_ Slowly, she nods and says filled with emotion, “yeah, I’m fine, Sou-chan. I’ll never tell. Never. Just...be happy Sou-chan. Please. If you ever need my help, I will help you. No matter what, you are my brother...that will never change.” 

He listens to Yumiko’s words, taking them to heart. With one hand, he squeezes her shoulder as the thought of being called ‘brother’ sinks in. He hasn’t felt that surge of familial love in such a long time, it feels so foreign and heartwarming. But it’s more than familial love, it’s also unconditional and nonjudgmental. He closes his eyes and relishes in that feeling, his chest feeling warm and cared for, _‘you’ve done so much for me Yumiko. Dammit, I don’t want you to leave.’_

Yumiko lifts her hand up, grasping Sousuke’s hand and squeezing it, _‘Sou-chan. I wish I could stay and see your happiness first hand. You deserve to be happy. Even if it’s not with Makoto...I want you to be with someone you makes you feel good. But...I’m scared for you. Dad will never...he will never approve. That breaks my heart...’_

Sousuke squeezes Yumiko’s hand gently, a small smile on his lips, “Yumiko...nee-san. Thank you.”

Yumiko’s eyes widen and her heart skips a beat, _‘S-Sou-chan. Oh...oh my...you have no idea, how much that means to me.’_ She smiles sweetly, her chest swells with a warm lightness it makes her feel happy and giddy, “Sou-chan. I will slap you silly if you don’t confess your feelings to him. Don’t wait too long...you don’t want him to slip away from you.”

Sousuke smiles, “che. When I get an answer from him, you’ll be the last person to know.”

Yumiko gasps before she puffs out her cheeks with playful defiance. She squeezes Sousuke’s hand, “So~u~su~ke! You’re so mean!” She giggles with happiness, glad that they are able to joke around like real brothers and sisters.

Sousuke joins in, chuckling softly, “heh. Finish your cake, Yumiko. You have to eat another slice. I can’t keep all that cake here. I can’t finish it.”

Yumiko looks up, staring up into Sousuke’s teal eyes, “oh? I think I know someone that may help you eat some of this chocolate cake.” She winks at him playfully.

Sousuke lightly frowns in a playful manner, “oi! Don’t rely on him to clean up your messes.”

Yumiko giggles, releasing Sousuke’s hand. She lifts her back from the wooden chair, leaning her elbow on the dining table and picking up her fork, “well, he may be picking up after your messes at some point in time.”

Sousuke huffs lightly, taking a couple steps over to his seat. He sits down picking up his fork as he watches Yumiko eat a bite of cake, smiling to himself.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** March 21st, Saturday, 11: 12 pm **

****

Sousuke walks into his bedroom with a cup of steaming barley tea, taking a seat by his desk. He carefully places his mug of tea next to his laptop, grabbing his phone to check the time, _‘Rin will call in a couple minutes. Better wake-up my laptop.’_ He opens the lid to his laptop, waking up the system from its slumber and as he waits for Rin’s call, he decides to give Makoto a text to check on him.

[ To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

Yo! Are you staying over at Haru’s tonight? ]

Sousuke goes over his short message, wondering if it’s a bit odd. His phone vibrates.

[ To: Sou

From: Makoto

Oh?? Are you worried about me, Sou~su~ke~? ^_~ Lol! Yes. I’m staying here with Haru tonight. He doesn’t want me taking the train this late, and I kinda took a nap the last hour while Haru put on a movie. I thought I was just gonna check on Haru but then I got tired and well...yeah. Sorry. I know I said I would come back tonight. ]

Sousuke smiles as he reads the message, _‘you took a nap, huh? You did have a busy day, I’m not surprised.’_

[ To: Makoto

From: Sousuke

It’s ok. I agree. You should just stay with Haru. Rest up Makoto. See ya tomorrow. ]

He puts down his phone and notices a call coming through. He answers it seeing Rin wearing his trademark black tank top with his hair pulled back in a ponytail. Sousuke smiles and says, “yo.”

Rin breaks into his shark-tooth grin, “yo! Long time no see. How you been?”

Sousuke leans back in his chair, getting comfortable, “that’s a loaded question. Makoto is slowly moving in here. He’s got most of his things that he wants to bring minus a few more boxes. Finals are coming up and I’m not looking forward to it. How about you? What have you been up to?”

Rin places his elbow on his desk, leaning forward as he rests his chin in the palm of his hand, “lots of swimming practices. My times are better. And don’t remind me about finals...I’m not looking forward to it either. Liam, you know the other guy that swims butterfly? Well, he’s been trying to beat my times. We’ve been racing against each other a lot...but it’s nothing like when Haru and I race.” He sighs, “damn...I really miss him, you know.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, “dude. You can’t compare this...Liam to Haru. Unless you’re sleeping with him too.”

Rin eyes widen at the response before his face contorts into an frown, roaring, “Oi! What the hell is that suppose to mean!? I’m not sleeping around!”

Sousuke chuckles, “alright, alright. I know how mushy you can get, Rin. You always said you would be the monogamous type, don’t worry.”

Rin looks away, his eyes wavering in the distance, silent for a moment before his gaze gives off a darker hue, “che. Don’t joke about that sort of thing. And I'm not mushy.”

Sousuke notices something in the way Rin’s eyes becomes dark and the way he speaks, _‘Rin, what’s going on? Did something happen?’_ Sousuke says in a serious tone, “oi, what happened? Did someone do something to you?”

Rin side glances at Sousuke with an angry glare before he looks away, “what do you mean? Nothing’s happened.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, “did someone try to get into your pants, Rin?”

Rin huffs, clicking his tongue, “I can take care of myself, Sousuke.”

Sousuke stares at Rin with discontent, _‘he didn’t answer my question.’_ He folds his arms over his chest, “who was it, Rin? Tell me.”

Rin growls, leaning against the back of his chair and shifting his weight, “it doesn’t matter, Sousuke. Drop it.”

Sousuke leans forward, banging a fist against the desk, “god dammit, Rin! Don’t do this to me. Who the hell was it, huh? I’m gonna fly down there and beat the shit out of this prick!” 

Rin barks, “leave it alone, Sousuke! No one’s done anything, ok! I was the stupid one!” He face palms, “dammit, Sousuke! Nothing happened, ok! My dick was itching for fun time and I was buzzed. I thought the guy I was with was Haru and I hit on him. Now can we please stop talking about this!”

Sousuke’s eyes widens, shocked to hear that Rin had hit on someone he thought was Haru. He just stares at the redhead, stunned.

Rin takes a peak to stare at Sousuke and he sighs dejectedly, “fuck...Sousuke. I can take care of myself. Look...” Rin flexes his biceps, “I got some big guns. I can take out anyone if they dare to try their luck. And that’s exactly what I did.”

Sousuke slowly nods, “alright, Rin. You don’t need to show off.” He flexes his biceps to his best friend, the short sleeve t-shirt he’s wearing outlining his muscles, “and you let your friends know that your best friend has massive guns. So if anyone dares touches you without permission, they answer to me.”

Rin’s eyebrows shoot up before he covers his mouth, laughing, “shit! Sousuke! You ass! What are you saying!? My guns aren't big enough?” He flexes his biceps once more, kissing his right bicep and then his left.

Sousuke tries to hold back a laugh watching Rin kiss his biceps, instead he snorts, “Rin...” He shakes his head, “who the hell does that?”

Rin huffs, “hey! It’s classic! Classics never die!”

The two pairs of best friends laugh at their own antics, finding the direction of their conversation hilarious.

Sousuke is the first to speak, a small smile on his lips, “alright, Rin. I trust you. Just be careful. Sometimes you get flighty and I don’t want you to get in trouble with Haru. Especially after I accepted your relationship with him.” Sousuke continues with a reprimanding tone, “Don’t make me take his side when you are in the wrong, Rin.”

Rin nods before quirking an eyebrow, “whoa, are you and Haru getting along?” He frowns as he realizes what Sousuke implication means, “hey! Who said I would be in the wrong?” 

Sousuke looks away and shrugs, “I don’t know. He still gets to me sometimes. It’s probably the best it’s gonna get.” He side-glances at Rin, “Haru doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that’s interested in people. He has a really weird relationship with water, so if he’s gonna cheat on you, it’s gonna be with...water.”

Rin rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest, “yeah I know. Don’t make me jealous, Sousuke. Otherwise every time I see the pool, I’m gonna get mad at it.”

Sousuke snorts, “yeah, sure.”

Rin chuckles as he pulls the ponytail out of its confines, letting his hair frame his face, “oh, that reminds me. Have you confessed yet?”

Sousuke looks at Rin momentarily before looking down at his lap. He sighs, running a hand through his black locks, “no. I haven’t.” He shifts his gaze up to meet a crimson stare that says, ‘and why the hell not?’

He shakes his head, “what the hell am I suppose to say? Yo, Makoto, guess what? I know we just started living together and all but I have the hots for you. This may be sudden, but let’s go on a date.”

Sousuke face-palms finding his words absolutely humiliating and groans, “ugh, forget I said that.”

Rin leans forward, placing his elbows on the desk watching his best friend. He’s never seen him so awkwardly abashed before, _‘damn, Sousuke. You’ve got it bad. Just kiss him and see what happens. Makoto is the sweetest guy I know, he’ll be gentle with you’_ He quirks an eyebrow, “Sousuke, what do you think he’ll do? Bite you? C’mon! Just fess up. Mako...”

Sousuke grunts, interrupting, “Rin! You don’t think I want to!? I do, I really do, but...” He sighs heavily, his lips forming a thin line as he puts his hand down into his lap, “I don’t want to mess this up with him. I want to date him, but we have a good friendship.”

Rin covers his mouth with his hand as he hears the weighty words fall from Sousuke lips. He feels his heartstrings being pulled listening to Sousuke, and he understands his dilemma. He inhales slowly before removing his hand over his mouth, “Sousuke. This isn’t just a romantic interest. Look, I get why you’re hesitating...this is Makoto. But, bro, you can’t wait forever. Makoto isn’t some guy that won’t take all aspects of your relationship with him into consideration.”

Sousuke frowns, hating how Rin makes sense. He looks up to meet Rin’s crimson gaze. The two stare at each other, Sousuke trying to figure out what his heart and mind are communicating to him and Rin trying to see what other factors are making the broody teen in front of him so reluctant.

Sousuke takes a deep breath, “I know. Makoto is that kind of guy.” A small smile plays at his lips, “he’s always looking out for others. I just wish he took more consideration for his own needs.”

Rin nods, “yeah. Makoto is always looking out for everyone, including you. So, why aren’t you looking out for your own needs, huh?”

Sousuke huffs lightly, “looking out for my needs? My dad has someone looking out for my needs.”

Rin rolls his eyes, hanging his head as he whines, “Sousuke! C’mon! You know what I mean.” He lazily shifts in his seat, resting his cheek in the palm of his hand, “your heart, bro. If you continue to wait, someone else is gonna swoop in and take him away from you.”

Sousuke’s eyes widen, wavering with fear, _‘shit, that’s true. Makoto is so amazing. I can see everyone falling in love with him. If I don’t act soon, I could lose my chance.’_ He frowns lightly, “dammit, Rin.”

Rin quirks an eyebrow, “hah? What? Finally realized that I’m right?” He gives Sousuke a toothy grin.

Sousuke rolls his eyes with a tiny smile, “che. You’re so full of yourself. How does Haru put up with you?”

Rin makes a face and opens his mouth to make some witty retort, but he pauses thinking about Haru, _‘Haru...’_

Sousuke notices Rin’s face change from an angry frown to longing. He watches Rin’s face fall into a pensive yearning. He huffs silently, “have you two been talking?”

Rin blinks, his eyes focusing on Sousuke’s serious face, “huh?”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows lightly, “you and Haru...have you been talking?”

Rin looks away, “not as much as I would like. Haru has been really busy, but...most of all I miss...”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow, “you miss...”

Rin looks at Sousuke for a moment before looking away with a light flush, “I miss...touching him.”

Sousuke nods, “well you two have a long distance relationship. When are you coming to visit?”

Rin straightens up as he shrugs, “I don’t have any plans yet. I’ll be competing in a tournament in a few months and my coach wants me to stay here and practice.”

Sousuke nods, “I agree with your coach. You need to practice.”

Rin sighs, a slight pout on his face, “yeah, yeah. I know. Thanks for bursting my fantasies of touching Haru.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, “horny bastard.”

Rin barks with no bite, but with reprimand, “oi! I’m not a horny bastard! I just want to hold him, ok!”

Sousuke’s eyes soften, “yeah, I know. You softy.”

Rin crosses his arms over his chest, grumbling under his breath and small blush on his cheeks, “shut up!”

Sousuke chuckles to himself, finding Rin easy to rouse, “call him. Tell him you miss him.”

Rin makes a face, “che. And admit that I’m a hallmark card? No way!”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, “what’s more important? Your pride or communication? I bet he thinks you’re doing alright without him. Who knows, he could miss you too.”

Rin lightly glares at Sousuke, “since when have you been giving advice on love and relationships?”

Sousuke shrugs, “since...” He pauses, remembering that he gave Makoto advice about relationships after he found out about Makoto’s break with his ex, _‘that’s right. I gave Makoto advice before. It was right before I told him to stay with me for awhile.’_ He lifts his gaze up to find crimson eyes on him and he continues, “since I asked Makoto to stay with me. I gave him some advice.”

Rin blinks and he makes a face, scrunching up his eyebrows as he tries to recall.

Sousuke smiles faintly, “just tell him Rin. Get over your pride and be honest. Don’t start pulling away from your friends, including your boyfriend.”

Rin frowns casually, “easy for you to say. I’m always trying to catch him. It doesn’t matter if we’re in the water, swimming, or if I’m leaving him messages. He doesn’t call me. I’m the one leaving him messages all the time.”

Sousuke nods, “yeah, well Haru is a weirdo. He’s doing things that are not normal. Isn’t that why you fell for him in the first place?”

Rin smiles, running a hand through his red locks and leaving his hand at the top of his head, “damn straight. Haru is one hell of a ride, that’s for sure.”

Sousuke snorts, “then stop complaining. You know he’s not the one that does the chasing. For as long as I’ve known you, you’ve been chasing him like a madman. Why stop now?”

Rin sighs, running his hand through the rest of his hair, “yeah, you’re right. Sorry. I guess all the stuff I have to do is just getting to me.”

Sousuke shakes his head, “don’t sweat it. I think you’re just getting stressed out way over there in Sydney. Don’t worry, Haru has been working hard too. Makoto has been keeping tabs on him and when I have time, I’ll check in with him as much as I can tolerate.”

Rin chuckles, “dude! Mako-mama is getting to you! Wait till I tell Nagisa.” His small laugh turns into a thunderous one, holding his sides with both hands.

Sousuke huffs, a small smile plastered on his lips as he watches the redhead, happy to see a luminous expression on Rin’s face.

Sousuke waits a few more moments before he retorts, “and wait till I tell Haru how horny you are.”

Rin’s smile fades, his eyes widen, wavering with shock and horror, “oi!” He releases his sides and leans closer to his laptop, “don’t tell Haru about that!”

Sousuke smirks, “why? Will he kill you?”

Rin huffs, clicking his tongue, “che. Maybe I should spill the beans to Makoto and tell him that he’s your wet dream.”

Sousuke quickly counters, “oi! Rin!”

Rin glares back at Sousuke before his features change to a toothy grin, “oh? Afraid that Makoto will take me seriously? Maybe I should embellish your wet dream so when I tell the story to Makoto, he will faint with embarrassment.”

Sousuke frowns, a small flush staining his cheeks, looking away, “don’t Rin. You’re taking this one too far.”

Rin inhales sharply, holding his breath and lightly wincing as he hears Sousuke’s serious words. Several moments pass between them as they sit there in silence. Rin notices Sousuke’s austere posture and facial expression but his teal eyes seem to harbor something akin to uneasiness and wistfulness.

Rin sighs softly, breaking the silence, “um, don’t worry. I was just kidding. I won’t tell Makoto anything. Besides wanting to see you happy with him, it’s hard keeping this tidbit to myself. Sometimes I feel like Haru knows about you two.”

Sousuke lifts his gaze to stare at Rin’s concerned face, listening. He waits a couple moments before answering, “you’re not wrong about that, Rin. I asked...”

Rin’s eyes bug out with shock, interrupting, “hah?”

Sousuke continues, “I asked Haru for permission.”

Rin opens and closes his mouth as he processes Sousuke’s statement, _‘asked? He asked Haru for permission? Holy shit!? How the hell did that conversation go? When did this happen? Why haven’t you told me? You mean all this time, I’ve been worrying about spilling the beans to Haru, and I didn’t have to? You little punk...but what did Haru say about this?”_

Rin shakes his head lightly and asks, “when? When did this take place? And what did Haru say?”

Sousuke places his index finger over his mouth, cradling his chin with his thumb and middle finger, as he contemplates, trying to remember the exact time he asked Haru. He remembers that it was during the trip to the aquarium, during one of his photo ops. Sousuke takes his time recalling the event before answering Rin’s question and replies, “it was during one of my trips to the aquarium. I initially asked Makoto to join me, but at the time he wanted Haru to tag along, so I agreed. This was sometime in February. While Makoto was away during lunch, Haru and I were alone. So I decided to just ask him.”

Rin nods, listening and when Sousuke stops, he’s left unsatisfied. He face palms, groaning, “and? What did Haru say?”

Sousuke shifts his gaze away, rubbing the back of his neck, “he said...I have his permission.”

Rin looks up, lifting his head to stare at Sousuke, _‘damn, dude! Seriously!? Just like that!’_ He smiles, “Really? Haru just gave you permission that easily?”

Sousuke stares into those sparkling crimson eyes and shakes his head. He brings his hand down, resting it on the desk in front of him, “no. He asked me if I still harbored feelings for you.”

Rin’s smile fades, _‘Haru knew? He knew that Sousuke liked me?’_ He shifts his weight in his chair, looking down briefly before gazing back up at Sousuke, “and what did you say?”

Sousuke observes Rin’s firm stare, and answers clearly, “I told him that I no longer harbor feelings for you Rin, and that’s true.” He pauses, allowing his words to process fully before continuing, “you’re my best friend Rin, my bro. I won’t do anything to jeopardize our friendship.”

Rin takes in Sousuke’s words, allowing his sentiments to sink in before he nods, “Good. I was afraid you still had feelings for me...even though you said you would get over me, I still wondered how long that would take. But when you said that you liked Makoto, I was glad to hear that. Not just because moving on would be good for you...I want you to be happy Sousuke, and trust me, I don’t know a better guy that could possibly make that happen.”

Sousuke listens, slowly nodding, “if he will accept my feelings.”

Rin takes a deep breath, “yeah.”

The two sit in silence, Rin leans back in his chair, lifting his gaze up to the ceiling. He remembers many moments when he wanted to just blurt out his feelings, but somehow he suppressed his emotions, the words dying in his chest. He lifts his hand up toward the ceiling, looking at the back of his hand, _‘I took a chance, risked being rejected and expressed myself. Even though it was terrifying once I realized what I’ve done, there was no going back. Haru saw me...understood me...and accepted me.’_

Rin says with some vulnerability, “the risk may be great, but we won’t achieve greatness without some kind of sacrifice.” Rin makes a fist with his hand hanging in the air, moving his head back down to stare at Sousuke as his arm descends towards his chest. He tightens his fist, “and no matter what happens, I will be here to support you, Sousuke.”

Sousuke snorts, chuckling, “you sap! Thanks, Rin.”

Rin was about to retort, but hearing the genuine gratitude slip through Sousuke’s lips makes him smile instead, “che. I’m so unappreciated.”

The two have a chuckle with their interaction, but they both know that the situation isn’t a laughing matter, but a serious one. Rin knits his eyebrows a sudden thought surging though him and remembers that they were planning to talk about majors.

Rin winces lightly, knowing that this is a sore subject for Sousuke. He carefully says, “Sousuke, did you ever get around to picking out a major? Not that I want to break the mood or anything, but...” Rin scratches the back of his head, hoping that Sousuke won’t just put it off again, or drop the subject.

Sousuke frowns and takes a deep breath. He crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back into his chair harshly, “no. I haven’t.”

Rin sighs with defeat, “Sousuke.”

Sousuke shrugs nonchalantly, “I know.”

Rin leans forward resting an elbow on the desk, “well...have you given my suggestions some thought?”

Sousuke nods, “yeah, I did. I talked to my advisor about it and I narrowed it down to three.” Sousuke looks at the wall behind the laptop and he notices the black mug sitting on his desk. He leans forward, grabbing the handle with one hand and brings it closer. He takes a sip, noticing the tea has become lukewarm. He places the cup on his lap, grasping it with both hands, answering while staring at the tea, “physical therapy, sports medicine, or sports psychology.”

Rin nods, noticing that he took one of his suggestions. He lifts his hand up to his chin, covering his mouth with his index finger, thinking about the suggestions before answering, “okay. Well, I can’t imagine you in a white lab coat prescribing medication like a doctor. Do you think that’s something you want to do in the future?” He looks up at Sousuke with a questioning stare.

Sousuke frowns, disliking the idea of being a stuffy doctor. He’s seen enough of doctors and shakes his head, “no.”

Rin nods and taps his lips with his index finger, _‘hmm, physical therapy or sports psychology. I’m...not sure. I suggested sports psychology because there is some flexibility, but I don’t know what Sousuke wants, and he doesn’t seem motivated by any of these options.’_

Rin stares at Sousuke observing him lifting his cup of tea to his lips, _‘dammit Sousuke. I still think you could swim competitively. There have been many athletes that have come back from injuries, even serious injuries just like yours, Sousuke. I know that’s what you really want to do, but last time we talked, we fought. I don’t want to have a repeat of that.’_

Rin takes a deep breath before asking, “how do you feel about your physical therapist? You think you could do things like he or she does?”

Sousuke puts his cup down on the desk, taking in Rin’s words, _‘my physical therapist? I hate going to physical therapy. It’s either pushing too hard or crippling you from moving forward, it’s so irritating. I’ve snapped at him several times during my recovery...I hated the feeling of being useless. But, he has helped me gain the use of my arm after surgery. As much as I hate to admit it, he has helped me by doing his job. Can I do what he does?’_

Sousuke inhales slowly, reflecting on his thoughts critically, weighing the pros and cons of possible choices for his future.

Rin frowns as he crosses his legs, impatient with all the waiting and mutters under his breath, “just swim, Sousuke. That’s what you really want to do.”

Sousuke quirks an eyebrow, his ears perking up with the slight irritation in Rin’s voice; he shifts his gaze up towards Rin, “we talked about this, Rin.”

Rin huffs, crossing his arms as he looks away, “yeah, I know. I still believe you can swim competitively. You can join me and Haru. All you have to do is just reach out and take hold of it...never let go.”

Sousuke looks down at his lap, feeling that surge deep within him, the desire to swim. Being in the water, competing with others, feeling the burn of his muscles cutting through the blue waves reminds Sousuke of the thrill of it all. He swallows slowly, _‘dammit Rin. Why do you have to do this to me!?’_ He balls his hand into a fist briefly before he releases it, “you’re right, Rin. I want to swim. Competitively.”

Sousuke’s teal eyes lift up to stare into crimson eyes, “you know I would join you in a heartbeat. I never gave up, Rin. I fucked up. I made a choice to swim against medical advice. And I still wouldn’t change my mind, to swim with you. I only regret one thing...overtraining myself when I was in Tokitsu. Everything else, I would do it all over again without a second thought.”

Rin can see the conviction behind Sousuke’s words and in his eyes; he swallows, listening to his best friend breaking eye contact, looking down at his crossed arms. He mutters indignantly, “then why stop now?”

Sousuke frowns lightly, his teal gaze becoming icy, “you know why. My family won’t support my decision. My mother has left the financial burden of providing for me to my father. My father has made it crystal clear that he won’t provide for me if I choose to fuck up my shoulder further. I don’t have a scholarship to assist that dream, Rin. As much as I want to swim, I can’t provide myself with the necessary support to maintain a career in competitive swimming.”

Rin frowns, sighing in defeat as he turns his gaze to meet Sousuke’s cold stare. Anger bubbles up from his chest, _‘dammit! Pisses me off! Your damn parents! All they’ve done is hurt you and even now...god damn jerks!’_ Rin exhales with a grunt, “alright, alright. I hear you. Sousuke...”

Sousuke interrupts, his eyes unfocused on something beyond the computer screen, “Rin. I’m tired. Let’s call it a night.”

Rin is silent momentarily and realizes that he possibly crossed a line, “yeah. It’s getting late here. Let’s chat sometime soon, ok?”

Sousuke shifts his gaze back at Rin with a solemn nod, “yeah. I’ll text you. Don’t push yourself too hard, Rin.”

Rin nods, “yeah, yeah. Night Sousuke.” Rin smiles with a nonchalant salute.

Sousuke returns the smile and salute, “night.” They hang up and Sousuke leans back into his chair. His eyes shifts back to the plushie on the edge of his desk. The black beady eyes and the cute smile on the whale shark-bunny’s face give him no sense of comfort, but it reminds him of Makoto. A small smiles graces his lips as he revels in his memory of the gentle giant with a sunny smile and captivating emerald eyes, _‘Makoto.’_

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------

** March 22nd, Sunday, 1: 51 pm **

****

Makoto is sitting in Sousuke’s dinning room in one of the chairs closest to the tall windows, editing his essay for his education class. He rolls his neck from side to side, feeling some tautness from his muscles. He knits his eyebrows as he rolls his shoulders back, releasing some tension from his tight muscles.

He sighs as he leans back in his chair, he checks the clock on his laptop screen, _‘almost 2. Haru is still practicing at the sports center. I’ll send him a text later. Sousuke won’t be back for a while...he said he would text me when he’s coming back. Oh! That reminds me...Sousuke has a book for me to borrow. I think he said it was in his room. I better grab it and check it out.’_

Makoto saves his progress and decides that he will get back to his essay for his education class later. He gets up out of the wooden chair, trotting over to the hallway heading towards Sousuke’s bedroom. Makoto pushes the already ajar door open, taking careful steps into the bedroom. He stops next to Sousuke’s desk with a black and blue backpack opened. Makoto takes a closer look, _‘oh, this is his camera bag. I didn’t realize he had four lenses for it.’_

He notices a small stack of books on the other end of the desk, behind his closed laptop. Makoto scans the titles of the books and smiles when he notices the book Sousuke mentioned to be the second from the top of the stack. He reaches over and gently pries the book out of the stack. Makoto opens the book and sees a yellow post-it note with his name on it.

Makoto smiles as Sousuke had listed out a few chapters to check out for his nutrition paper, _‘Sousuke...’_ He closes the book, bringing it up to his chest, clutching it with one arm as he rubs the back of his ear with his other hand. Makoto sighs in relief, glad that his ears aren’t burning with a flush.

Before he turns around to head back to the dining room, his green eyes settle on a couple SD cards and an SD card reader next to Sousuke’s backpack. He knits his brows for a moment, _‘memory cards...hmm.’_

Makoto look at the bedroom door, biting his bottom lip, _‘would it be bad if I took a peak? I haven’t seen very many pictures.’_ He shakes his head, _‘I really shouldn’t. It’s not my business...besides Sousuke will show me some of them when he’s done, I bet.’_

He takes one step away from the desk before he stops, _‘but...if Nagisa were here, he would totally look into it. And...I’m curious. Eiji keeps teasing me about how Sousuke is always pointing the camera at me. He can’t be right...can he?’_ Makoto looks back at the camera bag, knowing the SD cards aren’t that far away from it, _‘it wouldn’t hurt to look, would it? As long as I put them back, right? *sigh* Rei would try to stop me...and Haru would be indifferent to all this. Hmm...’_

Makoto spends a minute debating with himself until his curiosity gets the better of him, he takes a couple steps back grabbing the SD cards and SD card reader. He scurries back to the dining room with a spring in his step, wanting to see what lies within the memory cards he has temporarily nabbed in hopes of not getting caught.

Makoto sits back down in the wooden chair putting down the book about nutrition on the side as he places one of the SD cards down on top of it. He slides the other SD card into the SD card reader attentively and places it into his USB. Carefully he opens the folder filled with several image files.

He takes a moments just staring at all the letters and numbers in front of him. A sense of eagerness, anxiety, and uneasiness all hit him at the same time and he hesitates, _‘if I do this...then I will see what Sousuke has been taking pictures of. But...this is a violation of privacy of sorts. I don’t want him to not trust me.’_

Makoto sighs deeply, conflicted as his fingers hover over the keyboard, ready to open up a set of image files, _‘how does Nagisa just do things like this? Without another thought whatsoever? Am I worrying too much? I just want to take a peak. I know he’s taken some pictures of Haru...and I’m curious what Sousuke saw...and how it was captured.’_

He swallows, taking a deep breath as he hits the keys on the keyboard, pushing away his doubts and worries. A window instantly opens up with the first image and Makoto’s eyes widen. It’s a picture of a snowy backdrop. A bench and lamppost in the distance with snow covered trees.

Makoto smiles, he remembers going to the park with Sousuke. They were just taking a walk at a nearby park. Sousuke seemed to fiddle around with the camera so much as Makoto pointed at birds, squirrels, and scenic views that he thought would be a decent photo op. He looks through the other pictures, finding many pictures of the same shot. Makoto chuckles finding some of the attempted shots adorable as he continues through the slew of image files. He finds a few pictures with him in it, but nothing that stands out, _‘this must be his first pictures. Some of these pictures are really nice and others not so much. Let’s see what’s at the end of this card.’_

Makoto scrolls through several files, selecting a block of images to open. The first picture is of a beautiful quilt with reds, blues, and greens. He remembers the quilt from one of the museums they visited. Makoto continues to scroll through until he finds an image of himself viewing a painting with a thoughtful expression. His hands stills as he takes in the image of himself. It’s a good picture and it surprises him somehow.

Makoto looks down briefly before scrolling through the rest of the pictures. He finds several more images of himself staring at various art pieces, with several expressions; a content smile, a sad smile, confusion, shock, frowns, a haunted expression, and surprise. He doesn’t remember making any of those faces, yet somehow Sousuke was able to capture them.

Finally he finds some from the café and he chuckles as he stumbles on a photo of Haru glaring angrily with a cup of tea at the camera, _‘Ha~ru~! That’s not nice.’_ There are many pictures of Haru studying, drinking tea, and looking away from the camera. Then there are pictures of Makoto working the espresso machine, talking to a customer, handing a paper cup to customers, Makoto talking to Eiji, Eiji waving at the camera, and several close-ups of Makoto smiling.

He bites his lip feeling warmth filling his chest, as well as embarrassment. Slowly, he goes through the rest of the pictures and there are pictures of him studying and eating at the café, but there is one that catches his eye. It’s a picture of him and Haru laughing together with writing utensils in hand. Makoto’s eyes widen as he stares at the image, noticing the very visible smile on Haru’s face, his blue eyes shining with an even bigger smile as Makoto eyes are closed, head tilted to the side with delight.

Haru doesn’t smile very often and seeing it in person always makes him burst with happiness, but seeing an image of them together, enjoying each other’s company is completely different. Makoto’s heart swells with joy as the image has more meaning to him than what Sousuke probably had intended to capture. It isn’t just a picture of best friends to Makoto, but rather it’s a visualization of something more symbolic for him, their bond as childhood friends.

Makoto is tempted to save the picture to his computer, but he decides against it, _‘it’s a beautiful picture of us...but I can’t just take it like that. Maybe I’ll ask him to show me some of these pictures after we’re done with this trimester.’_ With a sad smile he closes the application and ejects the folder from his laptop.

He pulls out the memory card and slides the second one into the card reader before plugging it into his laptop. Makoto opens up another set of photo files instantly staring at a picture of a pathway with light snow shoveled off to the side and several red torii. The pictures after are of Makoto walking through the pathway and he stops to stare at a picture of Makoto smiling back at the camera with a wave, _‘I remember this. We visited Nezu Jinja.’_ There are pictures of the temple, different compositions of architecture, statues, and nature.

Makoto smiles remembering the sights from the temple and moves on to another set of pictures in the swimming pool downstairs, many of the images are of Haru but there are some of Makoto. He smiles fondly as he stares at pictures of Haru stretching before getting into the water, putting on his goggles and headcap, and preparing himself to dive into the water. However, the pictures of himself make him wonder why Sousuke took them. There are photos of Makoto stretching his back, bending down to pick things up from the floor, running his hand through his wet mane of hair, pulling himself up from the pool, and bending down on the starting block with his ass in the air.

Makoto stares at the last picture wondering, _‘eh? Why did Sousuke take pictures of me...like this? And with my ass in the air...’_ He cover his eyes with his hand, _‘that’s so embarrassing!’_ He quickly shifts to another set of photos to look through. The first picture that pops up are images of city lights from way up high. Makoto knits his eyebrows, finding the buildings and skyline familiar.

He looks out the window and sees a shorter greyish building next to him, a fence around the perimeter of the roof with a small garden of plants, _‘hmm, that’s not it. I wonder if it’s closer to the living room. Maybe where the balcony is?’_ Makoto shifts his gaze back to the photo before getting up, sauntering over to the living room, looking out the tall windows. The scenery before him is of the beautiful sky with buildings out in the distance. He can imagine the lights beaming out of windows and light bulbs, illuminating the darkness during the night.

Makoto smiles as he recognizes the spot Sousuke must have taken the picture from, _‘it is right by the balcony. It’s a beautiful view.’_ He takes a moment to enjoy the sights before he slowly walks back to his seat, browsing through other compositions from the balcony, admiring Sousuke’s perspective through the lens.

He comes across another set of photos from the café, pictures of Sousuke’s favorite tonkatsu sandwich, Haru’s mackerel sandwich that he usually orders, cups of tea and coffee, Eiji posing for a picture as he serves food, and Makoto studying and writing on his laptop. There is one picture that catches his eye, an image of himself looking out the window longingly, a pencil in his hand as he leans forward resting his chin on his palm against the table, a notebook open with a book on top of it. Makoto stares at the image, finding it a bit strange that a picture of himself would make him pause and wonder what is going through his mind at that particular moment.

Makoto continues to stare, _‘I always knew I have a transparent face, but I didn’t think I was this...expressive. How does he do it? I don’t think I would be able to capture moments like these...Sousuke makes it look so easy. What was I thinking here? I almost look...a bit sad here. Was I thinking of my family?’_

His body jolts in his seat, the sound of the door closing causes him to hold his breath, he turns his head towards the entrance of the apartment, _‘oh no! Sousuke must be back! I need to close all of this!’_

With slightly shaky hands, Makoto quickly presses the keys on the keyboard, closing the applications carefully. He doesn’t want to mess up the data on the memory card before ejecting it from his laptop. As soon as he gets the pop-up message from his computer that he can disconnect the card reader, Makoto pulls it out and struggles a bit stuffing it into his pocket.

Makoto sighs in relief as he hears Sousuke voice call out, “Makoto?” 

Makoto turns his head toward the entryway hallway, “welcome back Sousuke. Do you need some help?” He looks at the screen in front of him and picture of his family on his desktop greets him. With a smile on his face, he’s about to push himself up from his chair until he looks down at the book next to his laptop. Makoto notices the second SD card lying on top of it. He gasps softly, _‘oh god! No!,’_ Makoto grabs the memory card instantaneously, almost dropping it. He makes sure that its still in his hand, facing his palm up, _‘oh thank goodness! I have to put this away...’_

Makoto lifts his ass off the seat of his chair, leaning against the wooden frame with his back as he struggles to shove the memory card into his other pocket.

Sousuke walks into the apartment, noticing Makoto fiddling with his jeans conspicuously. He quirks an eyebrow, “uh...am I interrupting you from something?”

Makoto turns his head to find Sousuke standing next to the kitchen staring at him questioningly. He smiles sheepishly, feeling slightly guilty, “uh, no, no. Of course not. I was just...um, fixing my, uh, pocket. That’s all.” He gets up and walks over towards Sousuke, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously, “do you need help with something?”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, confused with Makoto’s answer, _‘fixing his pocket? That sounds a bit odd. Are you hiding something? Or did I catch you with your pants down...’_ He continues to look at Makoto with slight suspicion, “do you need some alone time? I can come back later if you...”

Makoto’s eyes widen at the implication of Sousuke’s words and his mouth hangs open as he flushes. Quickly he puts his hands up in the air, waving them around, “no, no, no! I wasn’t doing anything like...” Makoto face-palms groaning lightly as his shoulders slump, “I wasn’t...”

Sousuke chuckles lightly as he watches Makoto limply stands in front of him with his ears burning from embarrassment, _‘cute. Real cute, Mako.’_ He walks into the kitchen, opening one of the white cabinets to retrieve a white ceramic mug, “it’s no big deal, Mako. We all do it.”

Makoto sighs heavily, moaning with mortification as he whines, “but I wasn’t, Sou. I wasn’t doing anything like that. I was just...fixing my pocket.” He leans his shoulder against the pillar, hiding his face from Sousuke.

Sousuke pulls out a teabag from a tin, dropping it into his cup before closing the tin. He looks over his shoulder to find Makoto leaning against the column with his hands over his entire face. He smiles at the sight, _‘you really get embarrassed easily. If I did catch you with your pants down I...’_

Sousuke looks back at his ceramic mug, putting down the tin on the marbled countertop. He lifts his cup over to the water heater, _‘I’d want to touch you so badly, Mako. But...it doesn't matter. That’s not what happened.’_ He replies steadily over the sound of water pouring out of the water heater spout, “so you weren’t messing around, ok. Just...fixing your pocket.”

Makoto quickly lifts his face from the confines of his hands, eyes widen with shock at the silliness of his excuse being repeated back to him, _‘oh my god! It sounds so wrong! What was I thinking!? Coming up with such a stupid reason like that! No wonder he doubted me. I made a complete fool of myself.’_ He rubs his face, trying to make the hotness of his cheeks disappear, “when you put it that way, it sounds like I was doing all sorts of...naughty things.”

Sousuke releases the button of the water heater as he listens to Makoto’s words as he holds his breath, _‘naughty things?’_ He swallows slowly as a naughty image of Makoto sprouts in his mind. Makoto leaning against the kitchen counter with his elbows, sticking his ass out in the air in nothing but those tight jammers he usually wears. He thinks about how form-fitting jammers could be and how Makoto’s ass looked so delicious and bubbly. Sousuke exhales deeply, calming his active dirty mind, “well, it’s...normal. There’s nothing wrong with fulfilling desires.” Sousuke pushes the button on the water heater once again, filling up his mug.

Makoto stills, his palms releasing his cheeks, hovering over his face as he stares at the back of Sousuke’s head, stupefied. The idea of Sousuke trying to make him feel better about something like this baffles him, and at the same time his heart thumps loudly in his chest as warmth blooms inside of him. He repeats Sousuke’s last words in his mind, _‘nothing wrong with fulfilling desires...’_ Makoto licks his lips before biting the inside of his bottom lip, _‘my unfulfilled desires are full of you...Sou.’_

Makoto clears his throat, covering his mouth with a hand.

Sousuke moves his head back slightly at the sound of Makoto makes. He releases the button on the water heater, his mug now full as he looks back at the teen behind him, “Mako, you ok? I can make you some tea.”

Makoto’s eyes quickly shift over to teal eyes staring at him at the mention of his nickname. He holds his breath at how easy that nickname slips through his lips causing Makoto to inhale sharply, holding his breath, _‘I really like how my name falls from your lips.._.’ He quickly releases his hold on his bottom lip answering, “um...yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I wouldn’t mind some tea.” Makoto rubs his arm soothingly, chuckling abashedly, _‘I’m an idiot. Why am I getting all worked up all of a sudden? It’s not like he can read my mind.’_

Sousuke notices Makoto’s sheepish voice, and wonders what is making the other so timid, _‘I must have walked in on something. Well, if he doesn’t want to tell me, I’ll leave it alone.’_ He notices the flush on Makoto’s cheeks and he smiles, “alright.” Sousuke turns around, opening the cupboard to grab another mug for Makoto.

Makoto smiles, ceasing his rubbing as he asks, “so how’s Yumiko? How is she doing with the move?”

Sousuke opens the tea canister, “she’s doing alright. She looks tired, but I decided not to mention it cuz otherwise she fusses over her make-up and takes forever before we can have a normal conversation. She says that she’s mostly packed now, just needs to get rid of a few things.”

Makoto sighs softly, “oh, ok. I thought it was urgent. When she called earlier, you had a worried expression on your face.”

Sousuke nods once and interrupts as he closes the tea canister, “I was worried. Sakura was with her, and Yumiko told me that we needed to have a talk. Yumiko wanted to make sure that Sakura knew some things about my progress. Nothing new, but if it gives Yumiko peace of mind...I can bear with it.”

Makoto tilts his head as he repositions himself on the column, crossing his foot over the other as he continues to lean against the pillar, crossing his arms, “ah. She really worries about you, Sou.”

Sousuke huffs lightly, pressing the button on the water heater to dispense the liquid, “I know.”

Makoto nods as he recalls the conversation he had with Yumiko about a month ago; about her worries about leaving Sousuke and her mother. He inhales and exhales deeply, feeling the time he shared with Yumiko becoming more and more nonexistent. He says with a hint of somber, “it’s gonna be different without her around. I’m really gonna miss her.” He looks down at his crossed arms, _‘I’m worried for you Sou. Yumiko is your cheerleader...and she cares for you deeply. I’m gonna miss seeing you and Yumiko together...like real siblings.’_

Sousuke frowns lightly, hearing the solemn tone in Makoto’s voice. He hasn’t given his feelings much thought in regards to the upcoming changes, but it has been haunting him lately. He’s noticed that his heart feels heavy when he thinks about family, especially when it comes to Yumiko, _‘yeah, I’m gonna miss her too.’_ He releases the button on the water dispenser, bringing the mug closer to his body as he bobs the tea bag up and down, “I know what you mean.”

Makoto looks away, his eyes focusing on the bedroom hallway, his mind reminding him about what lies in his pockets, _‘oh! I need to find a way to put these memory cards back into Sousuke’s room. Before he left, he wanted to work on his pictures.’_

Sousuke grabs the matching white ceramic mugs by the handles before turning around to find Makoto staring at the hallway. He glances down the hallway wondering what the other teen is thinking about. Sousuke’s eyes drift back to Makoto’s profile, admiring the shape of his lips, how they protrude out, making such a distinctive outline. He notices that Makoto’s lips aren’t chapped or dry, but smooth. He can imagine that Makoto’s lips are soft, plush, and luscious. Sousuke shakes that thought from his mind, knowing if he stares too long it will make things awkward between them. He asks, “did you get a chance to unpack the boxes you brought here today? If you haven’t, I can help you out.”

Makoto lightly lurches in place as he hears Sousuke’s voice. He turns his head to find teal eyes gazing at him. Sousuke extends one of his hands forward, a cup of tea being offered to him.

Makoto quickly uncrosses his feet, standing firmly with both feet before taking a step forward, taking the mug from Sousuke with a smile, “thanks, Sou. And don’t worry about the boxes, I unpacked most of them before I decided I needed a break. I decided to work on one of my assignments. That’s what I was working on before you walked in on me.”

Sousuke watches Makoto gently take the mug from him, using both hands to caress the hot ceramic cup. Sousuke carefully releases the mug as Makoto takes it from him, a little disappointed that their hands did not meet. He watches Makoto bring the cup closer to his body, staring into the cup of tea with a small smile on his face.

Sousuke nods, listening to Makoto, “I see. Well, if you change your mind, I’ll be in my room working on my project.” He brings the white mug up to his lips, taking in the scent of the delicate genmai flavor, blowing on the top to cool it down a little before taking a sip.

Makoto’s heart stops with dread, his head snaps up from his cup to Sousuke’s face, _‘oh no! What am I gonna do?’_ He opens his mouth to say something, but his throat fails him as his mind races to find something, anything to stall the other, “how come you didn’t text me earlier? I-I was...um...worried. You know...since I thought...it was, um...an urgent matter.”

Sousuke looks up at Makoto with confusion, _‘you didn’t get my text? I thought I gave you a heads up.’_ He brings the cup down from his lips as he fishes his phone out of his distressed grey jean pocket. Sousuke checks his texts and notices that he has a message written out for Makoto but he forgot to hit the send key. He sighs softly, “sorry, Mako. I thought I texted you, but I forgot to send the message.”

Makoto blinks for a moment before he chuckles, “oh. Well, that’s ok. I’ve done that before.”

Sousuke smiles lightly, “ok. I’ll check on you later. I better get started on my assignment.” He walks past Makoto, heading to his bedroom.

Makoto stares at Sousuke with apprehension bubbling in his chest and without thinking, he lifts his arm up, gasping Sousuke’s bicep.

Sousuke feels a pressure around his arm and he looks over his shoulder with a curious expression, “Mako?”

Makoto opens his mouth and splutters the first thing on his mind, “Sou...”

Sousuke stares into Makoto’s green eyes, noticing something akin to fear within them, _‘Mako? Is something wrong? Did something happen while I was gone?’_ He waits as he continues staring at Makoto.

Makoto gazes into those teal eyes and his mind goes blank. He knows he should stop him from going to his room, but at the same time he can’t come up with a good excuse to prevent Sousuke from leaving. Makoto releases Sousuke’s arm, a look of defeat in his eyes as he says, “I...nevermind. It’s nothing.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows, _‘nothing? Mako...’_ He shifts his weight, turning his body to face the other teen, “what is it?”

Makoto shakes his head, “I...I just...I...” He sighs heavily, looking up at Sousuke with conciliatory eyes, “it’s nothing. I just reached out to you without thinking.” He bites his bottom lip with a worried expression, tightly holding his cup of tea with both hands, _‘damn. What do I do? If I admit that I took his memory cards just to sneak a peak...no I can’t tell him that! What good reason do I have to snoop through his stuff? Ugh...what a mess.’_

Sousuke chest wells with strained uncertainty, he doesn’t like the expression Makoto wears and his mind rapidly tries to rationalize his behavior, _‘Mako...what happened? Something happened. I don’t like this. Whatever it is, I wish you’d tell me. Why do I get this sense that it has something to do with his ex? I swear, if he bothers you, I will hunt that fuckin’ ass down and beat the crap out of him.’_

Sousuke takes a couple steps towards Makoto, passing him just a bit to place his mug on the kitchen counter. He places his hands over Makoto’s, causing the other teen to look up at him. Sousuke closes the gap between them, the mug being the only thing between them as Sousuke says with concern, “is it your ex? Did he contact you?”

Makoto gasps silently as Sousuke fingers caress his and Makoto’s heart freezes with an ambiguous sense of surprise, yearning, fear, and a romantic ache. Instantly, his green eyes are met with teal ones, a serious, protective gaze meets his and Makoto hearts fills with apprehension as he processes Sousuke’s words, _‘huh? My ex? No...no! No, it’s nothing like that. Sou...’_ He says with an airy voice, “no. He...he hasn’t. I haven’t talked to him. Sou...it really is...”

Sousuke interrupts, “Mako. If he ever bothers you, tell me...please. I don’t ever want to see you hurt like that.” His fingers gently push into Makoto’s hand, emphasizing his words even further.

Makoto stares into those teal eyes, seeing a hint of distress, worry, but his voice gives way to a sense of a desperate plea with his serious tone. It surprises him and his heart flutters with a flare heat, _‘Sou...I...you...I’m sorry. I did not mean to make you worry like this. I’m...so flattered by the sentiment. It makes me feel...good. If things keep going like this I...I think I may fall in...’_ He can feel his ears heat up and he shakes his head, “Sou, I haven’t heard from him. If anything else happens between him and I, I...I will let you know. I promise, Sou. Please, please don’t worry about this.”

Sousuke swallows, listening to Makoto’s gentle voice, pleading with him sweetly. Hearing his name with Makoto’s silky voice, sends a burst of electricity ringing in his ears, _‘I’m glad to hear that, Mako. Don’t ever call his name, he doesn’t deserve even that. Just, call for me instead. I’ll be there.’_ He can see Makoto’s emerald eyes waver under his stare and he looks down at their connected hands.

Sousuke’s heart melts a little at the sight, and a desire to smile overtakes his senses, _‘I want more than a simple touch...’_

Sousuke releases his hold on Makoto’s hands, keeping a straight face as he takes a step back, “ok.”

The two just stare at each other, unable to find appropriate words to exchange. Makoto holds onto his cup, missing the gentle invigorating touch on the back of his hand. He wants Sousuke to place his hands over his again, only this time not letting go.

Makoto watches Sousuke take a step to the side, grabbing something on the counter. Sousuke gives Makoto a small smile with his cup of tea in hand and he opens his mouth to say something but closes it after a moment. Makoto wants to ask him about what was on his mind, but Sousuke looks away and makes his way down the bedroom hallway.

Makoto just stands there observing Sousuke’s retreating back, his eyes focusing on Sousuke’s broad shoulders. They look so strong, even though his right shoulder had been previously injured. He wonders if Sousuke’s shoulder is doing ok since he hasn’t been going to Sousuke’s appointments lately. Yumiko had assured him that Sousuke has been doing fine during the appointments, but he misses joining Sousuke during the appointments. Suddenly, Sousuke turns into his bedroom, vanishing from his sight.

Makoto inhales deeply, _‘I didn’t realize...that he has been worried about that. I haven’t said much about my ex. I do see him from time to time, but I try to avoid him mostly. I wonder if he worries about me going to school? Haru does sometimes...’_ He walks back to his laptop in the dining room, _‘Haru and Sou...they can be similar at times. It’s cute, but I’m certain neither one of them wants to hear that.’_

He takes a sip of the green liquid in his mug, relishing in the sweet nutty flavor of genmai before sitting down at his laptop. He puts the cup down on the wooden table before waking up his laptop. Makoto tilts his head to the side as his fingers cease movement over the keys of the keyboard, _‘wait. I...got distracted. I was supposed to do something. What was it? I think it was something important?’_

He leans back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he looks up to the ceiling trying to recall, _‘I don’t remember. But, I’ll check my phone. Maybe I forgot to text someone back.’_

\------------------------------------------------

Sousuke saunters into his bedroom, _‘I should have said something before leaving him there.’_ He plops his mug of tea on his desk, in front of his pile of books, pulling out his cellphone from his back pocket. He walks over to his bed, sitting down on the side of it for a moment as he checks his messages. He has a message from both Yumiko and Sakura. Sousuke sighs, deciding to check them out briefly. Sakura reminds him of a family dinner next week, which he responds with a simple, “yes, I’ll be there,” and Yumiko reminds Sousuke of his appointments for the week.

Sousuke decides to ignore Yumiko’s text for now, with the intention to reply later in the evening. He gets up placing his phone next to his mug before pulling off the black, grey, and white v-neck knit sweater over his head and placing it on the back of his chair. He readjusts his tank-top undershirt, pulling it down his torso before sitting down on the chair.

Sousuke runs a hand through his hair, _‘ok. Time to get to work. I need to tweak a few things on one of my pictures, and then I need to pick another for the portfolio. I’ll check my memory cards and see what I have.’_ He picks up the mug of tea, taking another sip before looking through his camera equipment.

After several minutes, he realizes that he’s missing two memory cards. Sousuke knits his eyebrows, _‘that’s strange. I could have sworn I left them on top of my desk. Did I misplace them?’_ He searches his desk thoroughly before looking around his desk, under his desk, under his bed, his nightstands, and file cabinet. Sousuke stands between his bed and his closet, scratching the back of his head, _‘what the hell? Where the hell did I put them? Shit...am I gonna have to check the whole apartment.’_

Sousuke huffs, irritated with himself as he walks out of his bedroom, staring at Makoto’s bedroom, _‘it can’t be in there. I’ll check the living room first, I may have left it on the coffee table.’_ He heads through the bedroom hallway, straight for the living room, looking around the bookcases, coffee table and side tables, _‘dammit nothing.’_ He checks the floor just in case, but he finds nothing.

Sousuke walks out of the living room and finds Makoto turning his head from his phone with a questioning stare. Makoto asks, “is something wrong, Sou?”

Sousuke sighs, “I can’t find my memory cards.” He looks over at the kitchen, _‘maybe the kitchen counters? I was in a rush earlier, maybe it’s in there.’_ He makes his way to the kitchen as he asks Makoto, “have you seen them? I thought I left them on my desk, but they aren’t there.”

Makoto’s eyes widen at the mention of memory cards, _‘oh...no! Crap! That’s what I forgot! I was trying to make sure that Sousuke didn’t go back to his bedroom.’_ He puts his phone down on the table as anxiety and guilt clench his core. Makoto gets up from his seat, gently tucking the chair back into its spot as he responds with hesitation, “w-well, I-I...I don’t know.” He internally winces, _‘dammit...that sounds like a lie.’_

Sousuke’s ears perk up, recognizing the quiver and equivocation in his voice, _‘wait a minute...’_ Sousuke stops in his tracks, turning his body towards Makoto and he sees him biting his lip with his eyes slightly casted downwards with a worried expression on his face. Sousuke asks the question again, this time with slight reprimand, “have you seen my memory cards, Mako?”

Makoto quickly straightens his body posture, holding his breath as he hears a bit of chiding in Sousuke’s deep tone. He looks away, rubbing his arm soothingly as he replies, “well...I...may have...stumbled upon...them.”

Sousuke walks out of the kitchen, keeping his eyes on Makoto’s face. His view is interrupted by the column and he quickly walks past it, watching Makoto, _‘Mako...I’m beginning to get a clear picture here. Is that what you were hidi...’_

Sousuke stops as realization hits him. His eyes widen, wavering with consternation and fear, _‘he saw them. He saw the pictures. There are so many pictures of him on them.’_

Makoto licks his lips, biting his bottom lip as anxiety fills him. He doesn’t know what Sousuke will do with him if he finds out. The thought that Sousuke may get angry and take it out on him doesn't sit well with Makoto and he hopes that won’t be the case. He notices Sousuke stop in his tracks and he holds his breath, he can see the gears in Sousuke’s mind piecing things together and he can feel that uncomfortable sense of fright overtake his senses. He takes a step back with worry.

Sousuke’s eyes register Makoto’s movement and his teal eyes meet scared emerald ones. He swallows as he takes a few steps forward, “Mako...”

Makoto dashes over to the other side of the dining room table, eyes wide, “Sou...I...I’m sorry.”

Sousuke’s eyes bulge with alarm, “did you see them?”

Makoto nods as he moves down the dining table, away from Sousuke, “they are really good, Sou.”

Sousuke’s heart falls to his stomach, _‘shit! He saw my pictures! I took so many pictures of him! Fuck!’_ He takes a few steps around the dining room table, towards Makoto as he says with an ambivalent, unsteady tone, “how much did you see?”

Makoto eyes stay trained on Sousuke, he can see the shock written all over his face. When Sousuke moves, he takes many steps away from Sousuke, his hands resting on the back of the chair, at the head of the table. He winces at the query directed at him and falters over his answer, “um, I saw...well, a-a lot. Pro-probably more than I should have.”

Sousuke’s mouth parts at Makoto’s answer, _‘the pictures of him...he saw all of them?’_ Fear bubbles in the pit of his stomach, there were pictures he had not gone through with a fine toothcomb yet, pictures he should delete, and the slew of pictures featuring Makoto. There are so many that he couldn’t dare put in the trash, but it must look so strange to see so many photos of himself. Practically two-thirds of the photos on both memory cards feature Makoto. What would Makoto think of him? Taking so many pictures of him? Anxiety builds in the pit of his stomach, melding with the fear that is already there.

Sousuke has to get them back. Is there any way to erase the raw images in his mind? He shakes his head, _‘maybe I can tickle it out of him...’_ Sousuke lightly frowns as he takes quick steps around the dining table.

Makoto quickly trots away, making sure there is distance between them as he profusely whines, “I’m sorry, Sou! I’m really sorry! I couldn’t help myself!”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows with concern and takes quick steps to catch up with Makoto, reaching his hand out to grab him.

Makoto yelps as he scampers around the table, “I got curious! I shouldn’t have looked! Please don’t hurt me!”

Sousuke stops dead in his tracks, his eyes widening with uneasiness, _‘hurt you? Mako...’_ He says with a serious tone, “I’m not gonna hurt you Mako. But...”

Makoto side steps away from Sousuke, watching him halt his movements. He continues to keep his eyes on Sousuke’s face, noticing the honesty in those teal eyes. He sighs deeply in relief, glad to hear that Sousuke’s isn’t too mad.

Sousuke smirks playfully, darting around the table, reaching out for Makoto, “I am gonna punish you, Mako. Looking though my stuff is a big no-no.”

Makoto quickly moves his feet, almost getting caught by Sousuke’s reach. He yelps with lightness, now knowing that Sousuke dons a playful smile, his tone taking on a lively, trivial, mischievousness to it. He can’t help but smile back at the other teen across the table. He decides to play along, his heart skipping a beat at the playfulness, “oh? What kind of punishment, Sou?”

Sousuke blinks, stunned by the adorable impish smile gracing his features, even Makoto’s emerald eyes twinkle with jest. It sends a jolt of electric warmth blossoming in his chest, his fingertips press into the wooden chair, _‘oh, it’s on. I’ll take that as a challenge, Mako. I will catch you.’_ He grins wickedly as he says in a deep roguish tone, “huh, wouldn’t you like to know? Only way you’re finding out, Mako, is if I catch you.”

Makoto’s mouth parts, gasping at the devilish smile plastered on Sousuke’s face and the deep, sexy trill to his voice causes Makoto to shiver lightly, _‘holy...whoa. I may just let you catch me if you keep talking like that...Sou.’_ He bites the inside of his bottom lip before he chuckles slyly. Makoto says a bit flirtatiously, “only if you catch me, ne?”

Sousuke huffs playfully, Makoto’s melodious tone sparking energy throughout his body. He grunts as he sprints to catch Makoto, arm reaching out to grab him.

Makoto gulps in a sharp inhale, noticing the rapid movement and he shuffles his feet around the table, making sure he doesn’t get caught. He laughs at the notion of being chased around the table, his heart pumping with amusement, and nervousness.

Sousuke smiles, hearing Makoto’s sweet laughter. He chuckles at the delightful sounds the brunette makes, almost as if Makoto’s laughter is contagious. He continues to chase Makoto around the dining table, not caring about how much of a ruckus they are causing. All that matters is the emerald-eyed teen running away from him.

Sousuke shifts gears unexpectedly, going in the other direction, reaching out towards Makoto.

Makoto chuckles noticing a little too late that Sousuke had moved in the other direction and he stops dead in his tracks, moving his feet in the opposite direction. Just as Makoto tries to get away from his pursuer, Sousuke grabs his forearm. Makoto gasps as a strong force pulls him. He staggers backwards and he crashes into Sousuke.

Sousuke stumbles, almost losing his balance. He didn’t realize how much force he used to capture Makoto and during his falter, Sousuke makes sure to wrap an arm around Makoto’s waist. Once he regains his balance, he rests his chin on Makoto’s shoulder, smiling at the wonderful chortle from the other.

Makoto can feel his ears burst into flame, and he’s pretty sure his cheeks are beet red as his ass smacks into Sousuke’s body. He attempts to get away, not wanting any form of punishment, but at the same time he can feel a desire pool in his gut, demanding more of this closeness with Sousuke. When Sousuke quickly snakes his arm around his waist, his heart beats faster and he can hear the beating in his eardrums as his laugh turns into a light moan. Makoto masks the moan with a soft giggle.

Suddenly Sousuke’s breath ghosts over his ear, “I gotcha, Mako. Now, you’re gonna tell me how much you saw on those memory cards.” Makoto gasps with a shudder at the intimate action. His voice is laced with taunting insistence, and it spurs Makoto in a fit of laughter, feeling his heart become light as a feather.

He responds as he places his hand on Sousuke’s wrist, lightly prying his hand off him, “what if I refuse, Sou?”

Sousuke chuckles in Makoto’s ear, inhaling deeply and catching a waft of citrus from the brunette. He smiles, his heart pounding in his chest at the challenge escaping Makoto’s lips, daring him to punish him. Sousuke releases Makoto’s forearm and with wiggling fingers he jabs his fingertips over Makoto’s side, tickling him, “I’ll just have to tickle you. No mercy, Mako.”

Makoto notices Sousuke’s firm grip on his wrist vanish and he takes the opportunity to move his arm down to Sousuke’s arm snaked around his waist in an attempt to pry Sousuke’s hold on him. However, he feels gentle fingers poke his side causing him to squirm and laugh. Makoto barely hears Sousuke’s sneaky disclosure in his ear as he continues to laugh, “ahahaha! Stop! Sou! Hahaha! So~u~~! Please, stop! Hahaha! Oh my god! Ahahaha!”

Makoto continues to squirm, laughing his ass off, as Sousuke is adamant about his tickle assault. Somehow Makoto finds the strength to pry Sousuke’s arm off his waist and he bolts away from him. Makoto’s laughter dies down as he turns around his arm raises up with his palm facing Sousuke, keeping some distance from him. Makoto says as he places his arm over his stomach, bending down at the waist, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please, no more. No more...tickling. I can’t handle more.”

Sousuke snorts, “no way, Mako. This is your punishment for going thorough my stuff.” He bolts to try and catch Makoto.

Makoto dodges Sousuke, jumping backwards as he runs around the dining room table once again.

Sousuke follows in pursuit with grabby hands trying to swipe at the retreating brunette.

Makoto chuckles as he makes his way into the living room, running around the couch.

Sousuke follows Makoto around the couch until he has the idea to jump on the seat of the cushion, placing his hand on the back of the couch for assistance to leap over the back of it.

Makoto yelps in surprise, jumping away from Sousuke, _‘whoa! That was close.’_ He runs out of the living room, turning the corner to sprint down the bedroom hallway. He swiftly brakes with his feet, to turn the corner once again, heading into Sousuke’s room. He runs around the bed only to be cornered as Sousuke is on the other side of the bed.

Makoto pants heavily, a smile plastered on his face as he tries to figure out what to do, _‘crap. I’m trapped. I can’t go around the way I came, Sou will catch me. And if I jump over the bed, he’ll catch me...’_

Sousuke grins as he stops in a crouching position, _‘oh, Mako. You cornered yourself, nice! This makes my job so much easier.’_ He breathes heavily, watching Makoto carefully. Sousuke can see Makoto’s mind trying to work up a plan out of his predicament and he takes advantage of Makoto’s moment of distraction by running around the bed.

Makoto jolts out of his thoughts, seeing movement, _‘crap! I have no choice...over the bed!’_ He jumps on the bed, trying to take steps to the other side of the bed and just when he’s about to jump off the bed he feels pressure around his ankle, pulling him and he loses his balance. He yelps with surprise as he falls on the bed face down, bouncing on the surface during impact.

Sousuke gets on the bed, feeling the bounciness of it against his knees as he pulls Makoto’s ankle closer to him. Makoto squirms under him, trying to get away again. He plunges his other hand down to Makoto’s side, tickling him.

Makoto instantly lurches, his body tensing at the pummel of fingers on his side. He laughs loudly, trying to kick Sousuke’s hold on his leg and pushing Sousuke’s hand away from his side. The side of his face lies on the plush blue comforter of Sousuke’s bed. His face becomes dark red with all the laughter, “Ahahaha...Sou! Hahaha, ok, ok, S-Sou! Sto-hahaha...stop! I...hahahaha! I give, ahahaha...”

Sousuke chuckles listening to Makoto’s beautiful laugh, _‘no way! No mercy!’_ Makoto somehow shifts around, turning his body so he’s facing the ceiling and Sousuke pulls his hands away, jerking his torso backwards to avoid getting hit in the face with Makoto’s leg and he pushes Makoto’s other leg around him.

Sousuke settles himself in between Makoto’s legs and he quickly grabs his wrists, pinning them down on the bed on either side of Makoto’s head.

Makoto laughs heartily and barely registers that his arms are restrained. He looks up, still laughing and he’s pretty sure that his eyes must be slits due to how much his face hurts from all the smiling and giggling. Makoto sees Sousuke’s teal eyes, beaming at him with a glint. He tries to stop his laughter, but broken giggles burst past his lips as he pants heavily and he notices that Sousuke is also breathing unevenly above him.

Sousuke tries to catch his breath as he watches Makoto smiling and laughing under him. Makoto’s legs on either side of him and suddenly realization hits him, _‘Makoto’s on my bed. I’m on top of him. We’re both out of breath. He looks so...stunning.’_ Sousuke’s grip on Makoto’s wrists loosens as his heart is captivated by Makoto’s red face, the crinkle around his eyes, and the gleam in those ravishing emerald eyes. Sousuke’s feels a pulse on the palms of his hands that sends a gentle electric current directly to his chest, filling it with a radiating heat.

The two just stare at each other, breathing heavily. Makoto doesn’t try to wriggle away, he just lies there staring up at Sousuke entranced. His breath is shallow and he can’t tell if it’s because he’s out of breath because of the chasing or because Sousuke is above him. His heart leaps out of his chest and his belly buzzes with some kind of erratic energy causing him to feel elated and anxious at the same time.

Makoto is the first to break the silence, replying in a breathy tone, “y-you...caught me. Sou.”

Sousuke holds his breath as Makoto’s soft voice lingers in the air, _‘I...I did. I did catch you.’_ He exhales slowly, trying to calm his racing heart and smiles down at Makoto, “yeah, I did. Time for your punishment, Mako.”

Makoto’s eyes widen at the mention of punishment and he quickly retorts with a bit of fear, “e-eehhh? Wa-wait! N-no! No more! No more tickling! Sou! Please! Haven’t I had enough!?”

Sousuke chuckles a bit deviously, raising an eyebrow, “muwha, ha, ha! You think so, Mako? Somehow I think you haven’t had enough...quite yet.”

Makoto shakes his head as he squirms, legs kicking and arms trying to break free from Sousuke’s grip as he whines, “oh, no! Please Sou! No more tickling! My sides and face hurts so much from all the laughing.”

Sousuke’s grip tightens on Makoto’s wrists, feeling a bit of excitement with Makoto’s protest and he leans down their noses touching for a moment before Sousuke moves back a little to stare into those green eyes, “then tell me...how much did you see?”

Makoto stills as the tip of Sousuke’s nose bumps into his, his muscles tense from all the struggling. He just stares up at Sousuke, mesmerized by the hue of Sousuke’s teal eyes. Makoto gasps as he feels Sousuke’s breath over his face and his fingers curl into his palm slightly. His senses heightened by the proximity of Sousuke’s body. His heart quivers and his body teeters on doing the same, yet somehow he restrains himself, _‘oh god! Sou...my body is reacting to every little thing you do right now...I like it. But...dammit! I can’t show you!’_ His eyes swirls with conflict as his desire to just close the distance between them would be so easy, but admitting his feelings for the other terrifies him, _‘how can I show you when you have feelings for Rin...’_

Sousuke notices something in those green sparkling eyes, something wonderful but he can’t seem to place what it is exactly. All he knows is that he likes that twinkle in Makoto’s eyes, but then it changes without warning. Sousuke blinks, wondering if his eyes are playing tricks on him, but Makoto’s eyes shimmer with something close to sadness, _‘huh? What’s...’_

Makoto sighs, looking away from Sousuke, not wanting him to see what’s brewing in his mind and replies shakily, “I only saw some...some of them.”

Sousuke’s thoughts burst as he listens to Makoto’s hesitant reply, _‘something...is different. Mako...’_ He observes Makoto’s profile, still seeing a gleam of sadness in those green eyes and Sousuke wants to erase that look, _‘Mako. I...’_ He discards his thoughts, deciding to focus on his actions instead. Makoto’s change in behaviors has to do with some kind of thought that is becoming more pervasive. Sousuke leans down and whispers in his ear playfully, “I doubt that, Mako. I can tell when you aren’t completely honest. Tell me, tell me what you saw.”

Makoto bites his bottom lip, feeling his body shiver with Sousuke’s voice vibrating in his ear. He knits his eyebrows as his body wiggles, moving his hips and adjusting his position with his legs. A part of him wants to run away, yet another part of him wants to stay, enjoying the slow torture of itty-bitty moments of affinity.

Makoto releases a shaky exhale, refusing to meet Sousuke’s gaze for fear what his impulses may lead him to. He replies shyly, “I-I...I saw, um, a lot of...well, pictures. There were so many beautiful shots. A-and...as I progressed through them...the quality changed. T-they are really good, Sou. I, I don’t understand...how you are able to...take such great pictures. You captured emotions, Sou. Beautiful...serendipitous moments. Of everyone you shot. Haru, you took wonderful pictures of Haru. Y-you even caught him smiling. Such a rare sight. Some strangers, and Eiji too. But, I noticed...I, um...saw a lot of pictures of...well, me. I don’t know why...why you took so many pictures of me, but I’m glad that I was helpful in some way.”

Makoto sighs softly, embarrassment snatches his stomach, tying it up in knots, _‘what am I saying? Did any of that make any sense? I shouldn’t have said anything...Do I look like an idiot right now? Uh, I must look like an idiot...my face feels so hot, I must be a blushing mess!’_

Sousuke moves his head back as Makoto replies. His eyebrows shoot up in shock. Sousuke wasn’t expecting Makoto to compliment his work, but it makes him feel proud of his abilities. Even though photography is an elective course, he still takes the material seriously and tries his best to apply techniques written in his text into practice. His teacher had commented that his work has been progressively getting better, but to hear someone else unrelated to his photography class say the same thing, gives him a different kind of feeling. Rin had said that his photos look awesome, and here Makoto is saying something similar.

Sousuke’s stomach flops when Makoto mentions that he’s seen a lot of photos of himself. There’s no denying it, Sousuke enjoys taking pictures of Makoto. He not just photogenic, but he’s also expressive and alluring.

Sousuke notices the little things in Makoto’s facial features, the gleam in his green eyes, it’s compelling and dynamic. The shades of green seem to change when Sousuke looks back at photos he’s taken depending on the emotion Makoto harbors when Sousuke takes them. The curl of his mouth, especially at the corners when he smiles are tells of how amused Makoto is about the situation. The bigger the curl at the corners, the happier he is, but the most riveting expression is Makoto’s beaming smile.

Makoto has this one picture perfect beaming smile when he tilts his head to the side, eyes closed and soul exposed. If he had to compare Makoto’s smile to anything, it would be a sunny day. Makoto just brightens up a room or a crowd with just a simple smile and it enchants him. Makoto is simply a beautiful human being and he feels cherished in Makoto’s presence. There’s just something about Makoto that makes you feel valued, and his smile carries and cultivates that feeling further. It’s no wonder why people are drawn to him, like a plant searching for sunlight. 

Sousuke releases one of Makoto’s wrists, moving his hand to caress Makoto’s cheek. Makoto inhales deeply as Sousuke fingers move up his face, touching his ear lobe and scalp. Sousuke carefully presses his palm onto Makoto’s face, leading him back to face him. Makoto’s skin feels really warm against his hand and he swallows as Makoto’s face comes into view. Makoto’s eyes are shut closed, brows knitted, with a dust of pink flush on his cheeks. Sousuke holds his breath before he gently strokes his thumb over Makoto’s flesh.

Makoto releases his breath, exhaling as Sousuke’s soothes him with his thumb. Slowly, Makoto opens his eyes to find curious teal eyes staring back at him. Makoto’s heart flutters, his cheeks burning, and he opens his mouth to say something but nothing comes out. His mind goes a mile a minute, unable to solidify his thoughts into coherent words. Makoto isn’t sure what’s going on, but he relishes this sweet, sensitive side of Sousuke’s touch and actions. It mystifies him, and he’s not really sure why Sousuke is touching him so reverently. 

Sousuke huffs with amusement, finding the coy expression on Makoto’s face adorably sexy. Without really thinking, he brushes his thumb over the side of Makoto’s bottom lip, _‘smooth, just like I thought it would be. Mako, I can’t hold back...not anymore.’_

Makoto feels his breath become more uneven as Sousuke’s face becomes so soft, like he’s admiring something precious. When Sousuke’s thumb grazes his bottom lip, a small, almost silent moan erupts from his throat. Excitement pools in his stomach as his eyes become lidded with yearning.

Sousuke leans down, moving his thumb back up to Makoto’s cheek as he strokes the tip of his nose over Makoto’s, indulging himself with the naked touch. He feels himself melt at the touch, releasing a trembling sigh. He’s never done anything like this before with anyone and here he is pouring his heart out through action. It scares him a little, but the novel experience is something he wants more of.

Makoto can feel his heartbeat thrumming though his body, ringing in his ears as their noses collide delicately. The tender friction of their skin rubbing up against each other causes his muscles to tense and relax. The excitement he felt pooling in his stomach kindles a craving. He closes his eyes as he starts to feel lightheaded, his mind becomes foggy, the only thought that crystallizes is the teen in front of him. Makoto lightly murmurs, “Sou...Sou...su...ke.”

Sousuke’s chest fills with an electrifying heat that spurs him on to continue. He smiles as he caresses his fingertips in Makoto’s scalp, lightly lifting Makoto’s lips upwards to press his lips over Makoto’s open mouth.

Makoto squeaks a moan as his lips are taken in a chaste open mouth kiss. It’s sweet, tender, and warm. His toes curl and he moves his leg up, dragging his socked heel on the comforter below him. He wants to deepen the kiss, but something in him restrains that compulsion, and Makoto accepts the action given to him by Sousuke. Without realizing it, he tries to move his arms, only to find one of them unhindered. He lifts his arm and his fingers wrap around Sousuke’s bicep, grasping the hard muscle with his fingertips. With a robust grasp on Sousuke’s skin, Makoto drags his fingertips over his flesh, basking in the sensations that overtake his body. 

Sousuke feels his chest swell with rapture. Makoto hasn’t given him any kind of refusal and the thought makes his stomach pool with mirth. Suddenly he feels a force from Makoto’s wrist and a hand on his arm and it distracts him, _‘huh?’_ He lifts his head up, their lips disconnecting from each other as he turns his head to find Makoto’s hand on his arm, fondling him assertively. Sousuke finds himself breathless as he heaves softly, filling his lungs with air. His thoughts become blurry, unable to formulate anything concrete as he stares at Makoto’s hand, wondering what the simple touch means.

Makoto feels the pressure of Sousuke’s lightly chapped lips lessen and then fade away complete. He takes a breath, finding himself needing air all of a sudden, but missing the heat of Sousuke’s lips. He opens his eyes, breathing heavily, his heart still pounding in his ears and chest as he finds Sousuke looking away from him. His green gaze pouts instantly before he shifts his focus on his hand on Sousuke’s bicep as he caresses him.

Makoto finds Sousuke’s grip on his wrist subsiding and he wiggles himself free of his grasp, shifting his weight to lift himself, leaning on his elbow as he whispers in Sousuke’s ear, “S-Sou...Sousuke...” He hears a gasp from Sousuke, but he keeps his gaze fixed on whatever he’s looking at. Makoto sighs softly.

Sousuke revels in the warm air that tickles his ear and neck, wanting to experience that ephemeral sensation again. He closes his eyes briefly, opening them back up again to find Makoto’s fingernails mildly grazing against his skin. His breath shudders as his flesh tingles with delightful sparks as Makoto travels down his bicep, elbow, forearm, wrist, and the back of his hand. Sousuke can’t help but follow Makoto’s hand until Makoto grasps his hand still cradling Makoto’s cheek.

Makoto leans back a little, giving Sousuke a bit more space as he clasps his hand over Sousuke’s palm. Makoto’s emerald gaze never leaving Sousuke’s face and watching the other slowly turn his head towards him. Makoto smiles as he slightly turns his head to press a kiss on the inside of Sousuke’s wrist gingerly.

Sousuke’s eyes waver at the sight, he exhales swiftly as a memory replays in his mind. A specific moment in December after they had dinner with their high school teammates, Makoto experiencing a terrible confrontation, Makoto coming home with him, Makoto crying over him, and spilling his guts to Makoto about his family. He wanted to do anything to expunge the detrimental affair that took place earlier, yet somehow Makoto ended up staggering him with a sensational act. A fleeting moment with tremendous meaning, he kissed his wrist, similar to this particular moment. A stunning act of altruism, directed at him with so much care and attention. Makoto was beautiful then, and he’s beautiful now. Enthralled, he became nothing but a flushing, bumbling idiot, but he felt support and alleviation, which made him embarrassingly happy. 

Makoto kissing the inside of his wrist is different this time. The intent feels different and Sousuke finds himself at a loss for words. His heart pounds in his chest, his cheeks feel warm, and his body feels hot. His chest swirls with intense affection, it makes his senses spin. Sousuke can’t seem to make out Makoto’s intent this time and instead of asking the teen in front of him, Sousuke unintentionally utters, “Mako...”

Makoto’s hand gently squeezes Sousuke’s hand at the mention of his name with such vulnerability and he notices that it interrupts him. It makes his heart leap into his throat and his eyes shift to stare into Sousuke’s teal ones, observing how beautifully dilated they are, paired with a wonderful deep red stain on his cheeks. Makoto’s urgency to crash into Sousuke’s lips overwhelm him and he releases Sousuke’s hand to place his own hand around the base of Sousuke’s head to pull him closer as he shifts his weight, pushing himself up with his propped arm.

Makoto smashes their lips together, taking advantage of Sousuke’s parted lips and slipping his warm tongue in Sousuke’s mouth. The sensation of their wet tongues sliding and clashing together causes Makoto to moan deeply as his chest soars with sensuality, jubilation, and excitement.

Sousuke’s body tenses at the sudden press of lips and the intrusion of Makoto’s smooth tongue over his own overpowers his senses. It’s an indescribable sensation, stirring up his body in ways he didn’t know was possible, a deep trembling thirst grips his core. He holds his breath, closing his eyes, instantly grabbing Makoto’s green cotton t-shirt by his side. Sousuke’s fingers grazing Makoto’s flesh, his fingertips curling on Makoto’s warm skin.

Makoto tenderly swirls his tongue over Sousuke’s before he is suddenly being dominated. Sousuke takes no time in thrusting his tongue forward, deepening the kiss further. Sousuke places his hand on Makoto’s side and Makoto breaks the kiss unexpectedly, giggling as he turns his head to the side.

Sousuke furrows his eyebrows when Makoto lips disengage from his, bewildered. His lips feel cool from the wet kiss and he looks at Makoto.

Makoto finds Sousuke’s hand and pulls it away from his side. He squeezes Sousuke’s fingers, panting, “you...weren’t kidding...no mercy.” He chuckles lightly, biting his bottom lip, _‘I...I kissed him. I kissed Sou...’_

Sousuke finds his chest falling and rising rapidly, trying to piece together everything that happened. The squeeze to his fingers, takes him out of his hazy thoughts and he hears Makoto’s soft-spoken words between breaths. He tilts his head slightly, _‘huh? Mercy? What?’_ He shifts his body, moving back a little to place his weight on his knees.

Makoto moves his hand, shifting his body to prop both elbows on the mattress behind him. He shifts his gaze over to Sousuke and he notices confusion in his teal eyes.

The two just stay where they are, until their breaths become more even. Makoto is the first to break the silence, asking in a hesitant voice, “what about Rin?”

Sousuke doesn’t take his eyes off Makoto, his mind wandering over Makoto’s features, listening to his breaths, and staring at his rumpled clothes. He notices how the t-shirt fits snuggly around his pectorals, and shoulders, probably accentuated because of his position on the bed. The question catches him off guard and he queries back, “what about him?”

Makoto blinks, “um, well...I thought...” He knits his eyebrows and curls his hands into fists, _‘did I...did I make a huge mistake? Nothing’s changed? He still loves him and I just...’_ Makoto looks away with a pained expression, “nevermind. I...wasn’t thinking.”

Sousuke eyes searches the other’s eyes when Makoto speaks, but he doesn’t complete his sentence and then those beautiful green eyes become cloudy. Sousuke feels his stomach drop, _‘wait, what?’_ Sousuke leans forward a bit, lifting his hand as he says, “Mako. Tell me what’s on...”

Makoto shakes his head, interrupting, “it’s nothing. It’s nothing...Sousuke. I should get back to work. And you need to complete your project.” He tries to scoot away from Sousuke in an attempt to get off the bed.

Sousuke’s eyes widen and he quickly claps his hands on Makoto’s hips, preventing him from moving away. He pulls Makoto’s hips back down towards him, until his ass hits Sousuke’s knee, “Mako, stop. Don’t run from me.”

Makoto gasps as his hips are seized with strong hands and instead of trying harder to get away, he does it half-heartedly. He feels his ass bump into something and his guess is that it’s some part of Sousuke. He flops his back on the bed, looking up at Sousuke.

Sousuke places one palm on the side of Makoto’s head, keeping one hand firmly on Makoto’s hip just in case he tries to scoot away from him. He leans down on him as he continues, “tell me. What about Rin?”

Makoto looks up at those teal eyes heavy-heartedly and he huffs somberly, “Sousuke. You know what I mean. Rin. You like him, right? You’re not over him yet, right? I don’t wanna...this isn’t...” He looks away grabbing Sousuke’s wrist next to his head and the hand on his hip, “Sousuke, let me go.”

Sousuke knits his eyebrows and it dawns on him immediately, _‘Rin. You still think I’m in love with him. I haven’t been clear with you. I’ve told Rin about it. Haru knows too. Hell, even Yumiko knows I have a thing for you. But I’ve haven’t said anything to you. I’ve been avoiding telling you anything about that.’_ He internally curses himself and he keeps a firm ground as Makoto tries to pry his hands from their perch, “I don’t love him. I don’t love Rin. Not like that. Not anymore.”

Makoto halts his movements, his eyes quickly shifting over to Sousuke’s face. His green eyes waver under Sousuke’s adamant teal eyes. His serious expression gives no room for doubt, there is nothing but unshakable statements ringing in his ears. He stares for several moments before he’s able to formulate words, “I don’t understand. I thought...”

Sousuke closes his eyes momentarily, interrupting with insistent eyes, “you’re right. When we had that conversation, I still had feelings for Rin. I told Rin I was in love with him months ago and I promised that I would get over him. And I have. I don’t harbor those feelings for him. I love him like a friend, a brother, nothing more.”

Makoto knits his eyebrows, still disbelieving, “but...”

Sousuke frowns temporarily, seeing uncertainty in those emerald eyes. He replies quickly, “I have no reason to lie to you, Mako. Why do you think I took all those pictures of you? It’s not just for my school project. I like taking pictures of you. You’ve made photography fun for me. Hell, even my teacher thinks you’re some kind of model that I hang out with all the time. She’s asked me to bring you in for her other art classes. I refused to tell you because I don’t want people falling...” He sighs, looking away.

Makoto listens intently and his ears heat up at the awkward confession of sorts. His eyes widen as his heart sinks and flutters at the same time, _‘Sou...’_ He takes a deep breath feeling a need to rectify this. He musters up the courage in his heart as he brings both hands up to cradle Sousuke’s cheeks, causing the other to face him.

Sousuke’s teal eyes waver with a bit of fear, but they are quelled as soon as he stares into Makoto’s emerald gaze. There’s something grounding in those beautiful eyes, but they oscillate with some uncertainty. He waits patiently for Makoto’s answer, his fingers on Makoto’s hip find their way to thread his pointer and middle fingers through the belt loop of his jeans.

Makoto strokes Sousuke’s cheeks with his thumb as he says delicately, “I like you, Sou. I like you a lot.” He pauses, biting his bottom lip for a moment, sighing, “no matter what, I want us to be friends, and...I’m certain I’ve gone beyond like. I’m falling for you, Sou.” He closes his eyes as his voice trembles, “and that scares me.”

Sousuke flushes at the blatant confession directed at him. He leans down and places a gentle kiss on Makoto’s forehead, _‘shit...I really like this bold side of you. It’s fortuitous and...sultry_.’ Makoto’s breath quivers at the touch and he smiles sweetly.

Sousuke pulls away and finds Makoto’s eyes transfixed on him as he says, “I’m in love with you. Only you, Mako. I don’t know when it happened, but I realized it one night when you and Haru were staying here with me.”

Makoto’s hands somehow moved down to the crook of Sousuke’s neck and shoulders and they wobble as Sousuke speaks. His eyes shimmer as awareness of Sousuke’s words submerge in his mind, _‘l-lo-love? He...loves me? You...love me, Sou? I almost don’t believe it, but, I can’t deny it. I know I heard him correctly. Only...me...’_

Makoto raises his hands behind Sousuke’s head, nestling his fingers between the short strands of raven hair, pulling him down until their noses meet, _‘Sou...make me fall further. I want to love you back.’_ Makoto gently rubs his nose back and forth with Sousuke’s in an Eskimo kiss as he whispers with fondness, “ let’s make this official. Be my...boyfriend. And take me on a date...to a cat café after finals, Sou.”

Sousuke smirks, his hand grasping Makoto’s belt loops moves around Makoto’s hip to the small of his back and replies in a hushed tone, “ok, I accept, but only if you become mine.”

Makoto softly chuckles, his chest swelling with glowing butterflies, “I’d love to be your boyfriend, Sou. I’d...love to...”

Sousuke laughs deeply before he captures Makoto’s lips in a kiss, seizing Makoto’s unsaid words in one fall swoop. 

Makoto squeaks a moan at the sudden kiss and without any other words, they continue to kiss each other on Sousuke’s bed, switching between open mouth kisses, awkward, ill-timed kisses, chaste kisses, and sloppy wet kisses. Makoto wraps his legs around Sousuke’s waist, causing the other to move his hand down to his thigh. Sousuke runs his hand up and down the backside of Makoto’s thigh, enjoying the small mewls that escape through his lips. They explore each other’s mouths almost as if they are making up for lost time, wanting nothing more than to keep their connections as long as possible without many breaks for air.

Makoto cards his hand in Sousuke’s short locks of raven hair, savoring the moans that fall from Sousuke’s mouth when they break apart for breaks. Makoto grips and releases the small piece of fabric covering Sousuke’s shoulder, running his hand up and over Sousuke’s shoulder, loving the feel of hard muscle under his fingertips. He squeezes his legs around Sousuke’s waist, making sure the other teen stays with him, grounding him in the flourishing make-out session.

Things start to heat up when Sousuke and Makoto find a rhythm between their kisses, deepening their intentions, feeling each other in the wake of the moment, and becoming passionately engrossed in their romantic physical caresses.

Makoto’s body reacts strongly as the burn of lust starts to flood his senses. He arches his back, causing a small opening between him and the bed. Sousuke feels the movement and snakes his arm around Makoto’s waist and pulling him up towards him at the same time, wanting more contact with his love interest. Makoto’s core pools with hot sparks as he points his toes, realizing that his feet are crossed over each other, around Sousuke’s body.

Makoto uncrosses his feet, clenching his knees around Sousuke’s torso, wrapping his arms around Sousuke’s neck, breaking the fiery kiss and grazing his cheek over Sousuke’s as he musters strength in every muscle in his body, rolling them over.

Sousuke was distracted by Makoto’s feverish breath brushing against his ear, a shudder passing through him before a vigorous force pulls him in some direction. Suddenly his back feels the pressure of the soft comforter and he opens his eyes to find Makoto unwinding his arms from his neck, moving back, panting with a sexy fervid expression on his face. Sousuke’s breath shakes as he runs his tongue over his top lip, moaning as Makoto seats himself on his lap. He flexes his core muscles to lean himself up a bit as his hands quickly find their perch on Makoto’s clothed thighs, rubbing his fingertips back and forth with wanton appetite.

Makoto breath hitches as he feels Sousuke’s warm body under him. He stares into those lidded teal eyes, biting his bottom lip at the suggestive look Sousuke expresses, _‘oh god! That’s a turn on.’_ His shirt feels too constrictive on his body and it bothers him instantly. The fingers on his thighs drive him madly sweltering, and without another thought more, Makoto crosses his arms around his torso finding the hem of his green t-shirt. He pulls it off, twisting his torso side to side, arching his back as the tight shirt pops off his shoulders, freeing his body. Makoto quickly runs the shirt off his arm before tossing it aside behind him somewhere with his other arm with ease.

Sousuke’s eyes become wide with carnal pleasure. Makoto unexpectedly exposes his body to him, his eyes raking over the overwhelming expanse of muscles and olive, dewy skin. His hands twitch on Makoto’s thighs watching Makoto’s muscles flex under his flesh, _‘shit...I’ve seen Makoto like this before, but this is fuckin’ hot!’_ He brings up one hand under Makoto’s chest, his pointer and middle fingers pressing into the skin, weaving his touch over the soft crevice under Makoto’s pectoral muscles and moving his fingers down the middle of Makoto’s abdominal muscles. The muscles tense under his touch, and relax, constantly changing as his warm fingers become hot as he continues his purposeful ministrations. Sousuke releases a shaky breath as he goes over the hard bulges and divots, admiring Makoto’s flesh avidly. 

Makoto moans delightedly as his hazy eyes find Sousuke’s hand on his body. Sousuke’s touch is deliberate and it ignites his greedy spirit. The pathways Sousuke makes from his pecs to his abs flames that greediness further, _‘don’t ever stop...touch me, Sou.’_ He quickly leans down, smashing his lips over Sousuke’s, teeth clanking as Makoto slips his tongue in Sousuke’s mouth.

Sousuke’s moment of cherishing Makoto’s body is cut short with lips over his, and he allows Makoto entrance into his welcoming mouth. Makoto swiftly dominates the kiss, surprising Sousuke once again with fearlessness of his actions. There is no doubt, just unrelenting fortitude of desire springing forth from the other and his chest swims in pleasure and glee. His hands explore the naked flesh of Makoto’s, his palms pressing into the skin where the serratus muscles lie as he savors Makoto’s assertion over him.

Makoto’s elbow wobbles and he bends it until it is flush against the plush blue comforter as his other hand wanders down Sousuke’s body. He deepens the kiss as his fingers run down Sousuke’s cotton tank top until he reaches the hem.

Makoto pushes his fingers under the cotton fabric, pressing his hand up Sousuke’s abs. Makoto moans gutturally as his fingertips caress Sousuke’s muscles. He breaks the kiss, a silvery string of saliva snaps between them as he moves his forehead to the crook of Sousuke’s neck, panting heavily as he continues traveling the expanse of Sousuke’s feverous skin.

Sousuke licks his lips, tasting Makoto upon them, and missing the fervently dedicated tongue in his mouth. The hot breath tickling his collarbone gets him bothered and he grabs Makoto’s hand over his chest.

Makoto whines lightly as Sousuke stills his hand. He lifts his head enough to peer into Sousuke’s teal eyes and whimpers between pants, “eh? Why...why are we...stopping?”

Sousuke exhales sharply as he sees those emerald eyes on him and without a word he leads Makoto’s hand down his body and tenderly presses Makoto’s hand on his crotch. He takes in a shaky inhale, his eyes becoming slits as he says in a deep murmur, “you...are unbelievably sexy, Mako.” He rolls his hips up, moaning at the pleasing pressure of Makoto’s hand on his hardening cock. Sousuke’s hand twitches over Makoto’s as he continues, “I want...”

Makoto’s breath gutturally hitches as his hand is met with a half-hard pressure in the middle of Sousuke’s pants. He knows exactly what that means, and his heart soars with electrical currents at the prospect of the innuendo.

His breath becomes rapid, his thoughts jumbling together, _‘ah, Sou...oh god, Sou! I’m hard too! I’m...you...are so hot! I’m...ahh...hmm...’_ Makoto unintentionally interrupts Sousuke by pressing his palm over Sousuke’s jeans, gently caressing the hidden desire underneath. Makoto squeals deeply at the utterly alluring expression on Sousuke’s face, contorted with a deep red flush, and an enticing moan.

Makoto envelops his lips over Sousuke’s and he is instantly devoured by Sousuke’s wet tongue brushing against his in a powerfully attractive wave, making him melt on the spot. Sousuke thrusts his hips, pressing his trapped cock over Makoto’s hand again and again, his hand travels up Makoto’s back, resting on his shoulder blade before curling his fingernail over his flesh. Makoto shivers and spurs him to thrust his hips downwards, _‘oh god...I wanna...I want you, Sou!’_

Makoto breaks the kiss, pushing himself upwards, straightening his back and sitting in Sousuke’s lap once again as he pants heavily. He brings his hand down to his own blue jeans, unclasping the button and almost ripping the zipper apart.

Sousuke sighs with disappointment when those deliciously hot lips tear away from his. He opens his eyes when the bed dips a little, resting on the teen above him sitting in his lap. Makoto’s eyes gleam with something unfamiliar and before he can ponder further, his teal eyes catch movement and his heart stops. Makoto quickly fumbles with the front of his jeans, revealing an elastic wide black band of underwear. The fabric below the band is stripped with horizontal stripes of deep green and black, but his eyes waver when he sees the outline of his cock tenting up the fabric. Sousuke exhales shallowly as he slowly props his elbow behind him, his hand shakes as he travels the distance wanting to touch Makoto’s hardening clothed member.

Makoto watches Sousuke with fascination, his breath trembling as Sousuke’s hand is mere inches away from his throbbing penis.

A harsh vibrating sound resonates in the air. Makoto is taken aback as Sousuke’s hand jolts into a halt. Makoto looks up around the room trying to figure out where the sound is coming from. Sousuke turns his head to look behind him, and after the fourth or fifth vibration, he recognizes it as his phone ringing.

The sound ceases and the two teens continue to breathe heavily. Sousuke turns his head to stare up at Makoto. Makoto’s eyes shift down to find Sousuke’s, both their eyes wavering. Makoto wonders if they should stop, Sousuke battles with thoughts of continuing and the complications that arise from interruptions.

Sousuke sighs as he grabs Makoto’s bicep, pulling him down towards him.

Makoto gasps at the sudden pull. Sousuke releases his bicep, and moves his hand to wrap it around Makoto’s back as he whispers in Makoto’s ear, “Mako...”

Makoto releases a shuddering breath at the mention of his name, “Sou...” He can feel himself getting excited all over again.

A buzz is heard and the two groan lightly at the rupture of the moment once again.

Sousuke nuzzles the tip of his nose over Makoto’s earlobe, mumbling, “ignore it, Mako.”

Makoto smiles softly, “make me forget, Sou...”

Sousuke huffs tenderly, a smirk playing at his lips, “is that a challenge?” He licks Makoto’s earlobe softly, a gasp from Makoto is his reward for the sudden action.

Makoto huffs playfully, loving this little taunt from Sousuke. He pushes Sousuke down on the bed until his elbow gives way to falling on the soft mattress. There’s a little bounce from the springs below them and he waits for the moment they still to wrap his arm under Sousuke’s shoulder and says, “maybe, maybe not. Depends on how well you do...Sou~su~ke~”

Makoto exhales slowly before he licks the crook of Sousuke’s neck. Sousuke inhales sharply, and the fingertips on Makoto’s back curl into his flesh. Makoto smiles before enveloping his lips over Sousuke’s flesh, gently biting and sucking the tender flesh in his grasp, his fingertips pressing into Sousuke’s shoulder firmly.

Sousuke’s back arches at the feel of teeth on his skin, sending fireworks bursting in his chest and he moans unintentionally. There’s a pulling of skin and it sends his senses flying. He grazes his nails over Makoto’s back, leaving angry red lines in their wake as Makoto sucks his neck.

Makoto releases Sousuke’s flesh with a light popping sound. He moves his head back a bit to see Sousuke’s expression. Sousuke turns his head, feeling the cool, wet spot being kissed by the air around them and finds curious green eyes on him. He breathes playfully, “I’m gonna...”

The sound of grating vibrations sing through the air once again. Sousuke huffs with annoyance and Makoto looks up at the desk next to the bed. Makoto sighs disappointingly as the words that escape his lips are ones of responsibility, “maybe...you should get that.”

Sousuke huffs with anger, turning his head slightly to the side, staring at the ceiling, irked by the intrusion, _‘goddammit! Who the fuck is that? I’m gonna kill whoever it is!’_

Makoto looks down at Sousuke to find his eyebrows knitted with anger and he furrows his eyebrows with worry, _‘I know how you feel Sou...but...I can’t help but think it’s important. Two times...someone needs to talk to you.’_

Sousuke’s eyes shift over Makoto’s noticing his eyes tint with uneasiness. He sighs and says tenderly, “Mako...”

Makoto closes his eyes, a frown on his face as he untangles his hand from Sousuke’s shoulder and pushes himself up and off the bed.

Sousuke groans, _‘Fuck! What the fuck!? Someone is gonna get an earful!’_ He forces himself off the bed, scooting and rolling off the bed. When he gets to his desk, he picks up his phone with distaste.

Makoto stands on the other side of the bed, his back to the desk as he zips and buttons his jeans back up. He sighs heavily, running his hands in his hair, trying to calm his lusty nerves down from the magical, sexy moment earlier. He rubs his face a couple times before he turns around to check on Sousuke.

Sousuke huffs with displeasure, _‘Yumiko. Seriously? What could be so important that you had to call me twice? You have no idea what you interrupted...I’m gonna give you hell.’_ He looks over to the side to find Makoto staring at him inquisitively and dissatisfied.

Makoto tears his gaze away momentarily, side glancing at Sousuke with a shy smile, “who was it?”

Sousuke inhales deeply, “Yumiko.”

Makoto nods slowly, bringing his hand up to rub his bicep, “I see. Maybe you should call her back?”

Sousuke drops the phone back on the desk and quickly strides over to Makoto.

Makoto blinks as he hears a clunk, and he gasps as Sousuke makes his way around the bed. He stands still and raises his arms to wave them in the air to tell him it’s nothing to worry about, but Sousuke wraps his arms around his back, holding him in a tight embrace.

Makoto inhales softly, his hands quickly grasping Sousuke’s shoulders. Sousuke’s warm body sends his heart soaring with fidelity and awe. 

Sousuke rests his chin on Makoto’s shoulder as he says, “I love you, Mako.”

Makoto exhales shallowly, his hands moving from Sousuke’s shoulders to wrapping them around his neck, nestling his cheek against Sousuke’s shoulder and whispering, “I know...Sou. And...I want to be in love with you. I want to return your love, Sou.”

Sousuke’s squeezes him tighter, just like one of Makoto’s bear hugs, “stay by my side.”

Makoto nods, “I’m falling for you, Sou. I’m falling for you hard.”

Sousuke smiles, pressing his fingertips into Makoto’s bare skin, “just like earlier?”

Makoto smiles, a light giggle escapes his lips, “much harder.”

The two chuckle, relishing in each other’s embrace. Makoto loving the feel of Sousuke’s strong arms around his body, the pressure that surrounds him is secure and comforting. Sousuke takes in the feel of Makoto’s body pressed against him, their chests, their waists, and arms. He’s never held anyone so tightly before and he can’t imagine anyone else fitting in his embrace like this.

They eventually break apart when they hear the phone annoyingly vibrate again. Makoto chuckles with slight amusement and Sousuke huffs with discontent. Makoto watches Sousuke walks away from him, going over to his desk to answer the phone.

Sousuke looks at the screen before answering with an angry, “what?”

Makoto places a hand over his mouth, lightly giggling to himself before he slowly walks around the bed, passing Sousuke to go back to the dining room where his laptop awaits for attention.

As soon as Makoto passes Sousuke, he hears Sousuke say, “hold on a minute, just hold on, Yumiko. I need to tell Makoto something.”

Makoto halts, turning around to find Sousuke’s teal eyes on him with a hand covering the speaker of his phone.

Sousuke sighs, shifting his gaze away as he says with a bit of vulnerability, “I know you wanted to head back to your apartment tonight, but...”

Makoto tilts his head as he watches Sousuke avert his gaze, “but?”

Sousuke side glances at Makoto feeling a bit anxious all of a sudden, “stay. Stay tonight.”

Makoto’s eyes widen before he chuckles, “why?”

Sousuke makes a face before he hits the mute button on his phone, “I think you know why.”

Makoto blinks before his lips parts with realization. He takes a step towards Sousuke, looking down at Sousuke’s black tank top, placing a hand on his chest as he asks delicately, “I wanna hear you say it. Why do you want me to stay?” Makoto smiles, with a tinge of excitement and embarrassment. His ears burn beet red as he bites his bottom lip.

Sousuke finds Makoto’s hand, lacing their fingers together with a squeeze as he releases a shaky breath. He smiles teasingly, “so I can continue where I left off. Otherwise I’m gonna fap to my pictures of you.” 

Makoto gasps as his head shoots up to stare at Sousuke incredulously. His cheeks quickly turn tomato red and he stutters, “e-e-eh? S-Sou!?”

Sousuke chuckles, releasing his hold on Makoto as he turns his back to Makoto, looking over his shoulder with a sneaky grin, _‘heh! I’m gonna enjoy doing things like that, making you blush.’_

Makoto opens his mouth and closes his mouth over and over, like a fish out of water as his flush becomes darker and darker, _‘oh my god! Sou! I can’t believe you said that!’_ Even through his embarrassment, he smiles sweetly as his body feels hot all over. He finds the strength to turn on his heel and walk out of Sousuke’s bedroom, leaving Sousuke to Yumiko’s care. He stops halfway down the bedroom hallway, placing a hand over his cheek, _‘Sousuke is my boyfriend. And...and he wants to continue where we left off!’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!~~~ Yay I was able to post this right on New Year's Eve ^////^ I'm so so sorry for the delay! It's been crazy for me this year and honestly, I had to edit this a lot. It's not completely how I imagined it in my mind, but I think it came out okay. I hope you all enjoy this and are having a wonderful holiday season. Best wishes to everyone! Thank you all so much for your encouraging comments. I will reply to them soon and I just want you to know that they mean so much to me and really motivate me to keep writing. Take care and stay healthy during this super cold time of year!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this SouMako + RinHaru fic so far ^_^ This fic will be rather long because I like a slow build up with characters (plus I don't care for rebound relationships). The RinHaru relationship is already established and is more of a side pairing, but they will get a bit of the spotlight as the fic moves on. I was inspired mostly by the Free! anime itself and the various CDs, interviews, magazines, books, and "mooks" that have come out about the series. I am taking some liberties to fill in gaps or to flush out the character's histories a little more fully. Thank you so much for reading! u( _ _ )u Comments are love ^////^ Also tumblr: http://lovelessmelodies.tumblr.com/


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